What Is The Best Treatment For Arthritis?

Arthritis is defined as inflammation and tenderness in your joints. This causes joint pain and stiffness and worsens with age. This is why arthritis becomes a more common problem in the elderly. Arthritis can become severely debilitating and prevent movement and functionality in your body. The inflammation of the joints can cause locking in your joints as well as severe pain in some cases. The range of motion in your arthritis affected joints also deteriorate over time if left untreated. While arthritis can affect a wide range of joints in your body, some of the most commonly affected areas include your hands, elbow, knees, and hips. The more used joints, or joints prone to more movements, are more likely to develop arthritis. This is especially true in your hands, which have a lot of joints involved with most hand movements. If you suffer from arthritis in the hands and are looking for Occupational Therapy in Seaford, reach out to us at East End Occupational Therapy for arthritis treatments for your hands!

There are many different types of arthritis, which are differentiated by where the arthritis is affecting you or how arthritis develops in your body. Some of the more common types of arthritis include: 

• Osteoarthritis
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Thumb arthritis
• Ankylosing spondylitis
• Gout

The different types of arthritis share many symptoms and overlap with each other. In general, the shared symptoms are swelling, redness, stiffness, and pain in the joint, as well as a decreased range of motion. While there are many different types of arthritis, there are also different types of treatments you can defer to for your arthritis problems.  

Treatments for Arthritis

The types of treatments that are prescribed to help manage your arthritis. Usually, the best approach to manage arthritis problems involves the application of a few different types of treatments for the best results. To see what kind of treatment plan is best for you and how Occupational Therapy in Seaford can help you, contact us at East End Occupational therapy and see what we have to offer.

Medication for Arthritis

Many different medications are effective ways to treat and ease the joint pain related to your arthritis. One of the major factors of joint pain from arthritis comes from inflammation. That’s because most pains relieved work to reduce inflammation to provide relief, so reducing inflammation from arthritis will help reduce arthritis pain. Some types of medication that can help with arthritis pains include over the counter pain relievers, topical pain relief medications, prescription NSAIDs, and corticosteroid medications.

Physical Therapies for Arthritis

Physical therapy is another treatment option focused on managing arthritis pains and recovering from some degree of symptoms. One avenue for improvement physical therapy aims for is a strengthening of muscles that support damaged joints or joints affected by arthritis. By improving and strengthening the surrounding and supporting muscles and structures, you can experience reduced pain and stiffness of the affected joints and improve your range of motion. It is also noted as a very efficacious first option for improving symptoms before surgery.

Physical therapy has shown much improvement for patients with many different types of arthritis in many different parts of the body. For osteoarthritis or arthritis of the hips, patients note improved ability to walk, climb stairs, and other functionalities, while suffering from less pain. Patients with arthritis in the knees and elbows show improved movement and functionality in the limbs with the proper physical therapy. And patients who suffer from arthritis in the hands see a large improvement in hand functionality and reduced pain with hand physical therapy. Patients who go through hand physical therapy feel stronger, notice reduced locking, and experience less pain in the hands. If you are looking for Occupational Therapy in Seaford, contact us at East End Occupational Therapy and see what we can do for you today!

In addition to these two treatment plans, there are other approaches to arthritis treatment you can use to help your arthritis. Some of these include:

• Hot and Cold therapies: The application of hot and cold therapy can reduce inflammation and pain temporarily.
• Braces: by supporting affected joints with braces and splints, you can offer extra support and strength needed to be more functional.
• Chiropractic Adjustments: manipulation of certain joints can help manage stiffness and pain of certain arthritis issues.
• TENS treatments: this treatment option uses electrical pulses to help manage your pain.
• Exercise and Weight loss: being overweight adds extra stress to joints. Exercising can not only help weight loss and reduce this stress but is also an effective way to help manage pain with many arthritis conditions.
• Surgery: while many surgeries are effective ways to manage arthritis, it is usually prescribed if other ways of managing your arthritis fail to help.

East End Occupational Therapy in Seaford

While it is hard to say one specific treatment is the best way to manage your arthritis, a combination of many different types of treatments used together offer the best results for patients. To see what treatment plan is best for you, and Occupational Therapy in Seaford, contact us at East End Occupational Therapy and see how we can help!