Your RA Team: Physical Therapist

Staying productive and enjoying life are two important aspects of maintaining quality of life for anyone. But for people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), doing so can be difficult at times. Fortunately, you can find the ways to overcome physical limitations – with the help of a physical therapist. This RA team member will work with you and teach you proper ways to move your body and perform your typical daily activities.

What is a physical therapist?

A physical therapist is a medical professional trained to pinpoint problems in a patient’s movement and mobility. The physical therapist can then create rehabilitation and exercise programs and adaptive techniques to help the patient maintain physical function and productivity.

While there are many areas of specialty within the field of physical therapy, most physical therapists are accredited through university programs. These often extend beyond a four-year bachelor’s program into master’s and doctoral programs.

To help you function with RA, your physical therapist can show you exercises and design fitness routines that will help keep your muscles strong and alleviate joint stiffness and other RA symptoms. Therapy programs usually begin with simple and easy mobility exercises, and move on to strengthening exercises that can help to prevent further pain related to RA symptoms.

The roles of a physical therapist

A physical therapist’s primary concern is helping you maintain and improve your physical mobility, helping you perform tasks like typing or writing, household chores, or getting dressed.

To better understand how to help manage your RA a physical therapist will assess your body’s endurance, strength and flexibility, concentrating on the joints and muscles affected by RA. The physical therapist will also consider your medical history and the impact RA has already had on your body.

There are different types of physical therapists. Some focus on issues with larger joints and muscles (such as in the knees, hips and shoulders), while others focus on hands and motor coordination. How different approaches and techniques are used varies from person to person, and can be used in different extents. Many of the approaches, exercise routines and therapy techniques are used to achieve certain goals in managing RA, including:

• Strength training — used to help remedy muscle weakness caused by RA
• Flexibility exercises — helpful in retaining and improving joint mobility
• Hydrotherapy — a passive therapy that may involve sitting in a whirlpool to relax the joints and muscles
• Massage — used to help relax the muscles around joints, helping them move more easily
• Cold and heat therapy — helpful in easing flare-ups in symptoms
• Ultrasound — used to create a small amount of heat to increase blood circulation in deep tissues

Your role in the patient-physical therapist relationship

Communicating with your physical therapist is the most important thing you can do to ensure that your therapy helps you achieve your goals. Always be sure to:

• Let your physical therapist know what you want out of your therapy — if he or she knows what your goals are, the more likely you will come up with a plan to help you achieve them
• Monitor and keep track of any changes in joint flexibility and strength
• Be consistent, and keep up with exercises that your physical therapist suggests you do on your own time
• Inform your physical therapist of any new pain or other symptoms in your joints and muscles
• Let your physical therapist know if a particular method is causing you pain or discomfort, and conversely, if a particular method seems to be working well

Next — Your RA Team: Family and Friends