Living With Shoulder Arthritis: 6 Invaluable Benefits of Physical Therapy

Is shoulder arthritis hampering your quality of life? Perhaps you love to dance, but holding your partner’s shoulder isn’t possible anymore. Maybe you’re a DIYer, but making household repairs is no longer easy. Lifting your shoulder hurts too much.

Coastal Empire Orthopedics’ board-certified orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Jonathan Shults, treats many patients with shoulder arthritis. Dr. Shults finds a workable solution to relieve your pain and get your shoulder moving again. 

Treatment for shoulder arthritis can involve medication, injections, physical therapy, and/or surgery. You may be taking an anti-inflammatory medication if you have osteoarthritis, or a disease-modifying drug or biologic if you have rheumatoid arthritis. 

However, medication alone doesn’t restore your range of motion and shoulder mobility. That’s the important role of physical therapy. Check out these benefits of physical therapy for shoulder arthritis. 

Pain relief

Have you heard the phrases “motion is lotion” and “use it or lose it”? Your body is made to move. When you have arthritis, it hurts to move the affected joint(s). However, if you stop moving, your muscles weaken, and your joint stiffens, further restricting movement. Research shows that physical therapy reduces arthritis pain. 

Early in your physical therapy, your therapist uses several passive modalities, including massage, joint mobilization, ice, heat, electrical stimulation, and ultrasound. These pain-free passive modalities help loosen stiff joints and constricted muscles, preparing them to move again. You’ll gradually begin doing gentle stretches. As you progress, you’ll do targeted exercises to strengthen the muscles around your shoulder joint, reducing stress on the joint and lubricating it.     

Drug-free pain relief 

Medication has a role in arthritis treatment, but all drugs have side effects. Once your shoulder inflammation subsides from oral medication or an injection, physical therapy helps wean you off of pharmacological treatment. Physical therapy is drug-free pain relief. 

Increased range of motion 

As your constricted muscles and stiff shoulder begin to loosen up in physical therapy, you’ll enjoy an increased range of motion in the joint. Your therapy occurs two to three times per week. 

Dr. Shults lets you know how many weeks of physical therapy you need. If your arthritis is mild or moderate, you may need 4-8 weeks of therapy. If your arthritis is more severe, you may need 12 weeks of therapy. If you have shoulder surgery, a full course of physical therapy is essential to get your shoulder moving again. 

Activity modification

Perhaps your shoulder arthritis developed from years of repetitive movements. You may be a painter, an athlete, a warehouse worker, or a construction worker whose work or other activity stressed your shoulder joint beyond what it could bear. 

Your therapist teaches you safe ways to move your shoulder to reduce the load on your joint. You learn ways to modify your movements so your shoulder joint isn’t continually stressed. 

Postpone or cancel surgery 

Your shoulder may hurt so much that you’re thinking of surgery. However, in many cases, physical therapy leads patients to postpone surgery or, even better, not need it. 

Better quality of life

You may have stopped engaging in activities you love because your shoulder hurts too much. Physical therapy helps you regain a better quality of life as you begin to enjoy your favorite hobbies and other activities again. 

Call Coastal Empire Orthopedics in Savannah, Georgia, or book an appointment through our online portal today for disabling shoulder pain.