Relieving Arthritis Pain

Are you experiencing pain in your groin or stiffness in your back? Do you find it painful to go up and down stairs? Are these symptoms making it difficult for you to go about your daily routine? 

You could be suffering from osteoarthritis. 

Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis, affecting nearly 30 million nationwide. OA is a degenerative joint disease often described as “wear and tear” arthritis. Repetitive movement and prior injuries also contribute to the condition. 

Early on, the condition is most commonly associated with stiffness and aches after prolonged rest and inactivity. As the condition advances, inflammation leads to pain and loss of motion in the joints. 

While arthritis can be debilitating, there’s a lot that you can do to alleviate the pain and improve your function, joint movement, muscle strength, balance, and coordination. It’s even possible to eliminate symptoms, depending on the amount of arthritis you have.

Call our clinic today to make an appointment.  With guidance from your physical therapist, you can find solutions to your pain and get back to living the life you enjoy!

What Is Arthritis, Exactly?

Osteoarthritis is also known as degenerative joint disease. The main characteristics are the loss of articular cartilage and joint disability. It is known as the “wear and tear” form of arthritis. The breakdown of the cartilage affects the whole joint, causing inflammation, bone/joint structural changes, and bone spur formation.

Primary osteoarthritis has no known cause, but almost 30–65% is thought to be genetically determined. Secondary osteoarthritis mainly comes from traumatic events. Despite the differences in the causes, the two types of osteoarthritis progress in similar directions, ultimately resulting in the loss and destruction of articular cartilage.

Typical symptoms include pain, muscle weakness, joint instability, brief morning stiffness, crepitus (i.e., noises like snaps and pops), and physical inactivity.

What Causes Osteoarthritis?

There is increasing evidence that different risk factors are associated with osteoarthritis, including:

• Obesity
• Genetic predispositions 
• Sociodemographic characteristics (e.g., female gender, African-American race) 
• Specific bone/joint shapes

There are also physical risk factors associated with increased osteoarthritis including:

• Joint injury
• Participation in certain occupational activities (i.e., repetitive movements like bending or prolonged positions like sitting/driving)
• Participation in sports (i.e. contact sports)
• Thigh flexor muscle weakness and knee osteoarthritis 
• Joint malalignment

Although aging is one of the most significant risk factors for osteoarthritis, obesity is also a major contributor to developing osteoarthritis. Obese patients have extra weight on their bodies that add to cartilage breakdown. 

Recent research suggests that unhealthy diets are associated with systemic inflammation. This inflammation is responsible for a 2.5 times higher likelihood of experiencing knee pain than patients with healthy weight and diets and similar cartilage damage.

However, this cycle can be broken by improving joint movement, muscle strength, balance, and coordination, reducing pain and inflammation.

How Physical Therapy Can Help Arthritis 

Your physical therapist will assess your particular condition to identify the contributing factors and address all of them. Regardless of the cause of arthritis, physical therapy plays a significant role in treating arthritis symptoms and should be the first step.  

Your therapist can educate you on how regular physical activity and individualized exercise programs can reduce your pain, prevent the condition from worsening, and improve daily function. 

Physical therapists can also help you choose healthier lifestyles for losing weight if you are overweight or obese. In addition, your PT can guide you on ways to maintain a healthy weight using diet changes and exercise. 

In many cases, physical therapy can help patients by choosing specific exercises and designing appropriate strengthening exercises that improve your function without aggravating your pain. Your therapist can help you reclaim a healthy lifestyle. From start to finish, we’re dedicated to your ongoing well-being. On every level, physical therapy serves to enhance the patient’s quality of life. 

Sources: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32364594/, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5832048/, https://www.hopkinsarthritis.org/arthritis-research/, https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2021.631291/full, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S106345841931297X, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25785564/, https://journals.lww.com/co-rheumatology/Abstract/2018/03000/Epidemiology_of_osteoarthritis__literature_update.5.aspx

3 Simple Movements to Help Alleviate OA Pain

If you have osteoarthritis, it’s important to stay active to help keep your joints healthy. While our physical therapists can help you develop a suitable exercise program, you can also incorporate movement in small ways throughout the day.

These simple exercises will help mobilize your joints, and you can easily do them at home. Of course, check with your PT before starting anything new!

Ankle Circles

While sitting in a chair, stretch your feet out in front of you, keeping them neutral (neither pointed or flexed). Gently tilt both feet in one direction, then repeat in the other.

Knee Raises

Sit on the edge of your chair with your back straight and your feet planted on the floor. Slowly lift your knee as high as possible without bending your back, guiding it up with your hands if necessary. Then, making sure to keep your core tight, gently lower your foot back to the floor. Repeat on the other side.

Overhead Shoulder Stretches

You can do this exercise sitting or standing. Hold your arms at your side, your elbows bent at a 90-degree angle and your thumbs pointed toward your shoulders. Then, stretch your arms straight overhead and slowly lower back down.

If lifting both arms is too difficult, lift them one at a time. You can guide your arm up under the elbow if necessary.

Looking for more simple arthritis stretches? Call GTS Physical Therapy for an appointment today!

Source: https://arthritis.ca/living-well/2020/top-10-arthritis-exercises