Active Ageing: Osteoarthritis and beyond
16th April 2021
As a Graduate Sports Therapist a lot of people think that they have to be sporty to come and see me. This couldn’t be further from the truth!
A big part of my work involves supporting non-sporty people. In fact I work with many clients who have not done structured exercise in many years. For example, a recent client of mine, Jane, came to me with Hip Osteoarthritis. She wanted to be able to get up and down off the floor and make the most of being able to spend time with her grandchildren.
Osteoarthritis can be a debilitating condition and a multi-faceted approach is PERFECT for tackling this.
Initially we focused on promoting flexibility and mobility. Jane found that she had become very stiff and inflexible whilst living with her #arthritis partly because over time she had started avoiding painful movements and partly because her muscles were guarding the joint to protect it from further painful damage. Unfortunately the limited movement gradually eroded down her ability to undertake even the most simple of movements. With this decrease in activity her self-confidence had plummeted. Jane no-longer trusted her body!
Once Jane was starting to feel better from the stretching and mobility, we introduced strengthening exercises into her routine, developing her capacity to move around independently and pain free.
When Jane experienced flare ups in her #HipArthritis, she came into the clinic for some 1:2:1 support. During these appointments we utilised massage, muscle energy techniques and manual therapy (joint mobilisations) to trigger Jane’s natural pain killing systems and also to promote improved range of movement in the joints that were causing issues.
Through consistency on Jane’s behalf and education on our behalf, Jane is now well on the way to regaining a joy of life that she thought she had lost. She thinks nothing now of walking out with friends, nor hitting the tennis courts.
Just because you have a painful joint, this doesn’t mean that your life has to come to an end.
Be smart like Jane was and book yourself in for a free 20 minute consult to find out how we can support you!