This year AXA PPP has announced that it will now be funding conservative treatment for unicompartmental osteoarthritis under its private healthcare cover in the form of offloading knee brace, the Unloader One. The Unloader One knee brace is the only knee brace funded by AXA PPP for the treatment of osteoarthritis as an alternative to surgical intervention, where appropriate. This means that the knee brace, which usually costs £599 out of pocket for a patient looking to pursue alternative, non invasive treatment, is now available for free under the healthcare cover provided by AXA PPP.

A healthy workplace environment is not just a right, but also a need. We spend a significant portion of our lives in offices, factories, service stations and more and when employers fail to deliver a healthy environment, employees and ex-employees can pay with their health for years to come.

Osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee is a very common long-term condition. Data collected in the UK and in the USA indicate that at least one-in-five people over the age of 45 have the condition to some degree. And, as you get older, the likelihood of the condition developing increases.

Many people experience joint pain at some time during their life. There are various possible causes of pain in the joints, but most frequently it occurs as the result of an injury or arthritis.

A diagnosis of osteoarthritis (OA) will likely have an impact on your daily life. However, it will also impact those around you. You may have mobility issues or require additional support in certain areas. In order for those around you to provide the support you need and to put their minds at rest about your diagnosis, it is important that they fully understand the condition. If you have recently been diagnosed with OA, but have yet to discuss it with those closest to you, here are three steps to explaining the disease to your family.

Written for OA Knee Pain by Registered Dietician Nichola Ludlam-Raine. Nichola works as an NHS, freelance and private dietician and has appeared on BBC breakfast a number of times to provide her expert opinion. Here she tells us about the top 10 lifestyle and healthy eating tips for before and after surgery.

According to the NHS, osteoarthritis affects about 8 million people in the UK. While in many cases, the condition develops as a result of the slow degeneration of joints brought on by ageing, your susceptibility for developing osteoarthritis in the knee may increase if you have previously suffered an injury to the joint.

The link between physical activity and knee pain is something that we are all aware of and make assumptions about but there hasn’t been any concrete research, until now. The same group of researchers from the University of Manchester responsible for the Cloudy with a chance of Pain study have created the Koalap.

There is a strong link between our work and our health. We all spend a lot of time in our jobs and so it is important to analyse the risks involved and understand how our job can affect our health. With osteoarthritis, there can be many risk factors to consider at work. It is vital to assess what factors increase the risk of developing OA and how OA can be managed at work.

Many people experiencing knee pain express concerns or complaints about certain weather condition causing painful episodes or an increase in usual chronic pain. As this is quite common, it was a surprise to find that there doesn’t currently exist any scientific data or research on the existence of a relationship between the weather and pain; that is until now.