"It is very painful. It definitely limits your activity," said Glock.
She joined a study not for a new drug or surgery, but to heal her osteoarthritis by changing the way she walks.
"We're really hoping to make subtle changes in alignment of the lower limb," said Dr. Laura Thorp from Rush University Medical Center.
It starts with a set of exercises that focus on the hip muscles. Fifteen minutes a day over four weeks slowly changed the way Glock distributes weight when she walks. The exercises help straighten her hips. The idea is to relieve the load on the knees.
"By retraining muscles through these exercises, it's sort of an unconscious retraining of gait," said Dr. Thorp.
Dr. Thorp measures Glock's progress in a motion lab.
In a study, patients saw the load on their knees decrease by 10-percent after one month. This used to be one of Glock's biggest fears.
"Now, when I'm walking, it's totally different," said Glock.
It's giving her a new stride and new confidence without surgery.
Dr. Thorp says the routine isn't a replacement for surgery, but she hopes it can be an intervention that can delay the need for an operation.
Once her study is complete, she hopes to publish exercise guidelines for those on the road to joint replacements.
