Arthritis: What can you do about it?

Do you feel like you aren’t able to do the things you want or love because of your arthritis holding you back?

Well, the good news is, you do not have to live with this pain or discomfort… If you’ve found yourself struggling with limited activity because of your arthritis discomfort, then you may want to keep reading to find out how we can help you…

First, we want to tell you a little bit about one of our patients, Mary.

Mary has been coming in to see us for arthritis in her knees. Like many of our clients who struggle with arthritis, she wakes up with pain in the morning. Getting up out of bed and taking those first steps often feels stiff and achy, and although her pain gets more manageable throughout the day, Mary just wasn’t able to do everything she wanted to do with the nagging pain.

After taking a better look at Mary, we noticed that she was only able to walk for about 15 minutes before feeling that all too familiar ache and swelling in her knees.

So the important question is… What CAN we do about this pain? And more importantly, how can we help people like Mary enjoy life comfortably and pain-free once again?

After having Mary in for an evaluation and further observing her movement patterns, we were able to determine any imbalances. From there, we worked closely with Mary to strengthen the muscles around the knee in order to take pressure off of the joint. Eventually, we were actually able to get her walking around smoothly again, and without pain!

For many of you who may relate to Mary’s story dealing with arthritic aches and pains throughout the day, you may be searching for SOME way that you can make this pain a little easier to deal with. Perhaps you just want to be able to take your walks around the neighborhood, or be able to keep up with your grandkids playing in the yard…

The thing about arthritis is that a lot of the time, X-ray results will show joint degeneration, bone-on-bone, or cartilage wearing off. To many people, this can all be alarming, but the good news is that these conditions are not the end-all, be-all.

You do not have to live with this pain for the rest of your life, because there are so many things that we can do to help you!

If you experience any pain or trouble with arthritis standing in the way and have questions on how a physical therapist can help you achieve your goals, please let us know.  We look forward to hearing from you!

Dr. Daphne Tan, PT, DPT