Living With Arthritis? Say Goodbye to Pain With Physiotherapy
Say Goodbye to the Pains that Control Your Life
Are you living with arthritis? If so, you’re not alone.
There are many important steps that people dealing with this condition can take to relieve their stiff and aching joints. Physiotherapy is one of them! It’s a great way to create an effective plan to ease the pain while remaining active.
Arthritis can affect anyone at any age and can become downright debilitating for those who suffer from it.
If you want to kick your arthritis pain to the curb, call our office today and find out how a physiotherapy program can lessen or even eliminate your pain!
What can I expect from my treatment plan?
There are tons of treatment methods physiotherapists may use to help relieve your arthritis pain. For example, they may use manual techniques to loosen muscles and tendons around your arthritic joints. A physiotherapy might also recommend the use of therapeutic modalities like cold compresses, ice, heating pads to do at home. In the clinic, physiotherapy treatment may also include electric stimulation, or acupuncture for pain control.
But most importantly, physiotherapy will help you progress from simple to more complex rehab exercises, until you are back to doing those activities you love to do the most.
What can physiotherapy do for me?
Physiotherapy treatment programs can not only lessen the pain you experience from arthritis, but they can also help improve your daily life. Working with a physiotherapist every week can improve the following:
- Improving range of motion – Physiotherapy can help keep your muscles and ligaments loose which will reduce inflammation and stiffness. This will decrease your pain levels, and improve your overall range of mobility.
- Improving muscle strength – Physiotherapy techniques are often used to increase strength. If the muscles that surround and support aching joints become stronger and more flexible, they can help relieve arthritis pain.
- Using the correct technology – Physiotherapists can teach you how to use walkers, orthotics, and other assistive technology devices correctly. This can help ease strain on your joints when you move.
So, why should I opt for physiotherapy over other options?
Exercising daily is not enough to reverse arthritis, but it can certainly help slow down its progression while easing the painful symptoms.
Your physiotherapist can help you form a regular exercise routine which can help you lose some weight. This will ease the strain on your joints, as studies hvae shown a reduction in pain of 50% correlating to a 10% reduction in body weight. Physiotherapists are professionally trained to evaluate your condition and provide the correct exercises to meet your needs. Most of the exercises they will teach you can be done on your own at home as well, so you can continue treatment outside of appointment. You might even have some aquatic exercises! Working out in a heated pool provides exercise that is non-impact and extremely calming to the joints.
What else can I do?
Eating a healthy and nutritious diet also plays an important role in easing arthritis pain.
Besides kicking the refined carbs, MSG’s, and sugar filled foods (which all increase inflammation) you should add these great tasting, natural foods to your diet!
- Broccoli – Did you know that broccoli has an ingredient called sulforaphane in it, which may slow or even prevent osteoarthritis? It’s true! Broccoli is great hot, cold, in salads and casseroles, or as a side dish for meals. It is very important to get your greens in when you’re trying to have a healthy diet.
- Ginger – Ginger helps reduce inflammation and ease arthritis pain. It also adds flavor to almost any food including meat, fruit, veggies, and soups.
- Soy – Soy is a great tasting way to fight inflammation, as it is high in protein and low in fat. You can get your soy through roasted soybeans, tofu, and soy milk. You don’t even have to be a vegetarian to try it!
- Walnuts – Walnuts are rich in omega-3 fatty acids and can reduce inflammation and soreness. You can eat them alone as a snack, or add them into almost any sweet or salty dish for an extra crunchy boost.
Be sure to consult an MD, naturopath, or dietician to see what dietary changes you can make that are right for you.
Ready to get started with physiotherapy?
Physiotherapy is a safe and healthy way to keep your joints, tendons, and muscles working together the way they’re supposed to. Additionally, you can look forward to stopping to take excessive amounts of medication if you decide to go down the physiotherapy route, which is a huge added bonus to your health and wallet!
One of our qualified movement specialists will put together a treatment program to help reduce your arthritis pain and keep you as active as possible.
Contact Leaps and Bound Physiotherapy to see how physiotherapy can help you live a pain-free life.