Conquering Arthritis Pain in Physical Therapy; the Fitness Forward Way
When having achy pain in your body, a common thought is ‘do I have arthritis?’ You go to your primary care physician and sure enough, your X-rays show you what you feared, those arthritic changes glowing brighter on your scans. The big decision after learning this information is a massive next step in your quality of life. Do you accept you have arthritis and allow the label to control your life, or do you act upon it? We want to give you confirmation that having arthritis is not a ‘death sentence’ and it certainly not something that has to control how you live your life moving forward!
At our fitness forward physical therapy clinics in Minneapolis, we recognize that those changes on your radiographs are real and present, but that is as much credit as we give them. Copious amounts of research continues to support physical therapy for arthritis pain and resistance training for pain relief in arthritis. We double down on this research knowing that the individuals who seek our care for arthritic pain, when thoroughly evaluated and in absence of red flags, will see great changes in functional capacity, quality of life, and overall pain when dialing in an appropriate mobility and strength training regimen for their deficits.
Arthritis is a systemic inflammatory problem. We treat systemic problems in systemic ways. Yes, we as physical therapists who treat pain we want to address the musculoskeletal limitations we find, but we also make sure to help address your sleep, nutrition, and stress management habits. These all play into your system, so we would be missing the whole picture if we didn’t bring them up. Your arthritis pain can be related to changes at your knee/hip/shoulder/ankle, but we can make bigger changes if we address all of those pillars.
We at Loon State Physical Therapy make sure to see you as a whole person and not just your arthritis. Your scan is part of the picture, but nowhere near the whole story. We make sure to take in your whole story, your goals, and where your story currently is as we rewrite that script for the journey you are traveling in getting back to moving better. Arthritic pain is common, but it does not have to be normal. We promise you that you can live without arthritis pain, when you take the appropriate action plan. We are ready to help write that plan with you
Looking for assistance in getting your questions answered and needing direction on next steps in eliminating your arthritic pain? Let’s chat! We would be happy to discuss further how Loon State Physical Therapy can be a teammate in getting you back to moving and feeling your best! Our convenient Minneapolis physical therapy, Edina physical therapy, and Stillwater physical therapy locations will happily welcome you to get you back to moving at your best. Call us at (612) 405-8503 or book with us online at www.loonstatephysicaltherapy.com for an in-person or virtual appointment.
We look forward to being your teammate through this journey!
Andrew Eccles
Owner and Physical Therapist at Loon State Physical Therapy
