Arthritis - How Occupational Therapy Can Handle It?

 Arthritis is a condition in which people suffer from stiffness of joints, purely because they prevent the movements that can lead to an increase in pain. Now, due to the non-movement of the joints, both the amount of stiffness and pain associated with it can get even worse. Occupational Therapy can be of great help in this regard. They can tell people how to reduce strain on their joints while getting involved in daily activities. The therapists can even show people how they can modify the environments both at home and in their workplaces to reduce activities, which can lead to aggravating the condition of arthritis further.

Tips on How Occupational Therapy Can Help Treat Arthritis

People on visiting an occupational therapist, discuss the symptoms which they commonly come across. They include joint pain, stiff joints, and swelling. On discussing these symptoms, they help an occupational therapist to understand the extent of the problem of arthritis. Occupational Therapists would know that wear and tear of the cartilage is one of the main causes behind the occurrence of arthritis, which happens out of wear and tear. Other than this, a therapist would also know that an autoimmune disorder could also have resulted in this condition.

Let us take you through the tips as to how Occupational Therapists can help people overcome their problem of arthritis after he or she has got a clear picture of how arthritis was caused and what the patients are going through. The tips include:

- Once a therapist has analyzed an individual’s condition on arthritis, first and foremost, he or she would conduct a physical examination, which would focus on the range of motions along with the joint deformities, which would be interfering with their physical activities.

- Then, the occupational therapist makes an assessment regarding the need for splints or supports.

- The therapist can even help in designing the custom splints or other suitable assistive devices.

- These therapists provide immense help in overcoming a person's limitations with regard to their limbs movements by creating a proper plan.

- They help in teaching certain technique on joint protection, which are extremely important for reducing the stress on joints, conserve energy and also prevent further damage.

- Occupational therapists help plan out exactly how people can balance work with rest.

- They harp on the fact that one should sit while doing some work rather than stand.

- While lifting some object, they advise people to make use of two hands rather than one.

- They even provide an extremely useful tip, wherein the therapists suggest that people can avoid the tight grip of hands.

- Moreover, Occupational Therapists instruct people to use assistive devices, which help in compensating for the loss of range of motion.