What Phoenix activity can tell you about a sore joint

What to change before the next outing

Walking down Camelback or South Mountain makes knees and hips work harder. Tired muscles must control each step. Shorten the route before soreness makes you limp. On very hot days, choose movement you can spread across the day instead of one hard session.

Add time and distance only after the soreness settles.

Golf and spring training ask different things from a joint. Concrete walking, long sitting, and later stairs can bother a stiff knee or hip. At Papago or Camelback Ranch, take a short rest at planned times. Don't wait until soreness makes you limp. Supportive shoes and an easier next day may also help.

Where to go for the nearest visit

Banner Estrella is at 9305 W. Thomas Rd., Suite 460, Phoenix, AZ 85037, near 91st Avenue and Thomas Road. Downtown and central Phoenix can use I-10 west to 91st Avenue. Maryvale and Estrella Village can stay on Thomas Road.

Choose the clinic that will make return visits easier for you.

Scottsdale may be closer from Arcadia, Biltmore, Camelback East, Desert Ridge, and north Phoenix. Peoria may suit Deer Valley and Norterra. People in Ahwatukee may prefer Chandler because South Mountain divides them from central Phoenix. Before booking, check the drive you would need to repeat.

Until the visit, stop before you limp or change how you lift your arm.

Sources

1. The Cochrane review of exercise for knee osteoarthritis found high-quality evidence that land-based therapeutic exercise provides short-term benefit in pain and physical function, sustained for at least 2-6 months after the programme ends, with mild transient soreness the only reported adverse effect across 45 trials. It is the best-evidenced treatment for this condition and it costs nothing per injection.

   Fransen M, et al. — Exercise for osteoarthritis of the knee.. The Cochrane database of systematic reviews, 2015. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD004376.pub3.

2. The 2019 ACR/Arthritis Foundation guideline makes STRONG recommendations for exercise, weight loss in people with overweight or obesity, self-efficacy and self-management programs, tai chi, cane use, tibiofemoral bracing, topical NSAIDs, oral NSAIDs and intra-articular glucocorticoid injection in knee OA. Notably it does NOT strongly recommend any biologic injectable.

   Kolasinski SL, et al. — 2019 American College of Rheumatology/Arthritis Foundation Guideline for the Management of Osteoarthritis of the Hand, Hip, and Knee.. Arthritis & rheumatology (Hoboken, N.J.), 2020. DOI: 10.1002/art.41142.

3. The AAOS third-edition clinical practice guideline for non-arthroplasty management of knee osteoarthritis is the orthopedic profession's own GRADE-style appraisal of the same options a regenerative clinic sells; it is the benchmark against which any 'regenerative' claim on this topic should be read, and it rates the strongest support for exercise, weight loss and self-management rather than for injectables.

   Brophy RH, et al. — AAOS Clinical Practice Guideline Summary: Management of Osteoarthritis of the Knee (Nonarthroplasty), Third Edition.. The Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, 2022. DOI: 10.5435/JAAOS-D-21-01233.