Most people think of physical rehabilitation as therapy that begins after a specific event such as surgery, a stroke, or an acute injury. From that perspective, it's hard to know when to consider rehabilitation for a condition like arthritis,which gradually develops over many years.
But the great thing about physical rehabilitation is that it's not limited to a distinct injury or moment in time. You can (and should) start a rehabilitation program as soon as you need it.
Don't wait until you can barely move or you struggle with debilitating pain. Get physical rehabilitation early in the course of arthritis to maintain healthy, functioning joints for as long as possible.
If you have arthritis and you're not sure about when to seek rehabilitation, our team at iMed Regeneration Center is ready to help. After evaluating your symptoms and joints, we can determine the stage of arthritis and recommend the best rehabilitation schedule for your needs.
When you decide it's time to start rehabilitation, we design a customized plan that eases your pain, improves joint movement, and slows down the ongoing joint damage that arthritis causes.
In the meantime, here's some information about physical rehabilitation that may help you make that decision.
Physical therapy is well-known as a treatment for arthritis, but many of our patients think physical rehabilitation is for other problems. So let's look at both and see if one is better than the other when it comes to arthritis.
Physical rehabilitation uses a vast array of therapies to restore function lost or diminished due to an injury, illness, surgery, or health condition like arthritis. Rehabilitation focuses on improving your physical functioning so you can live independently, return to work, get back to competitive sports, or achieve other personal goals.
Physical therapists are often called movement experts because they focus on improving your ability to move. They use passive and active exercise, as well as many other modalities, to promote healing, reduce inflammation and pain, strengthen and stretch muscles, and increase your range of motion.
At the same time, physical therapy also aims to improve your ability to function, and physical rehabilitation improves your strength and mobility. In fact, physical therapy is one of the top treatments used during physical rehabilitation.
Most importantly for those with arthritis, the exercise and movement therapies you receive during rehabilitation are the best way to stay active while slowing down the progressive joint damage.
Deciding when to start rehabilitation is a personal decision. But you can begin any time the pain and stiffness of arthritis start to affect your quality of life.
When you begin our physical rehabilitation program, we develop a regimen that works for you and meets your goals. We make sure your exercises won't add to your pain, and we teach you how to recognize when you can push yourself harder or you need to rest your joints.
These are a few examples of the treatments we often use during physical rehabilitation:
We take a holistic approach and assess the effect of arthritis on your whole body. When you try to limit the pain by favoring the arthritic joint, you naturally put more stress on the rest of your body.
This imbalance increases your risk of developing problems in the muscles, ligaments, tendons, and bones outside the joint. Your rehabilitation plan includes therapies that restore balance throughout your body.
To learn more about the benefits of physical rehabilitation or to talk about when you should consider arthritis treatment, call our center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, today or book an appointment using our online system.
