It’s been a common misconception for decades that arthritis is a condition of old age, but while we certainly become more prone to it as we get older, it’s something that can affect everyone, including children. Luckily, physiotherapy is a highly effective way of managing the condition.
If you are in fact elderly, we also have a useful article on how physiotherapy can help with Symptoms of Ageing.
In order to understand how physiotherapy can help in the treatment of arthritis, it’s important to understand how arthritis affects us.
If you are in the process of finding and picking a physio, why not check out our helpful blog on Choosing the Right Physiotherapist.
Arthritis is the generic umbrella name we give to a disease that causes inflammation of the joints. It comes from the Greek arthrites, meaning ‘pertaining to the joints’.
Often, people who are diagnosed with arthritis don’t fully understand how their condition affects them.
While most GPs will prescribe anti-inflammatory medication to help relieve the painful symptoms of arthritis, not all patients are informed about the other treatments, like physiotherapy, that are available.
Each type of arthritis will affect people in a different way, and the physiotherapy we offer you will reflect the very specific mechanics of the disease – how it develops and impacts on you specifically – as well as your own individual circumstances.
The treatment your physiotherapist offers to you could be very different to someone else who may be suffering with another unrelated, but limiting or restrictive health condition.
Regardless of whether its physiotherapy for arthritis, physiotherapy for a sports injury or physiotherapy for a temporary and transient condition, like muscle spasm, your treatment and recovery programme should always be highly personalised.
Where arthritis is concerned, the simple benefit of physiotherapy is that it’s a treatment programme that’s designed to get your joints and muscles moving more freely – and movement is the foundation stone on which pain relief is often built.
Joints and muscles will always be more painful when they’re not used frequently. A bit like the stiffness we experience when we’ve been sitting in the same position for a long time, your joints will begin to seize through lack of use, causing more pain.
Physiotherapy helps to extend the mobility of the joints and muscles, and as they become stronger and more mobile, pain usually dissipates. If you are concerned about your mobility due to age, we have some helpful points in our Is Good Mobility A Matter Of Age? blog that may give you useful insights.
While we can’t promise a pain-free existence for arthritis sufferers – many of the disease types are progressive, so will worsen over time – physiotherapy can help to mitigate the symptoms and slow the negative impact arthritis has on daily life.
Physiotherapy is also great for exercising the joints and muscles that aren’t affected by your condition, so it has a wider benefit than simply treating arthritic pain.
If you’ve received a formal arthritis diagnosis and you’re struggling with painful joints, make an appointment to see your GP and ask if you can be referred for physiotherapy. While not all GPs will be proactive about referrals, many if not most will refer if asked.
If your GP won’t refer you, most private physiotherapy treatment is affordable and can reap rapid benefits. Why not check out our Physiotherapy Services to see if we can help. If you are not based in London, be sure to review our 6 Step Guide to Choosing the Right Physiotherapist to pick the right practice for you.
If you’d like to speak to us about physiotherapy for arthritis or any other condition – or if you’d just like some advice about other steps you can take to look after yourself – please get in touch.
