Joint pain refers to discomfort, aches, and soreness in any of your body’s many joints. It can hinder your daily activities and may feel quite demoralising.
If you’re finding that joint pain is holding you back, then Exercise Physiology can help you get back to living an active, fulfilling life.
How do your joints work?
There are 206 bones in your body and almost all of them meet up with another bone at some point.
That means you have a lot of joints too. There are several different types of joint but it tends to be the synovial joints that give rise to joint pain.
Synovial joints involve the meeting of two or more bones which are covered in cartilage to absorb shock and reduce friction, lubricated by thick synovial fluid.
They include:
- Ball and socket joints like your shoulders and hips that allow movement in all directions
- Hinge joints like your knee or elbow that allow movement in one direction
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- Pivot joints like those that allow you to rotate your forearm
- Condyloid joints (like your fingers and jaw) that allow movement without rotation, and Saddle joints that move backwards and forwards and side to side like the base of your thumb
- Gliding or plane joints like your wrists that permit limited movements.
What causes joint pain?
Joint pain has many possible causes including:
- Overuse
- Injuries
- Systemic conditions such as fibromyalgia and osteoporosis
- Gout
- Bursitis, an inflammation of the fluid-filled sacs around your joints
- Arthritis
- Osteoarthritis affects the shock-absorbing cartilage between the bones in a joint
- Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune condition where your body’s immune system attacks the membranes that line your joints.
Exercise Physiology treatment for joint pain
An Exercise Physiologist (EP) is a registered health professional who helps you overcome barriers to being active.
When it comes to joint pain treatment, an Exercise Physiologist works with you to:
- Identify the cause of your joint pain, liaising with your wider treatment team if you have any underlying conditions
- Develop a program of exercises that will improve joint mobility and decrease rigidity
- Make day-to-day activities significantly easier
- Reduce your pain as you begin to enjoy the benefits of more movement and happier joints
- Help you regain confidence in moving your body and increasing your activity levels.
How Restart Exercise Physiology can help
At Restart Exercise Physiology, we’re committed to making a positive difference to your health and wellbeing.
Our goal is to make your life easier and more enjoyable by reducing pain, boosting your energy levels and improving your quality of life. We’ll help you overcome aches and pains, address debilitating health conditions and remedy sub-optimal movement patterns with realistic, easy-to-follow exercises tailored to your needs.
“As a sufferer of lower back pain and foot problems, the team at Restart have been great in helping me increase my mobility within a few appointments. Progress has been brilliant with markedly improved results in my gym workouts. Preventative care is where it’s at and I recommend anyone looking to improve fitness performance to see Restart.”
If like Tara you want to overcome pain and improve stiff, immobile joints, book in to see an Exercise Physiologist at one of our clinics located in Carseldine, Norman Park and Chermside.