Clinically reviewed by What is arthritis
Arthritis simply means a painful joint. In Urdu it is gathiya, or more loosely joron ka dard. It is not one disease. There are dozens, and they fall into two groups that matter very differently to you.
Wear type arthritis, properly called osteoarthritis, is thinning and damage to the smooth surface inside a joint. It builds over years, usually in the knees, hips, hands and spine. It is a mechanical problem, and exercise is the main treatment.
Inflammatory arthritis is something else entirely. Here the immune system attacks the joint lining. Rheumatoid arthritis is the best known of these. They need medicine from a doctor to stop joint damage, with physiotherapy alongside it, never instead of it.
Symptoms you might have
- Morning stiffness that loosens within 30 minutes, which fits wear type arthritis
- Morning stiffness lasting over an hour, which fits inflammatory arthritis and is the single most useful thing you can tell a doctor
- Wear type: pain that gets worse the more you use the joint and eases with rest
- Inflammatory: soft, warm swelling, and pain that is worse after sitting still than after moving
- Inflammatory: the small joints of both hands or both feet, in a matching pattern on each side
- Inflammatory: tiredness out of all proportion to the joint pain, sometimes with a low fever or weight loss
Why it happens
- Age, and the total load a joint has carried over a lifetime, for wear type arthritis
- A previous fracture, ligament tear or joint infection, which can bring arthritis on in that joint decades early
- Extra body weight, which raises the load through the knees and hips with every step
- Heavy manual work, years of squatting, and long hours kneeling or sitting on the floor
- An immune system attacking joint tissue, in rheumatoid and related arthritis. This is not caused by cold weather, by food or by hard work
- Smoking, which clearly raises both the risk and the severity of rheumatoid arthritis
When you should see a physiotherapist
Come to physiotherapy for wear type arthritis. Strengthening and movement work is the most effective treatment there is short of surgery for an arthritic knee or hip, and it is recommended before anyone discusses a joint replacement.
See a doctor first, not a physiotherapist, if the pattern looks inflammatory: morning stiffness over an hour, both hands or both feet involved, soft warm swelling, or unexplained tiredness. That needs blood tests and medicine started early, because the first months are when joint damage can still be prevented.
Go to a hospital the same day if one joint becomes hot, red, very swollen and severely painful, especially with fever. That can be a joint infection.
Al-Shama Physiotherapy Clinic
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اپائنٹمنٹ کے بارے میں پوچھیںAppointment ke liye poochein
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یہ فارم پُر کریں؛ واٹس ایپ پر آپ کی تفصیلات کے ساتھ پیغام تیار ہو جائے گا۔Yeh form bharein, WhatsApp aap ki tafseel ke saath khul jaye ga.
How it is treated
Physiotherapy does not reverse joint surface damage, and nothing else does either. What it changes is pain, stiffness, strength and what you can do in a day, and those improve a great deal in most people.
- Exercise therapy, strengthening the muscles that support the joint. This is the core of treatment and the part with the best evidence behind it
- Manual therapy, hands on mobilisation to restore movement in a stiff joint and ease the tissues around it
- Electrotherapy and TENS for pain relief, which lets you exercise properly
- Dry needling for the muscle spasm that builds around a painful joint, never over an actively hot and swollen one
- Hijama (cupping therapy) where muscle pain around the joint is a large part of the complaint, away from inflamed joints
- Bracing, footwear advice and a walking stick where they reduce load, and advice on chair and toilet height
Joint replacement is for severe arthritis that has stopped responding, and it works well when it is needed. Medicine for inflammatory arthritis is prescribed by your doctor, not here. See also our pages on knee osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and gout.
Exercises, and what to avoid
What helps
- Moving every painful joint through its full range once or twice daily, even on bad days
- Strengthening two or three times a week, building slowly. Strong muscles take load off the joint surface
- Walking, stationary cycling or swimming, which load joints steadily rather than with impact
- Grip and hand exercises if the hands are affected, so everyday tasks stay possible
What to avoid
- Long stretches of not moving. Joints stiffen within hours of sitting still
- Deep squatting and sitting on the floor if the knees or hips are affected
- Forcing a joint that is hot and swollen. Rest that one and move the others
- Stopping exercise for weeks after one sore day. Mild soreness that settles overnight is acceptable
What you can do at home
Use heat for stiffness. Fifteen to twenty minutes of a hot pack or a warm shower before you move about makes the first hour of the day much easier.
Use cold for a joint that is hot, puffy and throbbing. Ten minutes with a cloth between the ice and the skin.
If you are carrying extra weight, losing some takes real load off every step. This is one of the few things that changes knee and hip arthritis measurably.
Raise the surfaces you use. A higher chair, a raised toilet seat and a bed at the right height save a painful joint hundreds of movements a day.
How long it takes
Wear type arthritis is a long term condition. It is managed, not cured. With consistent exercise, most people notice clearly less pain and better walking within six to twelve weeks, and the improvement holds as long as the exercise continues.
A flare, where a joint is suddenly more painful and swollen, usually settles over one to three weeks with relative rest of that joint, cold packs and keeping the rest of the body moving.
For inflammatory arthritis, progress follows how well the medicine is controlling the disease. Physiotherapy cannot outrun uncontrolled inflammation, which is why the rheumatologist leads and we work alongside.
Urdu / Roman Urdu
Choose your reading script / اپنی پسند کا رسم الخط منتخب کریں
اردوUrdu script
گٹھیا کی دو قسمیں ہیں اور فرق سمجھنا ضروری ہے۔
پہلا، جوڑ کا گھسنا۔ صبح کی اکڑن آدھے گھنٹے میں کھل جاتی ہے اور درد چلنے سے بڑھتا ہے۔ اس کا اصل علاج ورزش ہے۔
دوسرا، سوجن والی گٹھیا۔ اکڑن ایک گھنٹے سے زیادہ رہتی ہے، دونوں ہاتھوں کے چھوٹے جوڑ سوجتے ہیں، اور تھکن رہتی ہے۔ اس کے لیے ڈاکٹر سے خون کا ٹیسٹ اور دوا ضروری ہے، کیونکہ دوا ڈاکٹر کا کام ہے۔
اکڑن پر گرم سیک اور سوجے گرم جوڑ پر ٹھنڈی سیک کریں۔ کوئی ایک جوڑ گرم، لال اور بخار کے ساتھ ہو تو اسی دن ہسپتال جائیں۔
Roman Urdu
Gathiya ki do qismein hain aur farq samajhna zaroori hai.
Pehla, jor ka ghisna. Subah ki akarhan aadhe ghante mein khul jati hai aur dard chalne se barhta hai. Is ka asal ilaj warzish hai.
Doosra, sujan wali gathiya. Akarhan ek ghante se zyada rehti hai, dono haathon ke chote jor sujte hain, aur thakan rehti hai. Is ke liye doctor se khoon ka test aur dawa zaroori hai, kyunke dawa doctor ka kaam hai.
Akarhan par garam sek aur sooje garam jor par thandi sek karen. Koi ek jor garam, laal aur bukhar ke sath ho to usi din hospital jayen.
Treatment at the clinic, and online
INFORMATION → INDIVIDUAL CARE
A plan built around you.
Talk with Dr. Zahra Fatima, DPT. Understand your next steps, with guidance for your own symptoms and daily routine.
Talk it through
Discuss your symptoms, what you find difficult and what you want to get back to.
Understand your next steps
Use the consultation to discuss which care and exercises fit your situation.
Take your plan with you
Your online consultation includes a written plan you can refer to afterwards.
Questions people ask
What is the difference between arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis?
How can I tell which type I have?
Can physiotherapy cure arthritis?
Does cold weather cause arthritis?
Should I stop walking if my knees hurt?
Related conditions
- Plantar fasciitis and heel pain treatment
- Knee osteoarthritis and knee joint pain
- Ankle sprain treatment
- Ankle pain treatment
- Rheumatoid arthritis physiotherapy