Arthritis pain should not be relied on drugs and pain medications alone to help alleviate pain. This is where physical therapy comes into play. If you’re tired of relying on medication to manage your arthritis pain, or the drugs just aren’t cutting it to help with pain – it may be time to incorporate physical therapy. Physical therapy can help realign and heal damaged joints to make them more strong and flexible. Allowing you to become more active and mobile.
What is the goal of a physiotherapist?
Physical therapy is often recommended treatment for arthritis pain, it work to help strengthen joints that have been weakened by old age, damage (injury) and/or inflammation.
Although the treatment should always be tailored specifically to the patients needs and requirements. The primary goal of treatment are fairly similar to one another regardless of the patient’s medical condition. Physiotherapy will work towards:
- Improving symptoms: ex; pain, stiffness, lack of range of motion, poor strength…
- Improving function and mobility: for your daily activities, or sport
- Self-management: after a few weeks/month of treatment, the ultimate goal is to be able to maneuver on your own without the use of assistive devices or support.
It is important to be aware of the fact that arthritis will affect you more than just physically. It will slow doing your day to day tasks due to lack of mobility. Which is why help from other healthcare professionals such as doctors, psychologists, occupational therapists, nutritionists and pharmacists will be beneficial to your overall wellbeing. A multidisciplinary approach is recommended.
Is it useful for you?
Below are listed a few different types of treatment methods a physiotherapist might address to treat their patients.
Exercises prescription:
By far the most commonly turned to and supported method, exercise as physical therapy is highly encouraged by physiotherapists. As they can be accustomed to suit the patients needs and their level of physical strength. Your physiotherapist will assess you and create an exercise plan designed specifically for you to improve your physical condition.
Proper posture and form will be essential in order to ensure that your exercises are effective and helpful. Your physiotherapist will go over the basics and cover all exercises with you before he or she sends you off to do on your own. Do not be scared to move!
If you move properly, you will not “worsen you joints”. It is important to take note that while there exist hundreds of online exercise programs it is essential to see your physiotherapists before starting any of these on your own. It is not a quick fix but rather a work in progress. Your physiotherapist knows you better than the internet and will create your own custom program to treat your arthritis
Below are some examples of different types of exercise methods:
- Aerobics
- Stretching
- Range of motion
- Strengthening
- Mobility
- Proprioception/balance
- Hydrotherapy
Manual therapy:
Within the top favorite methods of therapy by physiotherapist, manual therapy consists of a group of therapeutic techniques performed on patients by the use of the physio’s bare hands. By working with their hands, the physiotherapist is able to work with realighing joints, managing tight muscles, increase range of motion, the list is never ending. While manual therapy alone is not a long term solution, it is made more effective if combined with physical exercise.
TENS therapy:
A small electrical stimulator powered by batteries, the TENS machine is used to temporarily decrease pain.
Thermotherapy:
Or in other words: heat therapy. Heat can have various effects on the body and can serve multiple purposes for pain relief. In addition to feeling nice and soothing, heat helps to promote blood flow and fluidity in movement. Important to take note that the pain relief is very temporary, it can still be used as an addition to other treatments. Below are a few forms of thermotherapy:
- Heat packs: probably the most popular among the listed
- Paraffin wax: Our personal favorite! A treatment method that uses paraffin wax to provide heat to a designated area of the body
- Ultrasounds: They are part of thermotherapy as they serve to heat up the tissues
- Fluidotherapy: a large machine that will procure heat via heated particles.
Cryotherapy:
Contrary to thermotherapy, cryotherapy is cold therapy. Brr! The general idea here it to provide cold to a designated body part in order to numb pain and decrease swelling.. Primarily turned to after an injury. Once again, this is a short term pain relief. Below are a few forms of cryotherapy:
- Ice packs: By far the most accessible and affordable form of treatment. High popularity due to these criterias.
- Ice braces: A brace that delivers a cool sensation for temporary relief.
- Ice cold water: Affordable, simple, quick and efficient for immediate short term pain relief.
- Ice massagee: A message performed with the use of ice cubes.
- Full body cryotherapy: An above average cold room.
Contrast bath:
Part of both cryotherapy and thermotherapy, contrast baths use warm water followed by cold water to decrease swelling. Hence where it gets its name from.
Ultrasounds:
A machine that operates by sending sound waves inside the tissues. The primary goal is to promote healthy healing of the tissues vs pain control.
Low energy laser:
Machine that will power an intense light to act on body cells and create pain relief and accelerate the healing process.
Taping:
By tapping the knee, pain can be relieved by supporting the joint where the muscles lack in strength. As well asl help encourage proper alignment. While tapping does not protect against injuries it will help by preventing further injury due to proper alignment and positioning of the knee. A physio will be able to use various taping techniques.
Diathermy:
A machine that ejects electromagnetic energy to the cells of the body in order to decrease pain.
Acupuncture:
Needles. Derived from ancient eastern medicine, acupuncture has been studied by the Westerm culture for years and consequently evolved into n a western way of thinking (very scientific). Physiotherapist will use small needles and place them in a specific are or part of the body. The goal once again is to decrease pain.
Dry needling:
Needles once again however this time around they used to try to reset a muscle. A physio will use this method of treatment to promote alignment, decrease stiffness, or improve muscle contraction.
Education:
Probably the most important treatment when it comes to any sort of injury. Understanding your condition, what to do, what not to do, recovery time, etc. is crucial in order to get better. A physiotherapist should provide you education on:
- Joint protection
- Fatigue management
- Work setting adaptation
- Risk factor management
A physio could also guide you when it comes to
- Walking aid: cane, walker, wheel chair.
- Orthosis: to promote alignment
- Brace: especially knee brace
Weight loss:
In order to lose weight, one must fully understand proper nutrition as well what forms of exercise work best for fat loss. While some may turn to diet products, medications and/or surgeries… the best way to lose weight is by adjusting your diet hence more vegetables, whole grains and lean protein in addition to upping your fitness regimen. Physiotherapist can help you by formulation a series of specific exercises for ultimate weight loss. Physical activities notably aerobic (but not only) could be used to promote weight loss. Unfortunately, most physiotherapists cannot advise on the nutrition aspect and a referral to a nutritionist or dietitian might be necessary.
A physiotherapist can play heath coach role in terms of learning how to care and fuel your body. He or she should be able to guide you and plan your treatment process, send you the contact information to different healthcare professionals if needed and lastly stay with you until your goals are achieved.