A study by Fisher
20)
reported that, after the implemen-tation of muscular function improvement exercises for de -generative osteoarthritis patients for 16 weeks, the patients
showed reductions of 40%, 10%, and 30% in pain, reliance,
and dysfunction, respectively. Previous studies related
to degenerative osteoarthritis have reported that manual
therapy MWM is an effective treatment for pain and physi -cal dysfunction caused by degenerative osteoarthritis. A
comparison of the experimental and control groups of the
present study revealed that the experimental group showed
greater improvements in both pain and physical function.
Damage of the joints causes pain and limitation of motion
(LOM) due to sprain of soft tissues. Pain and LOM cause
more damage to the joint. Joint control of MWM can reduce
the emission of noxious stimuli from a damaged joint, and
when pain is reduced, LOM is also reduced leading to im-provement in physical function
21 )
.