Physical therapy helps restore movement and function when a person is affected by an injury, illness, or disability. It can also help reduce the risk of future injury or illness. Physiotherapy can benefit people of all ages with a wide range of conditions, including problems that affect the bones and joints. The role of physiotherapy in the treatment of arthritis Arthritis is a disease that affects the joints connecting bones. This pain can appear in both acute and chronic forms and is associated with joint inflammation. Arthritis patients experience pain, stiffness and discomfort during movement. Arthritis comes in two main forms: osteoarthritis, which occurs when the cartilage between joints is damaged, and rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease that occurs when the body's immune system attacks its own joints. In patients with arthritis, knee joints, hips, spine and fingers are mainly affected. Various methods used by physiotherapists to treat arthritis include: Exercises Massages Providing aids to patients Electrotherapy The most common types of arthritis are: knee arthritis Knee arthritis is a serious and painful disease that worsens with age. You may feel this pain in one or both of your knees. Its most prominent symptoms are pain, swelling and stiffness of the knee joint. Although there is no cure for knee osteoarthritis, there are steps you can take to reduce your pain and potentially slow the progression of your disease. Physiotherapy as a therapeutic approach in knee arthritis includes the following: Hydrotherapy They use water to treat arthritis. Specialized exercises are performed in water with a temperature range of 36-33 degrees Celsius. Physiotherapists guide patients with specific exercises such as stretching, aerobics and strengthening. Manual therapy Another method is where physical therapists use hands-on techniques to relieve pain and stiffness. This technique has shown many benefits in the treatment of knee arthritis. (Other methods such as acupuncture and heat therapy have also shown great benefits in relieving pain.) Arthritis of the hip The hip joint bears the weight of the body, so pain in this joint affects overall mobility. The goal of physiotherapists is to improve mobility in patients in such cases. The techniques used by physiotherapists are: Manual therapy Stretching and strengthening exercises Weight management training Hip protection strategies This technique involves guiding the patient on ways to protect the hip joint. Patients should mainly avoid carrying heavy weights and performing certain activities that are overloaded on the joint, and they are also provided with walking aids. Physiotherapists also teach them about maintaining proper posture. Arthritic rheumatism Rheumatoid arthritis is a type of arthritis in which the body's immune system attacks the tissue lining the joints on both sides of the body and may affect other parts of your body. The exact cause is unknown. Treatment methods suggested by experts include lifestyle changes, physical therapy, occupational therapy, nutritional therapy, drug therapy, and surgery. If you have rheumatoid arthritis, your doctor will likely talk to you about physical therapy. A non-surgical treatment for rheumatoid arthritis that can effectively relieve inflammation and pain in your joints. These techniques also help restore muscles, range of motion, and flexibility, equipping you with the strength you need to fight rheumatoid arthritis pain in the future. Among the methods of treating rheumatism, the following can be mentioned: cold therapy Cold therapy, also called cryotherapy, slows blood circulation and reduces swelling. If your physical therapist uses local cryotherapy, he will apply a cold compress to the affected area, give you an ice massage, or even use a spray known as fluoromethane to cool the inflamed tissue. Global cryotherapy can include an ice bath or a cryotherapy chamber. heat therapy By relaxing tired joints and muscles, heat accelerates blood flow in the pain area and improves those muscles. Heat may not completely eliminate the source of your pain, but it can effectively reduce it. This treatment is used in several ways: through dry heat (a heating pad or a hot dry towel) or moist heat (steam heat or a warm wet cloth). If you are looking for a good physiotherapy center, you can contact Mana Physiotherapy Complex.