Arthritis management

Do you treat arthritis? 

This is one of the most common questions we receive, and the answer is YES!

I had an X-ray and I was told arthritis is my problem and there is nothing that can be done.

This is not true.

If you’ve been told you have osteoarthritis, welcome to the 90% club.  Depending on your age, especially past 40 years old, an x-ray will almost certainly show ‘some’ arthritis.  This is normal.  I would say 30% of our entire team have some arthritis.  Many professionals including radiologists have been encouraging a change in dialogue with regards to arthritis.  Instead of saying ‘Degenerative Disc Disease’, we should be saying ‘Age related disc changes’.  This not only is more accurate.  It isn’t a disease, it’s normal, and further, it reduces the stress and anxiety that revolves around arthritic changes.

There are different types of arthritis, however osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common presentation.

From a practical stand-point, let’s say you are a 56 year old female, and you wake up on a Tuesday morning in very significant pain.  You went from a 1/10 on Monday, to an 8/10 on Tuesday.  The pain has remained high until Thursday so you go and see your family doctor.

You get an xray taken, and you are told that you have arthritis between L4 and L5.  The arthritis is moderate, but there is nothing you can do and you may have to use pain killers for the rest of your life.

This is not true.

Let’s evaluate this scenario, which is one we face daily.  Arthritic changes take decades to occur.  They don’t happen, literally, overnight.  So waking up with an 8/10 pain regardless of what your xray says, is a biomechanical problem (in most cases).

How do we help this?  With exercise, manual therapy, encouragement, and education.  

Your provider will likely tell you to not be afraid to move, and to do the best you can.  If at any time it is felt that more information is needed your provider will refer you for the right blood tests or imagery.

Only 2-3% of cases are truly directly related to degenerative changes in the spine solely, with no other cause.

Which members of our teams can help you with arthritis.  All of us!  Please reach out!