9 therapies to deal with arthritis

Here's how you can manage arthritis in a non-invasive manner.

October 12th is World Arthritis Day

There are several treatment options available for people suffering from arthritis and osteoarthritis. While most are invasive, there are non-invasive therapies too -- where your doctor does not cut into your body as a part of the treatment. In this article Mr Gundeep Singh, Occupational and Neuro Therapist, AktivOrtho explains these therapies.

For treating arthritis, normally a combination of non-invasive procedures such as physical therapy, occupational therapy with Diathermy (deep heat), exercise, acupuncture, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation and topically applied capsaicin [1] are widely used.

Appropriate management of osteoarthritis in a non-invasive manner includes the following:

Exercise: Staying physically active helps keep your joints healthy and is essential to prevent the onset of osteoarthritis and relieve the symptom associated with the condition. Exercises that exert a low impact on your joints include swimming, yoga, and walking. These exercises are effective in increasing your heart rate without straining your joints. Apart from that, strength training is also very important as it boosts muscle strength and bone health. You may also like to read about these exercises with arthritis.

Bio-mechanical intervention: Many patients with osteoarthritis of the hip and knee are more comfortable wearing shoes with good shock-absorbing properties or orthoses. Even the use of an appropriately selected cane can reduce the stress on the hip by 20 to 30 percent.

Weight Management: Obesity and osteoarthritis are interlinked. In a study published in the Journal American Family Physician, scientists found that there was, in fact, a longitudinal association between obesity and osteoarthritis in men and women, although obesity is a greater risk factor for women. Therefore, the first line of preventing the onset of this condition is to avoid weight gain, or lose weight if you are overweight. You may also like to read about these tips to lose weight the right way.

Patient education: Knowing how to manage your ailment is the first step to living well with it. The same study (as above) found that people who learned about their condition and how to manage it were better equipped at dealing with the pain and had an improved quality of life.

Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS): Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is a non-invasive modality in physiotherapy that is commonly used to control both acute and chronic pain[3].

Ultrasound: It is a form of treatment where sound waves are focused over the affected area to relieve pain. An extremely effective technique, studies [4] have found that people who underwent this form of therapy found a significant reduction in pain. It has been found that people experienced an improvement in the pain they felt. On a scale of 0 (no pain) to 10 (extreme pain), patients experienced pain between 3-0, after receiving the therapy for up to 2 months.

Icing: One of the study showed that ice packs for three days a week for three weeks improved pain. Another study showed that cold packs for 20 minutes for ten days decreased swelling more than no treatment[3].

These treatments have a very high success rates (70-80%) with persons with osteoarthritis involving single joint as well as in persons with pain in multiple joints.

Other alternative non-invasive treatments: Acupuncture, Balneotherapy/spa therapy, Electrotherapy/neuromuscular electrical stimulation have shown moderate benefits in osteoarthritis.

NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) and other pain medications: These medicines have shown good evidence in the osteoarthritis but NSAIDs are also associated with increased risk of serious gastrointestinal, cerebrovascular and renal harms, as compared to placebo.

People can manage their osteoarthritis symptoms with non-invasive treatment and lifestyle changes. But surgery (invasive treatment) may be required if:

You suffer from unbearable pain.

Your doctor finds that you have lost a lot of cartilage tissue.

You have tried medicine and other treatments, but they haven't helped.

Your overall health is suffering.

Image source: Shutterstock

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References:

[1] Puett DW, Griffin MR. Published trials of nonmedicinal and noninvasive therapies for hip and knee osteoarthritis. Ann Intern Med. 1994 Jul 15;121(2):133-40. Review. PubMed PMID: 8017727.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8017727

[2] Osteoarthritis: Current Concepts in Diagnosis and Management. Am Fam Physician. 2000 Mar 15;61(6):1795-1804. NISHA J. MANEK, M.D., M.R.C.P., Stanford University Medical Center, Palo Alto, California. NANCY E. LANE, M.D., University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, San Francisco, California.

[3]Evaluation of Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation as a Treatment of Neck Pain due to Musculoskeletal Disorders. Journal of Clincal Medical Research. Mikhled Maayaha, b, Mohammed Al-Jarraha, Department of Physiotherapy, Applied Medical Sciences, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan. Volume 2, Number 3, June 2010, Page 127-136

[4] Rutjes AWS, N esch E, Sterchi R, J ni P. Therapeutic ultrasound for osteoarthritis of the knee or hip. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2010, Issue 1. Art. No.: CD003132. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD003132.pub2