Aches & Pains Archives - Washington Physical Therapy

Physical Therapy for Non-Pharmaceutical Arthritis Pain Management

Stiffness and discomfort don’t have to be a part of our daily lives — and yet many people assume that they’re doomed to suffer from arthritis pain. If you’ve been losing more and more of your mobility and productivity due to chronic joint inflammation, you may be disappointed by the usefullness of painkilling drugs or even alarmed by the potential dangers of such drugs. Fortunately, you have a safer, more effective path toward arthritis pain management: physical therapy.

How and Why Arthritis Causes Pain and Stiffness

Arthritis includes an entire family of painful joint conditions. For some individuals, it may take the form of painful gout in a toe joint; in others, it can strike due to a bacterial joint infection. The majority of arthritis suffers, however, suffer from one of two agonizing conditions:

Osteoarthritis – This most common form of arthritis is usually a natural consequence of a lifetime of joint motion, coupled with certain changes that take place during aging. Healthy joints contain not only a lubricating fluid to keep the bone ends moving smoothly, but also a layer of cartilage that acts as a shock absorber and anti-friction component. Over time, however, the production of lubricating fluid can start to dry up, while the cartilage becomes thinner and more worn until it finally breaks down completely. This leaves you with pain, stiffness, and inflammation that usually feels worse whenever you try to move or put weight on the joint.
Rheumatoid arthritis – This form of arthritis is caused by an auto-immune disease or dysfunction. The same protective mechanisms that normally fight off disease germs decide to turn on your joints, treating them as the enemy and attacking them. This results in painful inflammation that may come and go, leaving joint swelling and deformity in its wake.

Many arthritis sufferers naturally turn to medication in the hopes that it will ease their symptoms. NSAIDs, steroids and (and in the most severe cases) opioid drugs may produce such relief, but only temporarily. These drugs can’t address the physical problems that actually cause your symptoms; they can only mute the symptoms themselves. What’s more, painkilling and anti-inflammatory drugs can pose significant risks if they’re used constantly. NSAIDs can damage the internal organs, while steroids may contribute to everything from cataracts to osteoporosis. Opioids can be extremely dangerous, not only because of their addictive properties but also because overdoses can (and often do) prove fatal.

Our Physical Therapist Can Develop Customized Pain Management Plans

If you want an arthritis pain management plan that improves your health without presenting you with the dangers of drugs, turn to physical therapy. Our physical therapist can examine your joints to see how advanced your arthritis has become and how it may be affecting your stance, gait or mobility. You’ll then receive a customized pain management plan that may include:

Exercise – Exercise can aid arthritis sufferers by boosting circulation, easing inflammation, strengthening joint tissues and increasing range of motion. It can help you improve your balance, if that’s become a problem for you.
Physiotherapy techniques – You may benefit from massage therapy, cold/heat therapy or laser therapy.
Corrective devices – Your physical therapist can recommend specialized insoles and train you in the use of devices such as walkers or canes.
Lifestyle guidance – Your physical therapist can recommend specific changes to your everyday ergonomics or lifestyle that will ease your pain.

Don’t just numb your arthritis pain — manage it the smart, safe, effective way. Contact our physical therapy clinic today!

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Find Help for Your Arthritis Pains Today

If you have arthritis pain, then you know all about the difficulties with moving and functioning in daily life that it can present. What you might not know, however, is that physical therapy can help you find relief from your arthritis pain. There is no cure for arthritis, but by using the exercises and techniques that your physical therapist can teach you, the onset of arthritis can be slowed and you will experience less pain overall. Those are some great reasons to schedule a physical therapy appointment today.

How Physical Therapy Can Help with Arthritis

Arthritis attacks the joints of the body, so the goal of physical therapy will be to restore the use of those joints and improve your ability to move around and engage in daily activities. This will be achieved through a combination of exercise to strengthen the support structures around the joints and teaching you how to move and engage in activities without worsening your symptoms. The exact course of treatment that your physical therapist will prescribe will depend on how advanced your arthritis is and which parts of the body are impacted.

The physical exercises your therapist will teach you will be directed toward improving your mobility, range of motion, flexibility and coordination. Additional treatments for your arthritis may include:

Posture: Your therapist will teach you various body mechanic techniques that will improve joint function and reduce pain. You will also be taught ways to use your strongest muscles and joints to relieve pressure on arthritic joints.
Education: Sometimes arthritis in the hip or knee will require the use of assistive mobility devices, such as a cane or walker. Your physical therapist will teach you the proper way to use these devices.
Treatments: Modern physical therapy has a broad range of treatment options available to assist with arthritis pain. Hot and cold therapy can relieve the pain and stiffness in joints; braces or splints can help to stabilize and support arthritic joints; shoe inserts can relieve arthritis pain in the lower extremities; and so on.
Environment Modifications: Your physical therapist can make specific recommendations for additional therapeutic aids based on your type of arthritis. These can include ergonomic furniture or cushioned mats in areas of your home or at work where you tend to stand on your feet for long periods of time.

Here’s What a Physical Therapy Session Looks Like

Physical therapy visits are often short in duration. Your therapist will be focused on spotting problems with your physical function that are related to the arthritis, and teaching you methods you can employ at home to relieve pain. The way to actually achieve pain relief from your arthritis is to keep up with the teachings for the long term. The improvement will be gradual, so it’s important that you follow your physical therapist’s instructions.

In order to help your physical therapist to provide you with the best advice possible, think carefully about different physical goals that you might have. For example, you might want to be able to do your daily job without straining your hips or knees, to reach things high up on a kitchen shelf, or to simply get in and out of your car without pain. Expressing these goals to your therapist will aid in ensuring that your treatments are as specific to your goals as possible.

Your physical therapy sessions probably won’t need to be done on a weekly basis. Once every few weeks to monitor your condition and progress should be sufficient. If you are ready for relief from arthritis pain, call our office to schedule your first appointment with a physical therapist.

Physical Therapy: The Key to Overcoming Hip and Knee Pain

Do your weight-bearing joints feel more like pain-bearing joints these days? If you have a hip or knee that just can’t support your body weight without causing annoying aches or agonizing pains, you may be unable to perform your job, play sports, handle household tasks, or even find a comfortable sitting or sleeping position. These limitations and frustrations might have you gulping down painkiller or considering joint replacement surgery. Fortunately, many causes of hip and knee pain respond quite well to physical therapy — the natural approach to pain management.

Why Your Hip or Knee Hurts

Your hips and knees do a lot of work over the course of a lifetime. These joints must withstand the majority of your body weight — not just when you’re standing still, but also as you walk, run, climb or jump. It’s not surprising, then, that a variety of ailments and injuries can plague the knee and hip joints. Your pain and stiffness may be caused by:

Osteoarthritis – Osteoarthritis is a degeneration of the cartilage that normally keeps the bone ends in a joint from rubbing together. The resulting friction causes chronic pain and inflammation.
Bursitis – Both the hips and knees have fluid-filled sacs called bursae that prevent friction between bones and soft tissues. Unfortunately, these sacs can become inflamed from overuse, a painful condition called bursitis.
Strains, sprains and ruptures – The knee and hip joints can move thanks to muscles, tendons and ligaments. Repetitive motion or acute injuries can cause a strain (damage to muscles or tendons) or a sprain (hyperextension of a ligament). Athletes are vulnerable to ruptures of the ACL (anterior cruciate ligament).
“Runner’s knee” – An unstable kneecap can lead to chronic knee pain. This condition is known as patellofemoral syndrome or “runner’s knee.”

Various health or lifestyle challenges can worsen a case of hip or knee pain. Carrying extra weight is a prime example. A musculoskeletal misalignment or postural imbalance can place unnatural stress on a hip or knee. Lack of exercise can allow the muscles to weaken, setting the stage for chronic strain and joint instability.

Banishing Pain and Optimizing Function through Physical Therapy Techniques

Getting relief from knee or hip pain doesn’t necessarily involve the use of heavy drugs such as opiates or procedures such as joint replacement surgery. Physical therapy can improve your joint function while also easing your pain and stiffness. Our physical therapist can prescribe exercises aimed at addressing your specific condition, such as:

Knee lifts
Hip rotations
Heel-to-buttock-exercises
Mini-squats
Hip flexion, extension or abductor exercises
Leg lifts
Hamstring curls
Step exercises

Even an activity as simple as walking to help preserve mobility and reduce pain in arthritic knees or hips. Our physical therapist may also recommend that you receive heat/ice therapy, ultrasound therapy, massage therapy, laser therapy, or orthotic footwear to help normalize your musculoskeletal balance.

Get a Leg Up on Your Pain Relief — Contact Our Physical Therapist Today

The sooner you seek physical therapy for knee or hip pain, the better. Research shows that patients who rehab their hip or knee pain with physical therapy within 15 days of symptom onset have less need for pain injections, medications or surgical intervention. But whatever stage of pain you’re in, it’s never too late to benefit from physical therapy. Contact our team to get started!

The Best Treatment Method for Solving all of Your Aches and Pains

The older you get, the more aches and pains are bound to become an issue in your life. A rough day at work, a long day outside with the family, an unexpected injury—anyone of these factors could contribute to aches and pains throughout the body that may seem to never really give you a break. The body has an increasingly difficult time coping with injuries as you age. Something that you may have easily bounced back from in the course of a day or two as a child or teenager may take weeks or even longer to overcome once you pass the age of 40.

So many people are tempted to turn to pain medication as a means of coping with the discomfort, but there are a lot of drawbacks to relying solely on medication to address your pain. To begin, medication does not actually provide a solution to the pain, it merely lessens the pain for a brief period of time. Furthermore, many forms of pain medication are highly addictive and have painful health consequences. This is why the best treatment for solving all of your aches and pains is physical therapy at Washington Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation in Kirkland, WA.

Physical Therapy for all the Aches and Pains

Physical therapy is a comprehensive treatment method that is specialized to address pain wherever it develops within the body. Working with a licensed and trained physical therapist means working with someone who can diagnose the cause of the pain, rather than merely address the symptomology. Physical therapists use a combination of stretching, massage, and chiropractic adjustment to target the source of the pain and ultimately reduce both the severity and frequency of the discomfort.

As you are working with your physical therapist to overcome chronic pain, there are also tactics that you can use at home for added relief.

These top pain-relief tips include:

Hot & Cold Therapy: Using a hot compress or an ice pack, interchangeably, can help to alleviate pain as a result of fatigue and overuse. Taking warm or cold baths can also be helpful for this purpose. Different types of pain will benefit from different ratios of hot versus cold therapeutic support, and you should always consult with your physical therapist for specific guidelines.
Acupuncture & Acupressure: While acupuncture is a type of therapy that you would need to see a professional in order to undergo treatment, acupressure can be done at home with simple supplies. Foam rollers with pressure points are a great example of at-home acupressure care.
Yoga & Regular Stretching: As part of your physical therapy treatment you are going to be guided through basic stretches and exercises that can help to alleviate pain, and your physical therapist will provide you with guidelines regarding practicing those activities at home. Engaging in a regular yoga routine or spending time everyday stretching can help to alleviate tension and pain.

In addition to these helpful home-therapies, it cannot be understated how essential it is to provide your body with much-needed rest when you have experienced an injury. The best way to overcome pain is to provide your body with the time it needs to heal, and all therapies should be accompanied with plenty of rest and hydration. For support in overcoming your aches and pains, contact Washington Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation in Kirkland, WA to set up a consultation.

Finding Effective Pain Relief – Without the Risks of Harmful Drugs

Are you in constant or recurring pain that won’t let you enjoy your everyday life? Do you suffer from the effects of an old injury, a degenerative condition, or some other situation that calls for ongoing pain management? If so, then your first instinct might be to reach for medication — but hold that thought, because drugs can pose their own threats to your health. Physical therapy can provide safer, more satisfying pain relief, which is why you should contact our team of expert physical therapists at Washington Physical Therapy & Rehab in Kirkland, WA, to explore this form of care.

What Is Pain?

Pain is your body’s natural warning system — which makes it a very important and useful asset under the right circumstances. These nerve signals alert you to a problem that requires attention, from an infected area or traumatic injury to joint or overuse of a particular muscle group. This is especially true of acute pain. Sensations of pain and stiffness discourage you from using an injured body part while it’s healing; once the condition resolves, the pain goes away.

But sometimes pain out lives its usefulness, lingering on for months or even years after your body has done all it can to address the underlying problem. This is chronic pain, and it afflicts some 116 million people in the U.S. alone. The pain may plague you constantly, or it may come and go in bouts that last for weeks at a time.

Common Causes of Chronic Pain

Chronic pain can develop for a variety of reasons. The most common causes and types of chronic pain include:

Post-injury/surgery pain – Internal scar tissue formation can interfere painfully with normal muscle and connective tissue motion.
Neuropathy – Nerve damage, disease, or impingement can cause pain as well as numbness, tingling, and other unpleasant symptoms.
Joint disorders – Arthritis and other degenerative conditions can cause chronic pain.
Chronic strain – Overuse can damage your tissues faster than they can repair themselves, causing chronic strain and inflammation.
Muscle knots and spasms – Chronic tension due to a physical imbalance or systemic disorder can leave you with painful muscle knots known as trigger points.
Stress – Chronic emotional stress can lead to unremitting physical tension and pain.

How Physical Therapy Eases Pain

Drugs promise quick (if only temporary) relief from many kinds of pain. Unfortunately, they can harm as well as help. The most glaring example is the addictive potential of opioid drugs. Opioid dependence and abuse has become a national nightmare in recent years, especially since overdosing on these drugs can cause death. Even over-the-counter pain relievers can pose dangers. Aspirin can promote internal bleeding, while other popular drugs such as ibuprofen and acetaminophen can cause severe organ damage.

Physical therapy can provide the pain relief you’re looking for without forcing you to risk drug dependence or side effects. One of the great advantages of physical therapy is its ability to address, not just your pain, but the underlying cause of the pain. Our physical therapist can perform a careful evaluation to understand your current condition in detail. We can then provide a mix of therapeutic techniques such as:

Physical therapy exercises to loosen tight muscles, strengthen weakened areas, and increase your range of motion
Manual therapies such as massage to release internal scar tissue or painful muscle knots
Postural corrections and exercises to reduce nerve impingement problems and symptoms
Stress management recommendations to help you avoid unnecessary physical tension

Are you ready for a pain management solution that doesn’t come from a pill bottle? Make an appointment today!

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