Three Non-invasive RA Therapies

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) sufferers know that battling with the condition is a steady fight in many ways. It's called a chronic condition, and as it leads to progressive joint damage patients must maintain composure as best they can. Even mild inflammation may result in irreversible damage, and this means RA sufferers must keep abreast of the latest and greatest in clinical efforts to stop the pain and bring lives to a normal state. The clinical course according to symptoms may be either intermittent or progressive in patients with RA. In most patients, the clinical course is progressive, and structural damage develops in the first 2 years. The goal of RA management is to find pain relief and also prevent functional loss. This overview will provide information on physiotherapy and rehabilitation applications and efforts which significantly augment the medical therapies that have been written about at CreakyJoints as well as throughout the medical community.

There are several methods currently on the table, including the use of cold/heat applications, electrical stimulation, and hydrotherapy. To begin discussing which may be effectively put in action, several factors of the individual patient must be reviewed. These include a functional assessment (i.e., transfer status, analysis of gait, activities of daily living); range of joint motion (ROM) (for all joints); muscle strength test (manual or by isokinetic equipment); a postural assessment; and an evaluation of respiratory function. All of these factors must be determined before clinicians can help a patient on a path.

First the use of cold/heat application can be reviewed. Cold and heat are used for different situations, more specifically, cold is used for acute stages of RA while heat is used during chronic stages. Heat, therefore, is more commonly used before generally activities such as exercise. Applications of heat are recommended for 10-20 minutes once or twice a day. Caution is necessary in all patients due to the obvious burn risk. Cold application is preferred for more specific areas where heat is not desired. There are also efforts underway to determine the effect of longer-range heat/cold treatment for the musculoskeletal system.

Hydrotherapy is also known as balneotherapy. Balneotherapy has long been a practice of RA sufferers searching for something to alleviate the pain. Initially, the term "balneotherapy" was used to discriminate thermal and mineral water therapy from hydrotherapy, but today these terms are often used interchangeably. In recent years, balneotherapy has served as one of the therapeutic alternatives in other rheumatoid diseases, particularly in chronic degenerative diseases. Objectives of balneotherapy are to increase the patient's range of motion, to strengthen muscles, to relieve painful muscle spasms, and to improve the patient's well-being.

Electrical stimulation therapy is also being studied. Electrostimulation is used in RA patients to relieve pain, often through transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, or TENS. TENS is generally a short-acting therapy (6-24 hours), and it cannot be used in every painful joint simultaneously, which is a disadvantage in many patients.

RA patients face many difficulties, but the combinations of medical treatments and more and more therapeutic efforts to quell the symptoms of their condition are reason for hope. All the aforementioned methods and practices are under serious scrutiny and review in order to discover whether they are just the beginning of a more successful therapy to treating RA. Creaky Joints, as always, will keep things up to date.