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What Can Physical Therapy Do for Seniors with Arthritis?

Physical Therapy in Ojai CA: Arthritis pain can cause seniors to limit their activity and experience reduced quality of life.
Physical Therapy in Ojai CA
Physical Therapy in Ojai CA

Arthritis makes joints stiff and achy while often hindering mobility as well. Seniors with arthritis may find that they aren’t as able to keep up with activities they love and want to do. If they spend time at adult day health care centers, however, seniors may find that they have easy access to solutions that help, like physical therapy. Consistent access to that type of help makes a big difference in the challenges they face because of arthritis pain.

Assessing Needs

Physical therapists start out by assessing the needs and challenges of their patients. They help determine how arthritis is impacting movement, causing pain, and affecting daily life. From there, they can recommend exercises and treatments that can address those concerns. By continuing to work with physical therapists consistently, seniors can make a lot of progress managing arthritis.

Recommending Easy Exercises

One of the ways physical therapists can help seniors to deal with arthritis is through recommending exercises that are easy to do but that support joint health. Exercises like walking, water aerobics, yoga, and strength-training exercises can all be incredibly effective. Physical therapy helps seniors to start where they are and gradually adjust their physical activity as they gain strength and endurance.

Managing Pain

Many seniors with arthritis experience a significant amount of pain on a regular basis. That pain can seriously affect how much seniors do and even whether they’re able to do anything at all. Physical therapists can help by offering therapies and techniques that reduce pain and improve mobility. Massage, ice and heat treatments, TENS units, and other types of therapies may be incredibly helpful. It’s a lot easier for seniors to access these solutions when they consistently attend programs at adult day health care centers.

Improving Range of Motion

When they’re first starting out, seniors with arthritis may not have great range of motion. They can experience a lot of joint and muscle stiffness, sometimes simply because they don’t use their joints and muscles as often as they should, because it causes pain. Physical therapists can help patients to gradually improve their range of motion which not only helps with discomfort, but also can help them to become more active.

Keeping Track of Progress

One really important part of regular physical therapy is that seniors make progress toward achieving their goals. They gradually become stronger and have better access to techniques and tools that help them manage their arthritis effectively. Physical therapists can help them to keep track of their progress and see exactly how much they’ve improved. This does a lot to help seniors keep going with their treatment plans.

Adult day health care centers offer a variety of other services and programs besides physical therapy, too. Having access to all of these different types of assistance allows seniors with arthritis to have a better quality of life and even extends the time they’re able to age in place. Add in the opportunities to socialize, and adult day care offers tremendous benefits to aging adults.

Oxnard Family Circle ADHC: Safe, Reliable, Social and Fun!

If you need respite and/or help with caring for your loved one in any corner of Ventura County, CA (Oxnard, Port Hueneme, Ventura, Camarillo, etc.), talk to the caring staff at Oxnard Family Circle ADHC today. 1-805-385-4180

Katy Krul

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