*NOTE: This article was written by our Occupational Therapy level II student, Leah Klima. Part of her clinical rotation with us has involved knowledge translation and educational content creation. She’ll be an awesome OT one day. Connect with her on LinkedIn here. 

If arthritis won’t go away, why should I come to therapy?

Given its chronic nature and being an incurable disorder, many patients wonder why they are referred to therapy after being diagnosed with arthritis and how it can help. It leaves the patient wondering how therapy can help the pain and other symptoms they are experiencing. If you or a loved one was given a diagnosis of arthritis, don’t write off the therapy your doctor recommends with it. Occupational and Physical therapy can assist in multiple ways to ensure your highest quality of life. Researchers have found that, “RA patients in all stages of the disease benefit from regular contact with an occupational therapist and team care,” (Malcus-Johnson et al., 2005).

Strengthening

• One way that therapy can assist in arthritic pain is by strengthening the muscles around the area of inflammation. By strengthening the surrounding areas, this allows for the inflamed region to have greater surrounding support to alleviate some of the pain.
• Occupational and physical therapy services can assist in a strengthening program that would suit each individual best.

Adaptive technology recommendations

• Kitchen devices, home improvement, and adapted self care products can all assist in a patient’s ability to participate in their preferred daily activity
• Occupational and physical therapist can recommend products to a patient that they may be unaware of and ensure the product would be a good fit

Joint protection techniques

•  How we move our bodies and the techniques we use to navigate this world can often be modified to take pressure off our bodies.
• “Both comprehensive OT and instruction on joint protection resulted in an increase in functional ability.” (Siegel et al., 2016)
• Researchers have found that for patients with arthritis, “self management improved with OT,” (Kirkham, 2012) for those experiencing arthritic pain. It is our goal as therapists to ensure each individual has a high quality of life.

Summary

Although there is no cure for arthritis and the pain you may experience with it, therapy aims at maintaining your function to ensure you can enjoy what you love most in life. If you are experiencing an arthritis diagnosis or just stiffness and need help recovering functional movement patterns, please seek help by visiting your local physical or occupational therapy clinics. And if you are in the Augusta area, and want to schedule an evaluation, we would be happy to have you. You can book an appointment online here.

References

[1] Arthritis. Johns Hopkins Medicine. (n.d.). https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/arthritis#:~:text=Living%20with%20arthritis-,There%20is%20no%20cure%20for%20arthritis.,improve%20your %20quality%20of%20life.

[2] Kirkham, B. (2012). Functional and work outcomes improve in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who receive targeted comprehensive occupational therapy. Http://Isrctn.Org/> https://doi.org/10.1186/isrctn36516369

[3] Malcus-Johnson, P., Carlqvist, C., Sturesson, A.-L., & Eberhardt, K. (2009). Occupational therapy during the first 10 years of rheumatoid arthritis. Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 12(3), 128–135. https://doi.org/10.1080/11038120510031716

[4] Siegel, P., Tencza, M., Apodaca, B., & Poole, J. L. (2016). Effectiveness of occupational therapy interventions for adults with rheumatoid arthritis: A systematic review. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 71(1). https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2017.023176