Arthritis is very common with increasing age. Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis in the UK affecting up to 8.5 million people. It is common in adult women in their late 40's or older than men. It is caused by multiple reasons such as our genetical inheritance, history of trauma, lifestyle factors and more importantly our body conditioning. Although it affects mostly the large joints such as hips, knees and shoulders, it may influence small joints such as base of thumb and big toe.
The term arthritis can give a frightening experience and many people think arthritis is a death sentence. There is evidence to say arthritis is present in people without pain. This means that there should be more symptoms to pain (such as restricted mobility and stiffness in the joint, swelling and weak muscles around the joint) with arthritis than what you see on an x-ray or scan.
Our role at Relive physiotherapy is to establish the level of pain and disability from the painful joints. In most cases, we can set up a treatment programme that allows you to return back to activities and helps you to regain the control on your problem. The evidence supports the inclusion of lifestyle management and strength conditioning can have a strong impact on reducing the pain and disability.
