Three top physical therapy techniques for arthritis

Do your joints feel particularly stiff and painful when you first get up in the morning? Does moving around too much lead to pain in your joints? If you answered yes to both of these questions, you likely have a condition called osteoarthritis. 

Osteoarthritis occurs when joints become worn out and inflamed, and it’s estimated that 67 million Americans will have doctor-diagnosed arthritis by 2025. Physical therapy is one effective treatment option for osteoarthritis. One reason it’s so effective is that physical therapists have many techniques they can use to treat your osteoarthritis. 

These are three physical therapy techniques that are often used for osteoarthritis

Out of all the techniques a physical therapist can use for arthritis, there are three that are at the top of the list: 

1.  Joint mobilization — Physical therapists use their hands to move joints through their normal range of motion when doing joint mobilization, offering many benefits to osteoarthritis patients. One medical study reports that some immediate benefits of joint mobilization for hip osteoarthritis patients include: 

• A two-point decrease in pain on the numeric rating scale. 
• A 12.2 degree improvement in hip flexion. 
• A 4.4 degree increase in internal hip rotation. 

2.  A combination of manual therapy and therapeutic exercises — Most physical therapy plans combine various therapy methods together to increase the benefits it offers. A combination that’s beneficial for osteoarthritis patients is manual therapy and therapeutic exercises. A thumb osteoarthritis study found that this combination of therapy helped reduce pain by over three points immediately after treatment. 

3.  Cupping — This technique involves therapists using silicone cups that attach to the skin around an arthritic joint.   Also, the skin is drawn up inside the cup, which can help improve blood flow and reduce soft tissue tension. 

Cupping can be helpful for patients with osteoarthritis. One study on knee osteoarthritis patients reveals that cupping led to benefits like: 

• Reducing knee pain by 46.37%.
• Decreasing morning stiffness by 49.09%. 
• Improving knee tenderness by 39.62%.

Armor Physical Therapy offers effective treatment for many types of arthritis

Ready to try physical therapy for your arthritis? You’ll find top-notch osteoarthritis treatment from our team at Armor PT. We can do a free screening of your affected joint(s) to determine how arthritis is affecting you. Our physical therapists excel at building personalized therapy plans designed to reduce arthritis pain and improve joint function, too. Even better, you don’t need to leave home to get our help since we offer at-home care and virtual therapy services. 

Contact us today for more information about our arthritis treatment services or to schedule your initial appointment.