Are you experiencing persistent joint pain, particularly in a weight-bearing joint like your hip or knee? Do you ever notice a clicking or grinding sensation in your painful joint? If so, you may have developed osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis in the United States.
Arthritis is an umbrella term for over 100 conditions that cause joint inflammation and lead to pain and restricted mobility. The source of that inflammation will vary depending on the type of arthritis. Osteoarthritis is caused by the degeneration of the cartilage and bone tissue in the affected joint.
Osteoarthritis has no cure and can profoundly impact your overall quality of life, making it harder for you to stay active, keep up with chores, and enjoy time with your loved ones. Fortunately, physical therapy at Carlson Procare offers several tools and techniques to help you manage your symptoms — often enough that you can delay or even avoid surgical interventions.
If you’re tired of living with osteoarthritis pain, call us to schedule an appointment today!
Understanding Osteoarthritis: Symptoms and Causes
The primary symptoms of osteoarthritis are pain and stiffness in the affected joint. These symptoms often manifest in the following ways:
- Pain during higher impact or prolonged activity
- Pain when you press on the joint
- Joint stiffness first thing in the morning
- Joint stiffness after sitting or lying down for long periods
- Noises in the joint, including creaking, cracking, or crunching
While any joint can develop osteoarthritis, it most commonly occurs in weight-bearing joints like the knees and hips. However, it’s also fairly common in the hands, spine, and feet.
What Causes Osteoarthritis?
The causes of osteoarthritis are complex, and several factors can contribute to it. One of these factors is age: approximately 73% of people with the condition are 55 years or older. That’s not to say osteoarthritis is an inevitable part of the aging process — plenty of older people don’t have it. But your chances of developing it do increase as you age.
Other possible factors contributing to osteoarthritis include past injuries to the joint, gender (women are more likely to develop it than men), body weight, and even genetic predispositions.
How Physical Therapy Helps Manage Osteoarthritis Symptoms
The good news is that you can control osteoarthritis symptoms with the help of physical therapy. Although movement can be painful with osteoarthritis, exercise is one of the best drug-free ways to manage the condition. Our physical therapists will help you find an exercise program that suits your needs.
Here’s how we’ll do it:
Comprehensive Evaluation
We start by evaluating how osteoarthritis impacts you, including performing simple tests to assess your strength, mobility, and/or balance. We’ll also ask you about the ways that osteoarthritis is negatively affecting your life. For example, which activities do you find challenging?
Provide Pain Relief
We’ll use manual therapy techniques to help manage your pain and get the joint moving in a gentle way. For example, we might guide the joint through its current range of motion or manipulate the surrounding soft tissue.
Build Strength and Restore Mobility
We’ll develop a customized, progressive exercise program to rebuild lost strength and mobility in the affected joint. Building strength, in particular, can help support and protect the joint so you can move more easily.
Develop An At-Home Exercise Program
You’ll supplement your sessions in our clinic with a personalized home workout program to ensure you keep moving! We’ll find something that suits your abilities and interests, such as a walking program, water aerobics, or a series of customized daily exercises you can perform in the comfort of your own home.
Provide Strategies for Activity Modifications
Finally, we can help you identify and avoid any specific activities that might put too much strain on your joints. If needed, we can also show you how to use mobility aids (such as canes or walkers).
Exercise of the Month
Ankle Alphabets
(Materials Needed: Chair)
Start by sitting up straight in a chair. Raise one leg out in front of you. Slowly write the letters of the alphabet with your foot, only moving at your ankle joint.
Perform two rounds of the alphabet with each foot.
Consult a Carlson Procare physical therapist to determine whether this exercise is right for you.
Don’t Let Osteoarthritis Pain Hold You Back!
We know that living with osteoarthritis can be difficult, but the physical therapists at Carlson Procare are here to help you manage your condition and live your life to the fullest. With customized treatment plans, targeted exercise programs, and acute pain management techniques, physical therapy can help you take control of osteoarthritis pain.
Ready to get started? Call us to schedule your initial consultation today!
Test Your Knowledge: Osteoarthritis True or False
1. Osteoarthritis only affects older adults over 65.
2. Exercise can help manage osteoarthritis symptoms.
3. Women are more likely to develop osteoarthritis than men.
4. Physical therapy can help you avoid or delay surgery for osteoarthritis.
5. You should avoid all movement if you have osteoarthritis.
Check out our renovations in New London!
Experience state-of-the-art care at every visit
Thank you to everyone who attended our Grand Re-Opening at New London! We’re excited to offer a fully renovated space to our patients and bring a new level of care to the community.
Staff Spotlight: Maresa Catenzaro, PT, DPT
Maresa Catenzaro
PT, DPT, Dry Needling Certified
Core Values: Integrity, compassion, respect, empathy, dependability
I grew up in Marlborough, CT. I went to undergrad at Quinnipiac University, majored in Health Science and minored in Psychology. I went to physical therapy school at Sacred Heart University. I have been working in outpatient orthopedics since graduating from school.
“Progress, not perfection”
I get to the root cause of patients’ injuries to get them out of pain and back to their normal function quicker. I enjoy working with active individuals and athletes of all ages, whether they play a sport competitively or are an avid gym-goer. I like a welcoming environment, and good camaraderie between the staff and the patients creates an optimal environment to rehabilitate injuries.
Hobbies:
Going to the gym and doing competitive bodybuilding, going to the beach, spending time with friends and family.
What is Maresa Reading, Watching, or Listening To?
Favorite movies – How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, White Chicks, Legally Blonde
Ben’s Health Hacks: Take the Plunge
Cold-Water Benefits
Cold-water immersion, or a cold plunge, means submerging yourself in cold water for a few minutes. It can be as simple as sitting in a bathtub with ice cubes or swimming in a cold ocean or lake. Many people, including myself, find the benefits significant enough to set up a dedicated cold plunge at home for regular use.
Research shows that cold-water immersion can reduce exercise-induced muscle damage. Less damage means less inflammation, which helps ease soreness and restore performance the next day. These effects may result from rapid blood vessel constriction, changes in hormone activity, altered blood flow, and activation of the immune system. For endurance athletes, cold-water immersion supports recovery without limiting long-term performance. However, if your goal is to maximize strength gains, it’s best to wait at least 3-4 hours after strength training, before cold exposure to preserve the muscle adaptation signal and optimize your gains.
If you want to try it for yourself, start small and consider consulting with an expert to ensure you’re plunging safely. Anyone with cardiovascular risk factors, including high blood pressure, should check with a primary care provider or cardiologist first. A good place to start is a short cold shower for just 1-2 minutes and see how your body responds. If you feel invigorated and refreshed, slowly increase the time or move to an ice bath to get maximum benefits.
Have Health Questions For Ben?
Tag us on social media with a question for Ben and let us know what you want to learn!
Ben Carlson
CEO
Sources: https://www.choosept.com/guide/physical-therapy-guide-osteoarthritis, https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/osteoarthritis, https://www.arthritis.org/health-wellness/healthy-living/physical-activity/getting-started/benefits-of-exercise-for-osteoarthritis
