For Physicians Q&A Magazine

Do Chiropractors Help Patients with Arthritis?

By Richard Cole, DC, DACNB, DAAPM, FICC

May is National Arthritis Month, prompting attention to the plight of the approximately 43 million Americans who suffer from arthritis. Searching for relief many of these are turning to alternative therapies for answers.

According to a survey conducted by the Arthritis Foundation and published on their Web site, chiropractic care is a popular alternative therapy for arthritis patients, with 25 percent of them having visited a chiropractor.

Chiropractic physicians prescribe therapeutic regimens that often include manual therapy, physical modalities, rehabilitative exercises and nutritional supplements - all to help patients regain and maintain a healthy balance between their nerves, muscles and joints.

Manual manipulation, a specialized treatment used by chiropractors, provides relief for most arthritis patients. It's most helpful in the treatment and management of osteoarthritis or degenerative arthritis, but is rarely helpful, and may be harmful for suffers of rheumatoid arthritis or gout. The chiropractic physician evaluates each patient to decide the best form of therapy for the patient’s arthritic condition.

Pain of arthritis comes primarily from inflammation in the joint, and any mechanical disturbance of the joint increases the inflammation and pain. Chiropractic physicians remove mechanical problems from joints with gentle manual maneuvers and use physical modalities to help with the inflammation. In addition, Chiropractic physicians use rehabilitation to strengthen the patient without over-stressing joints.

Many chiropractic physicians also use nutritional supplements to help arthritis patients. Glucosamine and Condroitin are two that have been shown to be helpful in many cases. These fairly new compounds are very promising in clinical trials and have fewer side effects than anti-inflammatory drugs.  Some patients report great response when these compounds are used in conjunction with their prescription medication.

I offer the following advice for arthritis patients considering chiropractic care:

• Carefully evaluate a doctor of chiropractic before selecting one. Sit with the doctor and discuss your problem. The chiropractor should be able to properly differentiate the type of arthritis suffered, and provide goals of treatment with a timeline for improvement.
• Chiropractic care mostly is helpful for sufferers of osteoarthritis or degenerative arthritis, but nutritional advise may be helpful to sufferers of rheumatoid arthritis and gout as well.
• Ask your chiropractic physician about the newest therapies for arthritis, including water therapy exercises. Water therapy exercises the joint, helping improve mechanical function while removing the stress of gravity.

Arthritis is a painful condition, but fortunately, we are developing new treatments constantly.  It's important for patients to have a close relationship with their chiropractic physician so they can keep up with new therapies and alternative care that may be helpful for them.