Find Relief from Osteoarthritis Pain
Are you experiencing persistent joint pain, particularly in a weight-bearing joint like your hip or knee? Do you ever notice a clicking or grinding sensation in your painful joint? If so, you may have developed osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis in the United States.
Arthritis is an umbrella term for over 100 conditions that cause joint inflammation and lead to pain and restricted mobility. The source of that inflammation will vary depending on the type of arthritis. In osteoarthritis, it’s caused by degeneration of the cartilage and bone tissue in the affected joint.
Osteoarthritis has no cure and can profoundly impact your overall quality of life, making it harder for you to stay active, keep up with chores, and enjoy time with your loved ones. Fortunately, physical therapy at Boost Physical Therapy offers several tools and techniques to help you manage your symptoms — often enough that you can delay or even avoid surgical interventions.
If you’re tired of living with osteoarthritis pain, call us to schedule an appointment today!
Understanding Osteoarthritis: Symptoms and Causes
The primary symptoms of osteoarthritis are pain and stiffness in the affected joint. These symptoms often manifest in the following ways:
- Pain during activity but not while at rest
- Pain when you press on the joint
- Joint stiffness first thing in the morning
- Joint stiffness after sitting or lying down for long periods
- Noises in the joint, including creaking, cracking, or crunching
While any joint can develop osteoarthritis, it most commonly occurs in weight-bearing joints like the knees and hips. However, it’s also fairly common in the hands, spine, and feet. The causes of osteoarthritis are complex, and several factors can contribute to it. One of these factors is age: approximately 73% of people with the condition are 55 years or older. That’s not to say osteoarthritis is an inevitable part of the aging process — plenty of older people don’t have it. But your chances of developing it do increase as you age. Other possible factors contributing to osteoarthritis include past injuries to the joint, gender (women are more likely to develop it than men), body weight, and even genetic predispositions.
How Physical Therapy Helps Manage Osteoarthritis Symptoms
The good news is that you can control osteoarthritis symptoms with the help of physical therapy. Although movement can be painful with osteoarthritis, exercise is one of the best drug-free ways to manage the condition. Our physical therapists will help you find an exercise program that suits your needs.
Here’s how we’ll do it:
- Comprehensive Evaluation: We start by evaluating how osteoarthritis impacts you, including performing simple tests to assess your strength, mobility, and/or balance. We’ll also ask you about the ways that osteoarthritis is negatively affecting your life. For example, which activities do you find challenging?
- Provide Pain Relief: We’ll use manual therapy techniques to help manage your pain and get the joint moving in a gentle way. For example, we might guide the joint through its current range of motion or manipulate the surrounding soft tissue.
- Build Strength and Restore Mobility: We’ll develop a customized, progressive exercise program to rebuild lost strength and mobility in the affected joint. Building strength, in particular, can help support and protect the joint so you can move more easily.
- Develop An At-Home Exercise Program: You’ll supplement your sessions in our clinic with a personalized home workout program to ensure you keep moving! We’ll find something that suits your abilities and interests, such as a walking program or water aerobics.
- Provide Strategies for Activity Modifications: Finally, we can help you identify and avoid any specific activities that might put too much strain on your joints. If needed, we can also show you how to use mobility aids (such as canes or walkers).
Simple Movements to Help Alleviate OA Pain
If you have osteoarthritis, it’s important to stay active to help keep your joints healthy. While our physical therapists can help you develop a suitable exercise program, you can also incorporate movement in small ways throughout the day. These simple exercises will help mobilize your joints, and you can easily do them at home. Of course, check with your PT before starting anything new!
Ankle Circles
- While sitting in a chair, stretch your feet out in front of you, keeping them neutral (neither pointed nor flexed). Gently tilt both feet in one direction, then repeat in the other.
Knee Raises
- Sit on the edge of your chair with your back straight and your feet planted on the floor. Slowly lift your knee as high as possible without bending your back, guiding it up with your hands if necessary. Then, making sure to keep your core tight, gently lower your foot back to the floor. Repeat on the other side.
Overhead Shoulder Stretches
- You can do this exercise sitting or standing. Hold your arms at your side, your elbows bent at a 90-degree angle and your thumbs pointed toward your shoulders. Then, stretch your arms straight overhead and slowly lower back down.
- If lifting both arms is too difficult, lift them one at a time. You can guide your arm up under the elbow if necessary.
Looking for more simple arthritis stretches? Call Boost Physical Therapy for an appointment today!
Don’t Let Osteoarthritis Pain Hold You Back!
We know that living with osteoarthritis can be difficult, but the physical therapists at Boost Physical Therapy are here to help you manage your condition and live your life to the fullest. With customized treatment plans, targeted exercise programs, and acute pain management techniques, physical therapy can help you take control of osteoarthritis pain. Ready to get started? Call us to schedule your initial consultation today!
Pumpkin Pie Overnight Oats with Chia
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup plain nonfat greek yogurt (or use vanilla!)
- 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (or any milk)
- 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
- 1-2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup rolled oats (gluten free if desired)
- 2 teaspoons chia seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Directions:
- In a medium bowl, mix together greek yogurt, almond milk, pumpkin puree, vanilla and 1 tablespoon maple syrup until well combined.
- Stir in oats, chia seeds and pumpkin pie spice. Taste and add more maple syrup if you want it sweeter.
- Pour into a glass jar or container and place in fridge for 4 hours or overnight. Makes 1 serving of pumpkin overnight oats.
