Hackettstown NJ's Village Family Clinic Treats Arthritis Sufferers
This is a neck and spine-related blog post dedicated to you who suffer from arthritic pain in your spine and neck. This blog post is brought to you from you friends at Village Family Clinic here in Hackettstown NJ. We author works (like today's post on arthritis) because we take great pride and professional reward in helping those living in pain to move forward to pain free living and a better quality of life. We gladly do this as one way to give back to the Hackettstown community who have done so much for us over the years.
Years ago, doctors hardly ever told rheumatoid arthritis patients to “go take a hike” or “go for a swim.” Arthritis was considered an inherent part of the aging process and a signal to a patient that it’s time to slow down. However, recent research and clinical findings show that there is much more to life for arthritis patients than the traditional recommendation of bed rest and drug therapy.
What Is Rheumatoid Arthritis? The word “arthritis” means “joint inflammation” and is often used in reference to rheumatic diseases. Rheumatic diseases include more than 100 conditions: gout, fibromyalgia, osteoarthritis, psoriatic arthritis, and many more. Rheumatic arthritis is also a rheumatic disease, affecting about 1 percent of the U.S. population (about 2.1 million people.) Although rheumatoid arthritis often begins in middle age and is more frequent in the older generation, young people and children can also suffer from it. Rheumatoid arthritis causes pain, swelling, stiffness, and loss of function in the joints.
Should Arthritis Patients Exercise? Exercise is critical in successful arthritis management. It helps maintain healthy and strong muscles, joint mobility, flexibility, endurance, and helps control weight. Rest, on the other hand, helps to decrease active joint inflammation, pain, and fatigue. Arthritis patients need a good balance between the two: more rest during the active phase of arthritis, and more exercise during remission. During acute systematic flares or local joint flares, patients should put joints gently through their full range of motion once a day, with periods of rest. To see how much rest is best during flares, patients should talk to their health care providers. If patients experience unusual or persistent fatigue, increased weakness, a decrease in range of motion, an increase in joint swelling, or pain that lasts more than one hour after exercising, they need to talk to their health care providers.
How Can Chiropractic Help? If you live in Hacketstown, NJ and suffer from rheumatoid arthritis, Village Family Clinic can help you plan an exercise program that will:
- Help you restore the lost range of motion to your joints
- Improve your flexibility and endurance
- Increase your muscle tone and strength
We can also give you nutrition and supplementation advice that can be helpful in controlling and reducing joint inflammation. Call us today and take that first step to relieving your arthritic pain!
