How can physiotherapists help you with joint pains?
The painful sensation that you feel while moving your joint is known as joint stiffness. The stiffness can usually lead to discomfort caused by arthritis or an injury to the joint. Appropriate and consistent exercise can help to reduce stiffness and joint pain, enhance flexibility, endurance, and muscular strength, and maintain bone and cartilage health.
Joint pain affects the bones connecting to the joints. It has both acute and chronic variants, both of which can lead to joint inflammation. When people with arthritis move, they experience pain, stiffness, and discomfort.
The range of mobility of the body’s joints is essential for human movement. The joints themselves and the muscles, nerves, and connective tissue that surround them can limit the range of motion. Muscle tightness, osteoarthritis, and even nerve entrapment are just a few disorders that can make you feel stiff and limited.
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Reduced range of motion hinders the body’s capacity to operate effectively, resulting in joint discomfort and the inability to accomplish the tasks you want or need to do during the day.
The major goal of physical therapy in treating arthritis is to improve the mobility and function of the damaged joints. Physiotherapists are qualified professionals who use various techniques to strengthen afflicted joints.
Why is joint pain a common ailment?
By making the link between your bones, joints offer you the support you need throughout movements. These joints can be affected by an accident or illness, producing discomfort and limiting motion. It is a disorder that mostly affects the elderly. Strain, overexertion, and the rigours of contemporary life have made it a rather prevalent disease in recent years.
The risk involved with joint pain.
Understanding risk factors can aid in identifying high-risk individuals and the management of their joint pain. To successfully manage joint pain, thorough examinations and therapies are necessary, as older persons frequently suffer both age-related physical and mental difficulties. The following are some frequent risk factors to consider while managing joint pain;
Physical inactivity.
Many kinds of arthritis can lead to physical inactivity and severity of pain. Though lack of physical exercise does not cause arthritis, it does raise the risk of acquiring it by contributing to obesity, which is a risk factor for the disease.
Joint injuries.
Knee injuries may develop into knee OA in the future. According to reports, those who have had previous knee injuries are more likely to experience knee discomfort.
Obesity and overweight.
Allowing your body to become overweight might hasten the beginning and progression of osteoarthritis in your knees, hands, and hips. Obesity has also been linked to the advancement and severity of various kinds of arthritis.
Increasing age.
One element you can’t control is your age. Though arthritis can strike at any age, research has shown that the chance of having the disease rises with age.
How can a physiotherapist help you reduce joint pain?
When you go to physiotherapy, the first thing a physical therapist will do is question you about your specific illness, including any symptoms you may be having in addition to joint stiffness. You should tell the physiotherapist when you first start experiencing stiffness. A therapist might ask the second question about your medical history, particularly if you have arthritis.
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Following the preliminary diagnosis via the question-and-answer session, the physiotherapist will perform a thorough physical examination, evaluating the joint and other structures associated with it to determine what is causing joint stiffness and other symptoms such as pain, inflammation, etc.
A detailed physical therapy treatment plan will be developed following his questioning and physical examination based on your specific stiffness, symptoms, and needs. Physiotherapy for joint pain can help you reduce the pain.
Treatment methods.
Physiotherapy functions as a preventative strategy for lowering joint stiffness and pain by first establishing the specific cause of joint discomfort and then treating it using highly effective treatments.
The following are the treatment choices that most physiotherapists choose;
Manual therapy.
This manual treatment commonly uses soft tissue and joint mobilization to relieve joint limitation and muscle strain.
Soft tissue massage.
Soft tissue massage uses just the therapist’s hands to relieve muscular tension and restore mobility to tight joints, allowing the patient to move more freely.
Joint pain exercises.
A physiotherapist might tell you to do stretching exercises that force you to move your limbs without assistance and muscle-strengthening activities that demand you to kneel, stand, and sit to keep your balance.
Ultrasound treatment.
The physiotherapist uses a transducer to transmit a stream of high-frequency sound waves into the patient’s body during an ultrasound. These waves reverberate through the organs, muscles, and tissues of the body.
Acupuncture.
Acupuncture physical therapy aids in the restoration of energy balance in the body, which relieves pain, and inflammation and increases the healing process. This is accomplished by using single-use tiny needles at various ‘trigger’ areas on the body. According to your symptoms, it can help you increase energy flow.
Ice and hot packs.
Ice packs can be useful in relieving swelling and inflammation in inflamed joints. On the other hand, heat packs can reduce pain by promoting blood circulation.
Using a wet flannel cloth soaked in warm or cold water works similarly to using heat or ice packs, but you must be cautious about getting the temperature right or risking harming yourself.
TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation).
It prevents your nerves from transmitting pain signals to your brain. It relies on a tiny electronic gadget that sends pulses to nerve endings, causing a tingling sensation that helps to relieve pain.
Hydrotherapy.
It relieves arthritis symptoms by using water. Under the supervision of a professional physiotherapist, patients undergo specific exercises in water between 33 and 36 degrees Celsius.
Conclusion.
Many physiotherapy treatments are available; your physios for joint pain will likely recommend the most appropriate treatment for you. Living with arthritis is difficult, but with these therapies, you’ll feel more like yourself and be able to live a healthy and meaningful life. Make an appointment with a trained physiotherapist if you’re suffering from joint discomfort.