Arthritis is a chronic health condition that often comes with persistent pain, swelling, and inflammation of the joints. There are technically more than one hundred known types of arthritis, although the two most common, and ones you may be familiar with, are rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. Rheumatoid arthritis is caused by an autoimmune condition, in which your body improperly begins attacking itself, leading to symptoms like fatigue, anemia (low iron levels, seen in a low red blood cell count), loss of appetite, and joint pain or swelling. The other common type, osteoarthritis, occurs from extensive wear and tear on the joints, and usually develops over time. It also causes pain, inflammation and swelling of the joints. This can happen in any of the major joints, including the knees, ankles, hips, elbows, and areas of your back.

Arthritis can be painful and disruptive to your everyday life. Some people take over-the-counter pain relief medications such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen, but it is not always recommended to take these consistently over a long period of time. Others may need a daily prescription medication to manage their arthritis pain. However, health professionals tend to agree that arthritis requires a comprehensive lifestyle management plan, including specific types of daily movement or exercise, reducing stress and prioritizing relaxation, and avoiding certain activities that can exacerbate the symptoms. Working with a chiropractor can be a vital piece of this management, and help with effective pain relief of arthritis over the long term.

Although as mentioned above, over the counter or prescription pain relief drugs may temporarily help with pain relief of arthritis, these are often just band-aid solutions, or are just one piece of an overall pain management plan for arthritis. Both physical therapists and chiropractors can be very helpful additions to arthritis pain relief treatment.

Joint pain and stiffness are often the main symptoms and causes of disruption in your life with arthritis. A chiropractor can pull from their extensive library of physical maneuvers and manipulations to help move and adjust your joints, in order to ease the pain and stiffness, and also to optimize your spine to communicate better with the rest of your body, which can also help provide symptom relief over time.

For many people, when they think of a chiropractor, they picture dramatic back and spine manipulations that make bones pop or “crack”. While this is used in some cases, with arthritis, chiropractors often take a much gentler approach, and use smaller, more targeted movements and manipulations to ease joint pain. This may include things like gentle movement of your soft tissue to stop muscle spasms, or helping you move through active exercises that can aid in stretching your joints properly.

Most people with arthritis will need a comprehensive care plan that may include various doctors and healthcare professionals. This could include a primary care provider or family doctor, a specialist such as a rheumatologist, and a chiropractor and/or physical therapist.

At Hoboken Integrated Healthcare, our clinic is managed by renowned chiropractor Dr. Joseph Canova, who has more than three decades of experience, including in arthritis treatment and management. We also have a team of physical therapists that can aid in your arthritis treatment in addition to his chiropractic care. We understand that arthritis can be a very distressing condition to live with, and it can impact your overall well being and ability to participate in everyday activities. We are here to help you adjust to living with your arthritis, find pain relief, and learn to manage it in a way that works best for you. We are located at 90 Hudson St Hoboken, NJ 07030. Please give us a call or request an appointment online. We serve patients from Hoboken NJ, Jersey City NJ, Union City NJ, Secaucus NJ, Newark NJ, and North Bergen NJ.