Western News: April 08, 2021
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8 Thursday <strong>April</strong> 8 <strong>2021</strong><br />
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz<br />
HEALTH & AWARENESS<br />
WESTERN NEWS<br />
Joint pain: Do I have arthritis or<br />
could it be mainly my muscles?<br />
The team at Physical Sense in Sydenham<br />
sees clients with a range of symptoms but<br />
many of their middle-aged and senior clients<br />
visit complaining of pain in one of their joints.<br />
Physiotherapist Ietje van Stolk suggests<br />
that a major part of the pain could be due<br />
to muscle pain rather than simply arthritis.<br />
“Even if an x-ray shows arthritis, the reason<br />
for the pain may be the muscles around<br />
the joint,” she explains. The images show<br />
how a muscle knot (the crosses) in a back<br />
muscle can give hip pain (aches and pain<br />
are the red areas in the drawings), a knot<br />
in a muscle on the back of the shoulder<br />
blade can give a deep pain in the front of<br />
the shoulder and a muscle knot all the way<br />
near the groin can give an ache in the knee<br />
(especially at night in bed).<br />
Ietje recalls one case where an 89 year<br />
old client with severe arthritis who walked<br />
with a stick, told her, “I will end up in<br />
a wheelchair, I cannot put any weight<br />
through my right leg due to pain in my hip<br />
and buttock”. “Within 4 treatments, she<br />
was walking with her stick but without the<br />
severe pain,” says Ietje. “The arthritis was<br />
one of the factors that made her muscles<br />
spasm but the other was that older people<br />
move less and the flexed position the hip<br />
is in when we sit is particularly bad for<br />
the hip.” Ietje is happy with the fact that<br />
although the client was 89 and could have<br />
been “given up on” or told to live with the<br />
pain, she made a difference to her health<br />
and wellbeing.<br />
The same lack of movement can be the<br />
reason for your knee pain or your shoulder<br />
pain and the same few treatments could<br />
make a huge difference for you.<br />
At Physical Sense, hands-on techniques<br />
(massage and triggerpoint deactivation<br />
techniques) are used to release the muscles.<br />
The client also gets a home exercise<br />
program designed to mobilize and stretch<br />
the joint, strengthen the important core<br />
muscles and increase general strength and<br />
SHOULDER<br />
PAIN<br />
KNEE PAIN<br />
(the crosses are the areas of the muscle spasms, the red areas is where the pain is felt)<br />
balance. They teach a movement sequence<br />
that stretches the joint in all directions<br />
whilst the client is able to lie safely on their<br />
bed, perfect for older or less mobile clients.<br />
In many cases having the muscles<br />
released and being taught how to maintain<br />
it, is enough to stay on top of the problem.<br />
HIP PAIN<br />
If severe arthritis is the underlying cause,<br />
some maintenance therapy may be<br />
necessary, but that is often more affordable<br />
and, for older patients, better tolerated<br />
than surgery. After only one treatment you<br />
should know that it will work for you. Call<br />
and only pay $50 on that treament.<br />
Physical Sense Gym and Physio is located at 300 Colombo Street, Sydenham. The Blue Line Bus stops in front of the<br />
door and there is ample parking. To enquire about joint pain treatment, phone 377-2577 or visit www.triggerpoints.co.nz
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