Joint care near Mesa depends on where you start

Chandler is the easier drive for much of Mesa

From west Mesa, Dobson Road runs south into Chandler. You won't need a freeway. That may make return visits easier.

Eastmark residents can take Loop 202 Santan westbound. Central Mesa can reach Dobson from US-60. Traffic won't stay the same.

The Chandler clinic is at 1100 S. Dobson Road, Suite 210, Chandler, AZ 85286. Call (602) 837-PAIN before leaving. Ask how many visits you may need.

Scottsdale can be closer from north Mesa

Las Sendas sits near Loop 202 Red Mountain. It connects with Loop 101 Pima. The Scottsdale office is near Shea Boulevard.

This drive may suit homes north of McDowell Road. It may also work near Falcon Field. Drive it near your appointment time.

Long sitting can leave your hip or knee sore. Give yourself time to stand and loosen up. Don't rush across the parking lot.

Plan the drive and visit around your week

Ask which care you can do at home. Find out what needs a clinic visit. You'll want the visit count before starting.

Take your medicine list and X-ray reports. Note which motions hurt and which feel good. Wear shoes that let you walk normally.

Tell the doctor how far you can walk. Include sleep and stair trouble. That keeps the exam tied to your needs.

Sources

1. OARSI 2019 designates arthritis education plus structured land-based exercise (with or without dietary weight management) as CORE treatments for knee OA, and education plus structured land-based exercise as core for hip and polyarticular OA. Topical NSAIDs are strongly recommended for knee OA (Level 1A). Intra-articular corticosteroids and hyaluronic acid are Level 1B/2 for knee OA depending on comorbidity and are NOT recommended for hip or polyarticular OA. Oral NSAIDs are not recommended for people with cardiovascular comorbidity or frailty, and oral and transdermal opioids are strongly not recommended (Level 5).

   Bannuru RR, Osani MC, Vaysbrot EE, et al. — OARSI guidelines for the non-surgical management of knee, hip, and polyarticular osteoarthritis.. Osteoarthritis and Cartilage, 2019. DOI: 10.1016/j.joca.2019.06.011.

2. The 2019 ACR/Arthritis Foundation guideline makes STRONG recommendations for exercise, weight loss in people with knee and/or hip OA who are overweight or obese, self-efficacy and self-management programs, tai chi, cane use, tibiofemoral bracing for tibiofemoral knee OA, topical NSAIDs for knee OA, oral NSAIDs, and intra-articular glucocorticoid injections for knee OA. Radiofrequency ablation for knee OA, acupuncture, thermal modalities, acetaminophen, duloxetine and tramadol are only CONDITIONAL recommendations.

   Kolasinski SL, Neogi T, Hochberg MC, et al. — 2019 American College of Rheumatology/Arthritis Foundation Guideline for the Management of Osteoarthritis of the Hand, Hip, and Knee.. Arthritis & Rheumatology, 2020. DOI: 10.1002/art.41142.

3. The Cochrane review of land-based therapeutic exercise for knee osteoarthritis extracted data from 54 randomised trials, assessing pain, physical function and quality of life immediately after treatment and the sustained effect at 2-6 months and beyond 6 months. Only 19 of the included studies (20%) met all three low-risk-of-bias criteria the authors applied.

   Fransen M, McConnell S, Harmer AR, et al. — Exercise for osteoarthritis of the knee.. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2015. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD004376.pub3.

4. A Cochrane overview of 21 systematic reviews (381 studies, 37,143 participants) covering rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia, low back pain, neck disorder and other chronic pain conditions concluded that physical activity and exercise are interventions with few adverse events that may improve pain severity and physical function - but that the quality of the evidence is low, effects on pain were inconsistent across reviews, and physical function improved significantly in 14 reviews with only small-to-moderate effect sizes. The commonest reported adverse event was increased muscle soreness that settled within weeks.

   Geneen LJ, Moore RA, Clarke C, Martin D, Colvin LA, Smith BH — Physical activity and exercise for chronic pain in adults: an overview of Cochrane Reviews.. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2017. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD011279.pub3.