Dr. Karena Wu, a physical therapist who specializes in manual therapy, Pilates based rehabilitation and sports rehabilitation joined CBS2 New York to discuss arthritis tips, exercises and stretches. Dr. Wu is on the local leadership board for the NYC Arthritis Foundation and joined Cindy Hsu and John Elliott to discuss this disease.

As a healthcare provider and a patient herself, she knows how to manage arthritis. Dr. Wu was diagnosed with arthritis at the age of 35. The disease condition progressed and at the age of 48, she was diagnosed with severe arthritis in the knee. She subsequently had knee surgery and physical therapy to rehabilitate her knee to regain function and a return to her previous level of function. The average age of someone with arthritis is 48 and women are 2 times more likely to be affected than men. 60 million Americans are afflicted with this disease condition and the term arthritis covers over a 100 different disease conditions. Dr. Wu shared some tips for arthritis sufferers for the hip and knee joints, the weight bearing joints where arthritis is very common. She discussed how to keep the joints mobile and how to reduce compression in the joints by stretching the muscles around them. Dr. Wu and John Elliott demonstrated the exercises so that viewers can use these at home tips to help manage their symptoms.