Arthritis - Information About Chiropractic Treatment
Arthritis is a very common term and you will probably have heard it mentioned by an elderly relative or parent. It is derived from two Greek words ‘arthro’ meaning joint, and ‘itis’ meaning inflammation. You may well be experiencing pain from arthritis yourself. If so, read on.
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What is arthritis?
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This is a common question! There are many types of arthritis, you are probably aware that the two most well-known types of arthritis are: rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis (degenerative joint disease). Osteoarthritis is generally caused by trauma to the joint, or sometimes by infection, and very often, age and the daily wear on a mechanical (joint) structure.
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Arthritis and Chiropractic Care
As a chiropractor, I find it extremely frustrating to hear a patient tell me – “my GP said it was just my age and that nothing can be done”. If this happens to you, you may end up convincing yourself that you have to live with arthritis. In turn you may start to perceive a level of disability and so on.
Of course, a chiropractor cannot physically reverse the aging process, but through chiropractic care, you may feel less pain and gain improved joint function and, therefore, overall quality of life. Let me explain how this is achieved.
If you have arthritis, you will probably have a stiff, achy joint and it will very often have some muscle weakness around it, too. Our treatment will apply gentle mobilisation/manipulation to the affected area to free up your joint(s) affected by arthritis and restore movement. We will also prescribe exercises to strengthen your joint(s), which in turn will help stabilise the work being carried out.
In time, with enough manipulation the joint will regain a degree of function. The exciting bit about this is that, when maintained, the arthritic process will very often dramatically slow down, or may even stop! So if you are suffering from degenerative joint disease, and you have been told that nothing can be done to relieve these symptoms of arthritis, please call us – we can help!
