Pegasus Post: February 20, 2018

PEGASUS POST Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
Tuesday February 20 2018 17
HEALTH & AWARENESS
Joint pain: Do I have arthritis or
could it be mainly my muscles?
The team at Physical Sense in Sydenham sees clients with
a range of symptoms but many of their middle-aged and
senior clients visit complaining of pain in one of their joints.
Physiotherapist Ietje van Stolk suggests
that a major part of the pain could be due
to muscle pain rather than simply arthritis.
“Even if an x-ray shows arthritis, the reason
for the pain may be the muscles around
the joint,” she explains. The images show
how a muscle knot (the crosses) in a back
muscle can give hip pain (aches and pain
are the red areas in the drawings), a knot
in a muscle on the back of the shoulder
blade can give a deep pain in the front of
the shoulder and a muscle knot all the way
near the groin can give an ache in the knee
(especially at night in bed).
Ietje recalls one case where an 89 year
old client with severe arthritis who walked
with a stick, told her, “I will end up in
a wheelchair, I cannot put any weight
through my right leg due to pain in my hip
and buttock”. “Within 4 treatments, she
was walking with her stick but without the
severe pain,” says Ietje. “The arthritis was
one of the factors that made her muscles
spasm but the other was that older people
move less and the flexed position the hip
is in when we sit is particularly bad for
the hip.” Ietje is happy with the fact that
although the client was 89 and could have
been “given up on” or told to live with the
pain, she made a difference to her health
and wellbeing.
The same lack of movement can be the
reason for your knee pain or your shoulder
pain and the same few treatments could
make a huge difference for you.
At Physical Sense, hands-on techniques
(massage and triggerpoint deactivation
techniques) are used to release the muscles.
The client also gets a home exercise
program designed to mobilize and stretch
the joint, strengthen the important core
muscles and increase general strength and
SHOULDER
PAIN
KNEE PAIN
balance. They teach a movement sequence
that stretches the joint in all directions
whilst the client is able to lie safely on their
bed, perfect for older or less mobile clients.
In many cases having the muscles
released and being taught how to maintain
it, is enough to stay on top of the problem.
HIP PAIN
(the crosses are the areas of the muscle spasms, the red areas is where the pain is felt)
If severe arthritis is the underlying cause,
some maintenance therapy may be
necessary, but that is often more affordable
and, for older patients, better tolerated than
surgery. In very few treatments the client
will know if it is going to work for them or
not, without financial commitment.
Physical Sense Gym and Physio is located at 300 Colombo Street, Sydenham. The Blue Line Bus stops in front of the door and there is ample
parking. To enquire about specialised exercise classes or physiotherapy treatment, phone 377-2577 or visit www.triggerpoints.co.nz
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