Activity is Shown to Reduce Arthritis Pain

Osteoarthritis, aka degenerative joint (or disc) disease, aka OA, affects over 52.5 million people in the United States, approximately 50% of whom were 65 years or older, according to the CDC.  I tend to think that number is quite higher.

But you're in luck!  There is scientific evidence that shows you can decrease the pain in arthritic joints with exercise and activity.  The Journal of Orthopedic and Sports Physical Therapy (JOSPT) recently published an article discussing the benefit of activity for people with OA.  

They have 7 Key Recommendations:

1. Exercise and physical activity should be tailored to your needs and preferences.
2. Consider water exercises if it is too painful to exercise on land.
3. Supervised exercise therapy over a 6-week period is often helpful to get you started.
4. Some people may need 12 weeks of supervised therapy to begin.
5. After you complete supervised therapy, you may need periodic “booster sessions” to help with long-term management of your OA pain and overall health.
6. Home exercises should be performed to optimize your outcomes.
7. You should be sure you understand how to manage flare-ups in pain and how to modify your exercises when pain increases.

We see folks with arthritis everyday and have helped them restore motion and get back to the activities they love doing.  If you have any questions of how we can help, please let us know!

-Dominick; dominick@sanramonvalleypt.com