If you suffer from chronic joint pain or joint stiffness, our GP home doctor service may suggest that you work on some joint articulation techniques. Joint articulation therapy is a series of exercises and techniques that will help to strengthen your joints and make their movement smoother.
Most people who experience joint problems have one or both of the following issues:
- joint pain
- joint stiffness
How Much Joint Movement Should You Expect?
For full and pain-free movement of your joints, they need to move freely in all the directions that they're supposed to. If your joints become locked or restricted in a particular direction, it could cause a degree of pain or stiffness.
Our GP home doctor service will work closely with you to gain a full understanding of your joints. This understanding will help to form a plan to help you quickly and easily gain full range of motion in your joints and reduce any pain or stiffness you may feel.
To develop the correct level of understanding, our GP home doctor service will assess your joints and identify:
- any pain you feel during normal motions
- any stiffness you experience
- any joints that are both painful and stiff
- any joints that have a degree of hypermobility
- any joints that are both painful and hypermobile
The joint articulation techniques our GP home doctor service recommend to you will depend on the stiffness, pain and hypermobility in your joints.
What are Joint Articulation Techniques?
The joint articulation techniques recommended by GP home doctor service will help you regain a reasonable range of pain-free joint motion. Almost any restriction of joint movement can be restored using joint articulation techniques and the help of our
It's essential that you work closely with our GP home doctor service so as not to overstretch your joint and create any hypermobility or instability. Hypermobile joints will require different treatments and techniques to joints which are stiff, so it's crucial that your physiotherapist identifies these.
Some examples of joint articulation techniques that our GP home doctor service might suggest could include:
1. Shoulder Circles
Stand up straight and raise your right shoulder towards your ear. You can then lower it in a backwards motion. Repeat the shoulder circle eight times and then repeat with your left shoulder.
2. Arm Circles
While standing up straight, lift one arm forward and upwards. Then slowly lower it while moving it backwards to create a circular motion. Make sure you stand up straight throughout the exercise. Repeat the movement eight times with each arm.
3. Standing Calf Stretch
Stand up tall with one leg extended in front of the other, keeping your hands flat and at shoulder height against a wall. Gently ease your back leg further away from the wall, keeping it straight, your hips straight and press your heel firmly into the floor. Repeat this motion between three to six times and hold the stretch for five to ten seconds on each leg.
Your doctor may also recommend:
- joint manipulations
- traction and distraction techniques
- gently joint mobilisations
- PIM - physiotherapy instrument mobilisation.
To find out more about the joint articulation techniques our fast GP home doctor service in Costa del Sol recommend, visit our website.