5 Best Practices for Managing Arthritis

If you’re hobbling around on achy and stiff joints, you’re among others — the Arthritis Foundation reports that more than 92 million adults in the United States likely have arthritis.

While there are more than 100 different types of arthritis, they all boil down to the same thing — joint pain and inflammation that can make navigating your world more than a little uncomfortable.

While there’s no cure for arthritis, there are ways to continue leading a happy and active life, which the highly experienced team at SOAR Spine and Orthopedics dives into below.

1. Management of your arthritis matters

The first step is to enlist the right musculoskeletal medicine team to help you get going. Initially, we sit down with you to review your symptoms and goals for the future, which will dictate our treatment suggestions. We also perform a comprehensive assessment of your arthritis to gauge the degree of damage in your affected joints.

From there, we can devise a tailored plan and provide the necessary tools and resources. For example, we can first relieve your joint pain with interventional joint injections, and then we might suggest some regenerative therapies.

2. Targeted physical therapy

Once you’re more comfortable, the next step is to strengthen the muscles surrounding your arthritic joints and work on your flexibility and range of motion. We provide customized exercise plans through individualized exercise instruction, including strength and balance training and various exercise modalities, such as yoga, pilates, and tai chi.

This work is essential and delivers benefits when struggling with achy joints.

3. Watch your weight

The joints in your body are designed to carry a certain amount of weight; it can lead to premature degeneration when you exceed that amount. One influence in the growing number of Americans who have arthritis is the fact that two-thirds of our population is either overweight or obese.

So, if you’re carrying too many pounds, it’s a very good idea to lose weight, and we can point you in the right direction for some excellent weight loss resources.

4. Use hot and cold therapies

A great way to manage arthritis symptoms at home is through rotating hot and cold therapies. A nice heating pad or warm soak in a bath soothes aching joints. You can also use an ice pack to reduce inflammation in the joint. 

5. Listen to your joints

While we want you to move those joints, we don’t want you to push too hard. If your joint starts objecting to a specific movement or exercise, pay heed and stop doing that exercise. There’s no glory in pushing through pain when you have arthritis — just more pain. 

When our patients follow these five strategies, it’s rewarding for their worlds to open again as they move around with more comfort and a smile.

To learn which arthritis care plan is best for your goals and circumstances, contact one of our offices in Santa Clara or Redwood City, California, today to schedule an appointment.