Rehabilitation information

Studies have shown that the appropriate physical exercise has a beneficial effect on cartilage.

Rehabilitation enables:

• reducing pain through massage, heat, etc.
  The physiotherapist can relieve some of your pain by simple massage techniques. He or she can also teach you certain movements or exercises to be performed at home to reduce your pain. In addition, he or she is able to advise you on positions or postures that can reduce your pain. Do not hesitate to ask him or her for advice.
• maintaining or partially recovering the range of motion of joints affected by osteoarthritis
  Osteoarthritis can restrict movements. Physiotherapy can help you partially recover some mobility in your suffering joints. Indeed, the performing movements and specific physiotherapy massages can improve muscle strength and joint flexibility, thereby increasing your range of motion.
• strengthening the muscles to stabilise joints and limit deformation
  Exercises that involve physiotherapy are very important both to maintain fitness and to fight against joint instability and deformity due to osteoarthritis. An architectural defect of the joint, causing increased pressure on the cartilage, often promotes the development of osteoarthritis. Working on the muscles can help to reduce this excessive pressure.

Finally, in cases of knee or hip osteoarthritis, physiotherapy also has a role in preparing for surgery. By stimulating your muscles it helps to reduce stress on your joints and develop your muscles. In the rehabilitation of a patient with knee osteoarthritis, it aims to develop the quadriceps and stabilise the muscles of the knee. In patellofemoral osteoarthritis rehabilitation is prescribed to avoid excessive stress on the joint.

For hip osteoarthritis, sessions of physiotherapy are often recommended by the doctor before an operation. They help strengthen the muscles stabilising the hip. Rehabilitation of muscles is prescribed for limited periods of time.

First of all it is advisable to partially reduce pain before starting rehabilitation. The most common risk is to awaken your usual pain, generally only temporarily. When the acute episode has passed, it is essential to continue mobilisations in the form of self-rehabilitation. To keep fit in a lasting way, a few sessions are not enough, you need to do regular exercises on your own.