Tai Chi Compares to Physical Therapy for Knee Osteoarthritis

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Tai Chi Compares to Physical Therapy for Knee Osteoarthritis


Tai chi can improve the symptoms of knee osteoarthritis as much as — or more than — standard physical therapy, new research suggests.

“The value of tai chi goes beyond physical therapy because it includes movement, meditation, mindfulness, breathing, social support, and strength training,” Chenchen Wang, MD, stated. “Here you have mind, body, and spirit integrated together.”
In a previous study, Dr Wang and colleagues showed that the discipline was more effective in treating knee osteoarthritis than stretching and wellness education (Arthritis Rheum.2009;61:1545-1553).Dr Wang, from Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts, presented the finding here at the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) 2015 Annual Meeting.
In the new study, they wanted to see how tai chi would compare with physical therapy, the movement modality most often prescribed for osteoarthritis in the United States.
The researchers recruited 204 patients whose knees met ACR criteria for osteoarthritis and randomly assigned them into two groups.
The first group of 106 patients completed 12 weeks of classical Yang style tai chi for 1 hour twice a week. Each session included a warm up and review of tai chi, meditation with tai chi movement, breathing techniques, and relaxation.
A protocol for the approach Dr Wang posted online has already been downloaded “a couple thousand times,” she said.
American College of Rheumatology (ACR) 2015 Annual Meeting: Abstract 951. Presented November 8

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