How does arthritis happen?

Arthritis is usually the result of wear and tear of the cartilage of the joints. Moving inefficiently will increase this wear and tear and is a significant differentiator between those who get arthritis and those who don’t. Arthritis becomes painful when cartilage is shaved off into the joint space causing painful inflammation and when there isn’t enough cartilage to cushion the forces passing through the joint. Arthritis is made even worse by tissues around the joint tightening, weakening of muscles that support the joint, and the resulting limited range of motion contributing to even less efficient movement. This turns arthritis into a vicious cycle of people moving less because of pain, and when they do move it’s not efficient and makes the arthritis pain worse, so then they stop moving again. 

How can physical therapy help?

Physical therapy is a conservative, non-invasive and effective arthritis treatment, which typically affects the articulating joints of the body such as the hip, knee, shoulder, and hand. Arthritis can also affect the spinal column known as degenerative disc disease (DDD). The primary focus of therapy is to regain overall range of motion and flexibility to help improve joint mobility as well as increase strength and endurance for improved independence with daily activities.

This is accomplish in the following ways: 

• Flexibility: These exercises help improve overall joint mobility and muscle flexibility.
• Strength : In addition to increasing flexibility, muscle strength is important to provide stability to the affected joint. Not only is muscle used to move joints, but it also acts as a “shock absorber”.
• Endurance: Muscle endurance is another important factor. Endurance is the muscle’s ability to perform an activity over an extended period of time. Strength usually diminishes due to a lack of endurance. With increased endurance strength is preserved. As a result, an individual can tolerate daily activities for an extended period of time.

There are two main types of arthritis which include Osteoarthritis (OA) and Rheumatoid arthritis (RA). 

• OA is a result of cartilage wear and tear, causing bones to rub together which leads to inflammation. 
• RA is an autoimmune disease that triggers unwanted symptoms in the body when the immune system attacks healthy tissue. 

While medication can be prescribed to help relieve pain, we recommend a natural approach such as physical therapy. 

Different types of arthritis pain you may be experiencing and that physical therapy can help:

• Inflammatory arthritis
• Psoriatic arthritis
• Hip arthritis
• Septic arthritis
• Degenerative arthritis 
• Post traumatic arthritis