Arthritis can be a painful and debilitating condition that affects 6 million Canadians, or 1 in 5 adults.
While there’s no cure for arthritis, the pain and damage caused by the condition can be managed through different treatments, including massage therapy.
That’s why we’re looking at which types of massage can best help you to alleviate arthritis pain and help to regain mobility and wellness. First, we’ll look at what arthritis is, then which types of massage are best to treat it.
Understanding Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis
The two most common types of arthritis are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, both of which deteriorate one’s joints, but each comes from a different cause
Osteoarthritis (OA)
Osteoarthritis (OA), is the more common form of arthritis. It occurs through the regular wear and tear of our joints, which over time loses the cartilage that allows our joints to move smoothly. As this layer of cartilage deteriorates, you may feel discomfort, pain, or stiffness in the area. As it progresses, it can even cause loss of mobility in the joint. The knees, hips, and spine are the most common joints affected by Osteoarthritis.
Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is less common but also affects millions. It’s cause is different than OA, coming from damage from the immune system rather than daily wear and tear. RA occurs as an autoimmune disorder, one where the immune system mistakes the synovium for a foreign body and attacks it–damaging the thin membrane lining one’s joints. Like with OA, this can similarly cause stiffness, swelling, and eventually, loss of function in the joints. It is most common in the hands, knees, and wrists.
Understanding Pain Intensity
Between rheumatoid and osteoarthritis, RA is typically the more painful of the two. This is because the autoimmune disorder can disrupt many bodily systems at once, causing more potential problems to occur. In particular, those living with RA often report:
- Intense joint pain and swelling
- Pain or problems in the skin, eyes, heart, lungs, nerves, or kidneys
- Fluctuations of flare-ups (periods of intense disease activity) and remission, when symptoms fade for a period of time.
However, sufferers of osteoarthritis also have differing levels of pain intensity. While OA is often more localized to the knees, hips, or other major joints in the body, pain levels can spike as the arthritis progresses and can affect many different areas of the body.
Your personal experiences with pain and its comparison with other experiences you’ve had are the only real measures you can use to get an accurate read of what’s happening with your body.
What Type of Massage is Best for Arthritis?
Now that we’ve looked at what arthritis is, we can examine the different massage treatment options available that can help manage the condition.
When using massage therapy as a treatment for arthritis, it’s important for the client to communicate where they are feeling the pain and discomfort and at what intensity, as this can help the massage therapist understand their condition and personalize their treatment to best alleviate their problem areas and concerns.
Swedish Massage
Swedish massage is one of the most popular massage techniques for people with arthritis. It is a less intensive type of massage that promotes relaxation, improves blood circulation, and helps to reduce muscle tension, all of which can help to relieve arthritis pain. During a Swedish Massage, your massage therapist will use long, gliding strokes, kneading, and circular movements on the topmost layers of muscles to gently massage and relax the body, helping to release endorphins and relax tensed-up muscles.
Trigger Point Therapy
Trigger point therapy focuses on tight muscle fibers, commonly found in areas of overuse or injury. Proper pressure applied to these areas can help relieve the tightened bundles of muscle fibers that occur in some arthritis patients.
Myofascial Release
Myofascial release is a technique that focuses on the fascia, the connective tissue that surrounds your muscles. By applying gentle, sustained pressure to the fascia, the massage therapist can help alleviate pain and restore movement in the area. A recent study has shown that this technique can help sufferers of OA.
Deep Tissue Massage
Deep tissue massage focuses on the deeper layers of muscles and connective tissues. The technique involves slower strokes and more intense pressure than other forms of massage. While intensive, it allows the massage therapist to reach and alleviate more deeply held tension and scar tissue. For some sufferers of arthritis, this can be highly beneficial in the long run, but not suitable for others due to the soreness that can result from the massage.
What is the Fastest Way to Treat Arthritis?
Arthritis is often best managed with a variety of treatments to create a more holistic treatment plan. While there's no overnight solution, by combining a few simple healthcare tips and treatments, arthritis sufferers can significantly improve their quality of life. Here are a few helpful steps you can take to get started:
- Low-Impact Exercise: Switching to low-impact exercise is a smart idea. Exercise while dealing with arthritis is about quality, not quantity. Focus on exercises that improve joint flexibility and strengthen surrounding muscles. Water aerobics and tai chi are excellent options.
- Personalized Physical Therapy: A good physical therapist does more than assign exercises. They'll assess your specific joint limitations, gait, and pain patterns to create a tailored program. You can take a look at our different therapies and consider booking a consultation to learn more about what might work best for you.
- Nutrition: An anti-inflammatory diet can help with arthritis. Typically, this means eating more vegetables in general, but also a focus on specific foods like fatty fish (for omega-3s), nuts, berries, and leafy greens. These can help the body heal and preserve itself.
Massage Frequency
The ideal massage schedule for arthritis depends on the severity of your condition and your own preference. Our approach takes your general pain level as a baseline for our recommended frequency of sessions:
- For Mild to Moderate Symptoms: Aim for sessions every 2-4 weeks. This frequency often provides sustained relief while allowing your body to adjust between treatments for long-term relief.
- During Severe Flare-Ups: Increase to weekly sessions. More frequent treatments can help break the pain cycle and reduce inflammation, helping with the pain and discomfort when it is at its peak.
Personalized Arthritis Care at Back to Health Wellness
At Back to Health Wellness, we don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all solution for arthritis management. We believe that each client’s needs are best treated through a personalized care plan that carefully and comprehensively assesses their specific health concerns. Here’s a summary of what we offer:
- Individualized Assessment: We conduct thorough evaluations to understand your specific arthritis type, pain patterns, and lifestyle factors in order to find the best treatment plan.
- Holistic Wellness Focus: We address not just your physical symptoms but also consider how arthritis impacts your overall well-being and quality of life. This can help to decide how intensive and frequent the treatments should be.
- Measurable Outcomes: We use assessment tools to track your progress over time, letting us adjust your treatment plan as needed.
- Tailored Technique Selection: Our therapists draw from a diverse toolkit of massage skills, selecting and adapting techniques to each client.
- Collaborative Care: We are able to work with your existing healthcare team, ensuring our massage therapy complements and enhances your wider treatment plan.
Community-Centered Approach
Since opening our wellness and massage clinics in Alliston and Maple, we have always strived to integrate our services into the community, providing a safe space for residents to explore and learn more about how they might approach their health holistically.
In this spirit, we offer resources and advice on arthritis management along with countless other conditions in order to raise awareness of the benefits of complementary therapies in treatment plans.
Our doors are always open. Contact us today to schedule a consultation and take the first step towards a pain-free life.