
GLA:D
GLA:D - Good Life with Osteoarthritis in Denmark. It is the name of a treatment concept for back, knee and hip pain. The treatment concept has a solid scientific foundation and includes teaching and training. This treatment concept has a satisfaction rate of 89%!

One has today gone away from using the term worn out joints and has instead switched to using the technical term osteoarthritis . The reason is that osteoarthritis is not related to wear and tear .
GLA:D is built around the scientific recommendations for knee and hip osteoarthritis - what was previously called worn out joints. The course includes both patient education and a training course under the guidance of a GLA:D-Certified physiotherapist.
Who benefits from a GLA:D course?
GLA:D for knee and hip pain is originally development for osteoarthritis-related pain. However, we see many without the diagnosis of osteoarthritis, which also has a good effect of a GLA:D course. These are therefore typically people over the age of 40 with osteoarthritis-related pain, or pain without a specific cause.
GLA:D-Back is an offer for patients who have long-term or recurrent low back pain that affects their quality of life and everyday life. It is also an offer for patients with low back pain who have difficulty dealing with the pain and the consequences it has.
Patients with more acute back pain, nerve root pressure, an active rheumatic disease or other disease that causes back pain are not the target group for GLA:D-Back.
The physiotherapist assesses whether GLA:D-Back is a possible offer for the patient. Participation in a GLA:D-Back course is based on a joint decision by the physiotherapist and the patient.
From worn out joints to osteoarthritis
One has today gone away from using the term worn out joints and has instead switched to using the technical term osteoarthritis. The reason is that osteoarthritis is not related to wear and tear. This means that osteoarthritis does not develop as a consequence of having used your joint too much - if that were the case, then it would not make sense to train/load the joint further.
We know today that the amount of osteoarthritis on an X-ray does not say anything about the real condition of the joint. On an X-ray, you can have a lot of osteoarthritis and no pain and a little osteoarthritis with a lot of pain.
It seems that the factors that come into play are physical inactivity, obesity, previous injuries, other rheumatic diseases and heredity. In addition, osteoarthritis is a condition that occurs more frequently with increasing age. Some occupations also appear to be at increased risk of developing osteoarthritis.
What is GLA:D training?
GLA:D is a concept with a foundation in science. This means that GLA:D is based on the best knowledge we have available regarding the treatment of osteoarthritis-related pain. In practice, this means that you as a patient must go through the following:
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Thorough preliminary examination by a competent physiotherapist.
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Teaching osteoarthritis related to your pain.
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Minimum 6 weeks training course of 2 training sessions per week.