Anyone that suffers from arthritis will know how painful the condition can be, and will often do whatever they can to help alleviate symptoms. It’s a widespread problem that affects around 10 million adults and children across the UK.
At Solihull Osteopathic Practice, we see a number of sufferers that come to us to help alleviate their arthritic symptoms, such as joint pain, stiffness and swelling. Hip and knee joins are most commonly affected body parts, but spines, hands, wrists and feet are also frequent trouble spots we come across.
Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis is one of the leading causes of joint pain and disability and is most common in people over the age of 35. However, it can also affect younger people, particularly if they’ve had another joint condition or a previous injury.
Osteoarthritis is a degenerative condition that wears away the smooth cartilage that sits between joints. This causes friction, making movement difficult and painful. Over time, the body may deposit bone where the cartilage once was, which can aggravate symptoms.
Degenerative osteoarthritis usually affects weight bearing joints such as the hips, knees or on the spine, but can also affect smaller joints such as those in the fingers.
How can osteopathy help?
As osteopaths, we are trained to work with arthritis sufferers and have a range of techniques that we use to help alleviate symptoms. Before we start any treatment, we take a holistic approach and ask you about all of your medical conditions, your overall wellbeing and about the joint pain you are experiencing. We then set you up a personalised plan of action that could consist of various treatments.
By using a combination of movement, stretches and massaging, our methods can help to encourage better joint health by increasing mobility, relieve muscle tension, enhance the blood supply to tissues and help the body to heal overall.
By focusing on improving mobility, reducing inflammation, and sharing key lifestyle tips, we help arthritis sufferers to feel more comfortable and manage their condition better.
I thought osteopathy was just for back pain?
While many people visit us for problems with their backs, the other two most common problem points that we come across are hips and knees. Because arthritis always follows a similar degenerative process, we can apply the same principles when treating any joint – whether that’s wrists, ankles, knees, backs or necks.
For further information on what osteopathy is, please see here. If you’re at the end of your tether with arthritic pain and are contemplating investing in osteopathy, you can call our expert osteopaths to arrange an appointment on: 0121 705 449.