As you get older you may feel it is normal to put up with niggles, aches and pains. It’s not, we can help you!
Many people we see at our Stansted Park and Rowlands Castle private physiotherapy clinics have been told they have arthritis and there is nothing that can be done.
We also see a lot of people who are worried that their parents have arthritis and may need a knee, hip or shoulder joint replacement, and those who have seen their parents struggle with back pain due to arthritis and have seen their mobility decline as a result of this.
There are people we know who have arthritic changes in their joints but have no pain. So maybe you are thinking ‘why do I have pain and some others don’t?’ A lot of the time it comes down to a few different reasons:
- Exercise – keeping your muscles strong helps support your joints
- Flexibility – keeping your joints mobile and muscles loose helps to reduce the pressure on your joints too
- Weight – “loss of at least 10% of body weight, coupled with exercise, is recognised as a cornerstone in the management of obese patients with osteoarthritis, and can lead to significant improvement in symptoms, pain relief, physical function and health-related quality of life”. (H Bliddal et al, 2014)
Now to the Halloween link!
A 2015 study of 810 people with osteoarthritis (OA) published in Journal of Rheumatology found significant links between humidity, temperature and joint pain. The effect of humidity on pain was stronger when the weather was colder. They found that wet, winter days can make your joints ache more if you have osteoarthritis.
However other articles have found the same but then questioned why is this the case, is it because of the particles from damp weather or is it because in the damp and wet weather you are less active. Keeping active is really important.
How can Physio-logical help you?
- We can complete a detailed and through assessment to determine if you have arthritic joint changes or not
- We then offer hands on treatment to mobilise stiff joints and release, if needed, the muscles with soft tissue techniques such as massage, trigger point release, soft tissue release
- If we feel it is appropriate we do also offer acupuncture. There have been lots of great results for acupuncture for OA knee pain
- Most importantly we can provide you with a tailored exercise programme to make sure you improve your muscle strength and joint flexibility to support your joints and stop them feeling so creaky!
If you want help with your creaky joints then you can book an appointment to see our experienced physiotherapists or sports therapists at our Stansted Park or Rowlands Castle Clinics. You can book online, call 02394 350270 or email enquiries@physio-logical.net.
References:
- Obes Rev. 2014 Jul; 15(7): 578–586.
Osteoarthritis, obesity and weight loss: evidence, hypotheses and horizons – a scoping review
H Bliddal, A R Leeds, and R Christensen
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4238740/
- J Rheumatol. 2015 Oct;42(10):1885-92. doi: 10.3899/jrheum.141594. Epub 2015 Sep 1.
The Influence of Weather Conditions on Joint Pain in Older People with Osteoarthritis: Results from the European Project on OSteoArthritis.
Timmermans EJ et al
