Joint and/or muscle stiffness can be felt in any part of the body. While it may be accompanied by pain, this is not always the case and it can have many different causes. Feelings of stiffness can be easy to ignore, however, they can be a sign that you're at increased risk of injury or pain. Here are a few reasons why you might be feeling a little bit less flexible... Muscle Weakness
Muscle stiffness can be a sign that strength is lacking. Our body will prioritise stability over flexibility if our muscles don't have the ability to provide both. This means that your muscles will be a bit tighter and stiffer to compensate for any weakness. If you are feeling a tight and sore, your physiotherapist can help to identify any muscles that maybe need targeted strengthening to help. Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) Many of us are familiar with post-exercise pain and stiffness. This is a somewhat protective mechanism to help you recover from a bout of increased exercise. This kind of stiffness will be present in muscles that have been used recently and usually lasts for just a day or two. DOMS usually goes away on its own, although it can be quite uncomfortable, it is usually nothing to be too concerned with. Your physiotherapist can help you with tips to avoid DOMS in your regular workouts. Lack of movement Along with muscle weakness, inactivity can lead to joint stiffness. Joints need to move through their full range regularly to maintain their flexibility, as anyone who has kept a joint immobilised in a plaster cast will know! Lack of movement can lead to a reduction of blood flow and nutrients, also impacting joint health. Your physiotherapist can help you to identify any joints that are not moving well and advise you on how to restore joint flexibility. Activities such as Pilates aim to help you move all of your joints through their full range safely and maintain flexibility. Arthritis Stiffness is the hallmark of arthritis, often noticeable as increased stiffness on waking that progresses gradually over time. Pain and stiffness caused by arthritis can often be helped by a targeted muscle strengthening program to help support the joints. Speak to your physio about any tightness or inflexibility and see how they can help you feel your best.
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One of the most impressive healthcare developments in history is the joint replacement. Many people are able to take out a joint that is extremely painful and dysfunctional and give it a whole new lease on life with a surgically inserted prosthesis. The improvements in this type of surgery over recent years have meant that success rates for joint replacement surgery, particularly hip and knee replacements are higher than ever. If you are struggling with joint pain related to arthritis, it can be difficult to know when to start thinking seriously about surgery. Here are a few things to consider before going for that surgical opinion... Don't assume pain is permanent once you hear the word arthritis
Pain is complex and is often not caused by one single thing. Most people will have some amount of arthritis in their joints past the age of 50, whether or not this is what is causing your pain will be unclear without first seeking assessment and treatment. Many people have some level of degeneration in their joints without experiencing much discomfort at all, as a normal part of the ageing process. It's possible that a combination of strengthening and manual therapy could improve your symptoms significantly, even if osteoarthritis is present. A trial of physiotherapy is recommended before surgery in most cases. Pre-surgical strength and fitness are important This means two things. First of all, your strength before surgery will set you up for much better post-operative results. The second thing is that choosing when to have the surgery means not necessarily waiting until the pain is unbearable before going ahead, as time spent in significant pain can reduce your overall strength and fitness while also putting more stress on other joints. Research the risks and side effects While surgical outcomes are continually improving, no surgery comes without risks and some people will have ongoing pain and stiffness even after their operation. It is important to make an informed decision about when and if you should have a joint replacement. If you are considering a joint replacement, speak to your physiotherapist about all the ways they can support you through your journey and help you come to an informed decision about what is right for you. A diagnosis of osteoarthritis (OA) for joint pain can be a cause of distress. Many people believe that if you have arthritis your pain is not able to improve and will deteriorate until a joint replacement needs to be performed. The truth is much more complicated, due in part to our bodies’ incredible ability to adapt and change. Physiotherapists have always known that the pain and disability that comes with arthritis can be improved with a targeted exercise program. In some cases, the pain that is attributed to OA is actually due to a different, entirely treatable cause. In other cases, strengthening the musculature around the painful joint can have a significant effect by providing the joint with extra support.
The way we move is often affected negatively by pain and this in itself can create changes to biomechanics that can further contribute to pain. In some cases, surgical intervention is the best choice for treatment and can have incredible results. However, there is a strong case for seeking physiotherapy treatment first to see if you can achieve the same results without surgery. Even if you do choose to go ahead with surgery, working with a physiotherapist beforehand can provide better outcomes. Physiotherapists are highly skilled at identifying exactly what is causing your pain and helping you reach the highest level of function. While exercise is a very powerful treatment, it’s not just any exercise that will take away your pain. To be effective, you will need to have a full assessment and a personalised treatment program created by your physiotherapist. This can involve identifying weak muscles, limitations in flexibility, finding painful trigger points, restoring movement to stiff joints and providing a biomechanical assessment to make a combination of changes that can make a large difference to your pain and activity levels. Your physiotherapist can also identify any other external factors that may be contributing to your pain such as unsupportive footwear, workplace set up etc. Talk to us to see how we can help you manage your osteoarthritis. While pain and stiffness often go together, joint stiffness can occur on its own. Joint stiffness can limit your ability to perform usual tasks, such as turning your head to check behind you while driving. Stiffness can also be a warning sign that a part of the body is vulnerable to future injury. There are many different causes of stiffness and below are some of the reasons why you might not be feeling as flexible as normal. 1. Disuse and lack of movement
Our bodies are designed to move. When we're not regularly moving our joints through their full range, they can begin to feel ‘tight’. This can be caused by a combination of the capsule that surrounds the joint tightening up and the muscles around the joint shortening and losing flexibility. Stiff and tight muscles can cause you to feel as though your joints are stiff, even if it is only the muscle length that is restricting the movement. Joint mobilizations, manipulation and muscle stretches or massage can have a significant effect in improving the symptoms. The most effective way to maintain full movement is to regularly move joints through their full range, which also helps to keep muscles and joints healthy. Your physiotherapist can advise you on how to best approach this with a targeted set of exercises. 2. Osteoarthritis (OA) OA is a degenerative disease, characterized by a breakdown of the joint surface cartilage and the growth of bony osteophytes around areas of stress. While OA is increasingly common as we age, it is thought that the primary cause is abnormal load and stress to joint surfaces and not simply aging itself. As the space between two joint surfaces become uneven, joints affected by OA can feel stiff or even ‘blocked’. A person with OA will often feel stiff for around 15-20 minutes after being still. Physiotherapy programs to strengthen the muscles surrounding the joints, to help absorb weight-bearing forces, has been shown to have positive results with OA symptoms. 3. Inflammatory Related Stiffness The inflammatory process is characterized by swelling and pain around a specific area. Usually this is a response to damage by the body. As an area swells, this will allow less space for movement and a sensation of stiffness, as anyone who has had sprained an ankle can attest to. Acute inflammation will cause swelling that increases over 24-48 hours and subsides gradually. Autoimmune disorders can cause the body to mistakenly have an inflammatory reaction where there has been no injury, with resulting pain and stiffness. Rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis are two examples of such disorders. Stiffness caused by inflammatory disorders is characterized by a feeling of stiffness after rest, particularly in the morning, that can take longer than 30 minutes to subside. Inflammatory disorders unrelated to injuries are complex in cause and require collaboration with medical teams for best treatment outcomes. Acute injuries are best managed by following RICE protocols (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation). Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common degenerative joint disease that affects many of the joints of the body. The knees are some of the most commonly affected joints, with many people experiencing at least a small degree of osteoarthritis over the age of 40. The disease is characterized by degradation of the cartilage that lines the surfaces of the joint, growth of osteophytes or bony spurs, pain, stiffness and swelling. What are the symptoms?
Stiffness in the morning, pain with movement, clicking, crepitus, swelling and a generalized reduction in joint range of motion are all common symptoms of osteoarthritis. As OA is a progressive disease, the condition is categorized into stages to help describe symptoms and guide treatment. Early stages of OA may have only mild symptoms, however as the disease progresses or in more severe case, a joint replacement may be required. What causes it? While ageing is the most significant risk factor for the development of OA, it’s not an inevitable consequence of growing older. Other factors that may predict the development of OA are obesity, family history, previous joint injury, high impact sporting activities and peripheral neuropathy. It is thought that abnormal wear and tear or stress on the joint is the primary cause of OA. It is also important to note that many people will have changes on X-Ray that show OA, but will have no symptoms – which indicates that simply having OA is not a guarantee of persistent pain. What is the treatment? Your physiotherapist is first able to help diagnosis and differentiate OA from other conditions that may have similar symptoms. An X-Ray can confirm the diagnosis and can be helpful in determining the best course of treatment to follow. While OA is a progressive disorder, there is often a significant improvement that can be made simply by addressing lifestyle factors and any biomechanical factors that may be contributing to pain. How can physio help? Your physiotherapist is able to guide you with strengthening exercises to support the joints, advice for adapting your exercise routine and can even help you to lose weight, all of which have been shown to have a positive impact on the symptoms of OA. If surgery becomes the right course for you, your physiotherapist is able to guide you through this treatment pathway, helping you to prepare and recover from surgery to get the best outcome possible. |
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