If you have been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) of late or suffering from the same for a long time; you are living with extreme pain, exhaustion and lassitude. More so if you are weak, aged, and have less strength left in your bones and muscles. Many patients take painkillers but are disappointed when the pain returns. Popping analgesic tablets is not the solution for treating RA simply because the relief is temporary and not permanent. However, physical therapy and the right exercises can alleviate pain and improve the overall quality of your life.
In this article, we are going to talk about how you can lessen the impact of RA with physiotherapy.
Exercise Daily & Avoid Excuses
To assuage pain and improve body flexibility, it's important to embrace a ‘no excuse' policy and perform exercises daily. Do not say things like, "This exercise hurts too much and I will do it tomorrow." If it really hurts, you can try a workout with a less aching part of your body. Here are some suggestions:
Consult a Professional
When you are visiting a rheumatologist, request him to refer you to a trained physical therapist having treated a good number of people suffering from the ailment. This is essential because an experienced professional will suggest a personalized fitness program based on the intensity of pain, symptoms and disease development. A trained person will ensure that you are doing the right exercises, performing them correctly, and also show you the new workouts that you can try. This way, you will not be frustrated and give up altogether.
Take a Warm Shower
Do you feel that your joints are stiffer in the morning? Well, this happens because joints become stiffer overnight. Take a warm shower to relieve the stiffness. This helps in therapeutic warm-up and the moist heat increases blood circulation to the aching parts, improves muscle flexibility and relieves muscle spasms.
Build a Road Map of Improvement
You along with the therapist need to build a road map of improvement for muscle, joint flexibility, and for overall mobility and fitness. This is your treatment plan and must include the following:
Embrace Aerobic Workouts
When it comes to the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, you cannot underestimate the significance of aerobic exercises. Experts opine that weight-bearing activities help in building and strengthening your bone. It also keeps diabetes and heart ailments at bay, which are often accompanied by RA.
So, if you have painful and stiff joints, consider consulting an experienced physical therapy specialist in your city for improved body movement and flexibility.
About Pieter:
Pieter Reynolds is familiar with well-known physical therapy professionals in Anaheim. He himself has been benefited by this therapeutic technique to improve his health condition. In this article, he has shared information about "5 Ways to Treat Rheumatoid Arthritis with Physical Therapy".
In this article, we are going to talk about how you can lessen the impact of RA with physiotherapy.
Exercise Daily & Avoid Excuses
To assuage pain and improve body flexibility, it's important to embrace a ‘no excuse' policy and perform exercises daily. Do not say things like, "This exercise hurts too much and I will do it tomorrow." If it really hurts, you can try a workout with a less aching part of your body. Here are some suggestions:
- If you have an extremely painful knee and joint, working these parts may make you cringe with pain. In such a situation, you can try some seated arm and wrist exercises if these parts are less painful. You can also try some bicep curls. When you feel that you can manage working with the joints in your knee, try them then but not before that.
- Expert physiotherapists also suggest warm water exercises. Do you know why? That's because the buoyancy of water releases the pressure from your joints. The balminess, on the other hand, will give you a soothing feeling.
Consult a Professional
When you are visiting a rheumatologist, request him to refer you to a trained physical therapist having treated a good number of people suffering from the ailment. This is essential because an experienced professional will suggest a personalized fitness program based on the intensity of pain, symptoms and disease development. A trained person will ensure that you are doing the right exercises, performing them correctly, and also show you the new workouts that you can try. This way, you will not be frustrated and give up altogether.
Take a Warm Shower
Do you feel that your joints are stiffer in the morning? Well, this happens because joints become stiffer overnight. Take a warm shower to relieve the stiffness. This helps in therapeutic warm-up and the moist heat increases blood circulation to the aching parts, improves muscle flexibility and relieves muscle spasms.
Build a Road Map of Improvement
You along with the therapist need to build a road map of improvement for muscle, joint flexibility, and for overall mobility and fitness. This is your treatment plan and must include the following:
- Heat or Ice Packs: You can treat painful or inflamed joints with heat or ice pack. Depending on your comfort, choose heat or ice therapy to alleviate pain.
- Exercises: It is needless to say that appropriate and regular exercises are the basis for RA treatment. Based on your capability and fitness, a physiotherapist will include exercises associated with strength improvement, stretching, flexibility and conditioning.
- Massage: Patients suffering from chronic pain find therapeutic massages comforting and it helps in lessening the excruciating pain.
Embrace Aerobic Workouts
When it comes to the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, you cannot underestimate the significance of aerobic exercises. Experts opine that weight-bearing activities help in building and strengthening your bone. It also keeps diabetes and heart ailments at bay, which are often accompanied by RA.
So, if you have painful and stiff joints, consider consulting an experienced physical therapy specialist in your city for improved body movement and flexibility.
About Pieter:
Pieter Reynolds is familiar with well-known physical therapy professionals in Anaheim. He himself has been benefited by this therapeutic technique to improve his health condition. In this article, he has shared information about "5 Ways to Treat Rheumatoid Arthritis with Physical Therapy".
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