At On the Road Physiotherapy we have many home visit requests due to joint pain from Osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis (OA) is defined as a common form of arthritis typically with onset during middle or old age that is characterized by progressive degenerative changes in the cartilage of one or more joints (as of the knees, hips, and hands) accompanied by thickening and overgrowth of adjacent bone and that is marked symptomatically chiefly by stiffness, swelling, pain, deformation of joints, and loss of range of motion (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/osteoarthritis).
Despite the definition, OA doesn’t necessarily mean pain. Our mobile Physiotherapy team have seen many clients with OA who have no pain, and others with lots of pain.
They key things we can do to help is:
(1) Reduce pain – Pain is caused by many reasons not just the joint degeneration
(2) Improve the surrounding tissues and general health of the body.
We will work to get you moving well, guide you to eat and sleep well and help you recover and prevent flare ups.
According to the Arthritis Foundation here is how movement and exercise helps your joints:
– Synovial fluid lubricates the joint.
– Blood flow increases oxygen
– Nutrients circulate to the joint.
– Joint-repair genes are switched on.
– Cellular waste is removed.
– Muscle is built.
For more information follow the link:
http://blog.arthritis.org/living-with-arthritis/exercise-benefits-for-joints/
