Ramel Rones
Mind Body/Scientific Consultant, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Tufts & Harvard Medical Schools.

TAI CHI & CHI KUNG FOR ARTHRITIS

What is Osteoarthritis? Also called Degenerative Joint disease, OA.

Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis. This is the form that usually comes with age and most often affects the fingers, knees, and hips. Sometimes osteoarthritis follows an injury to a joint. For example, you might hurt your knee badly playing football. Then, years after the knee has healed, you might get arthritis in this knee joint.

Osteoarthritis breaks down the cartilage in your joints. Cartilage is the slippery tissue that covers the ends of bones in a joint. Healthy cartilage absorbs the shock of movement. When you lose cartilage, your bones rub together. The rubbing may lead to pain, swelling and loss of joints range of motion. Over time, this rubbing can permanently damage the joint normal shape, also bone spurs may grow on the edges of the Joints. Small peaces of bones or Cartilage can break off and float in the Joint space which can causes more pain and damage. 27 million Americans live with osteoarthritis. Factors that may cause osteoarthritis include being overweight, getting older and injuring a joint.

Therapies that manage osteoarthritis pain and improve function include exercise, weight control, rest, pain relief, alternative therapies and surgery.

What is Knee Osteoarthritis?

Knee Osteoarthritis is the most common type of Arthritis and we can find it especially among older individuals. Excess weight and stress are major factors in worsening the condition of OA of the Knee.  According to Jama, the Journal of American Medical Association, nearly 21 million Americans age 25 and older have OA; more then 10 million, in America, have OA of the knee. Most individuals who have it are older then 45.

There may be a genetic tendency to develop Osteoarthritis: it occurs when the Cartilage between the Femur bone and the Tibia wear down and the two bones touch or rub each other. This condition decreases the ability of the Cartilage to work as a shock absorber to reduce the weight, impact and stress on the knee joint. That leaves the two bones to grind against one another. This leads to pain, swelling and a decreased range of motion in the knee joint. Unnatural formation of bone spurs build up in the joints which lead to more pain, swelling and lose of range of motion and sometimes independency (which is a major cause of depression). Most people with osteoarthritis live active, productive lives despite this debilitating disease. They do so by using approaches such as exercise, weight control, rest and relief from stress on joints, pain relief techniques, medications, surgery, and complementary and alternative therapies.

Resources: JAMA the journal of the American Medical Association. Arthritis Foundation. The National Institute of Arthritis & Musculoskeletal & Skin Diseases (NIAMS). Medline Plus.

Chinese Approach to Arthritis

Chinese physicians diagnose illness by evaluating the invisible imbalance of Chi (life force) in the body, in addition to physical symptoms. Chinese medicine teaches that before physical illness occurs, Chi becomes unbalanced. If this Chi imbalance is not corrected, the physical body can be damaged and the physical symptoms of sickness will appear. “Correct” Tai Chi or Chi Kung exercises stimulate energy and increases its circulation, which removes stagnation and blockages and allows the body’s natural healing mechanism to operate in the best way possible.

Western Approach to Arthritis

The Arthritis Foundation published a guide —“101 Tips for Living Better with Arthritis” –recognizing that regular exercise reduces pain, fatigue, and depression, especially through the ancient art of Tai Chi (Tip No. 51). They advocate studies showing that people with arthritis can benefit from general aerobic conditioning (walking, biking, and swimming) (Tip No. 52) strength/endurance building exercises, and range-of-motion exercises (gentle movements to the limits of each joint’s motion to improve flexibility) (Tip No. 48). What could be better than supplementing those recommended physical exercises with methods of healing drawn from the ancient Eastern arts (Tai Chi and Chi Kung), which are not taken advantage of in any other arthritis-exercise program?

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"Deeply versed, passionate and informed, Mr. Rones is a committed and caring teacher of the Asian Mind-Body arts including Qigong, Tai Chi, and Yoga." Ted Kaptchuk, Harvard Medical School, Author of The Web That Has No Weaver