The neck contains many soft tissue structures and joints that can wear out as you age. When this happens, it’s often referred to as cervical osteoarthritis. This condition can lead to pain when doing normal daily activities. 

Millions of Americans will end up having to deal with neck osteoarthritis at some point. In fact, medical studies report that more than 85% of people over 60 have this condition. One way you can treat the symptoms of neck osteoarthritis is to work with a physical therapist. These medical professionals can even help you reduce your neck osteoarthritis pain. 

Three of the benefits physical therapy can offer for your neck osteoarthritis pain

A physical therapist is trained to treat issues with the human musculoskeletal system. This includes issues like osteoarthritis that are affecting your neck. There are many ways that your physical therapist can help treat your neck osteoarthritis pain and other symptoms. Common ways your therapist can help you include: 

1. Reducing your pain — Pain is the most debilitating symptom of arthritis. It can make even turning your head a task you try to avoid. However, physical therapists have access to techniques that can help decrease your neck pain. One study found that a combination of manual therapy and therapeutic exercises helped 75% of patients achieve significant neck pain reductions in just one week. 

2. Improving neck function — Addressing decreased neck function is also a common goal of physical therapy for neck arthritis. Manual therapy is one way that physical therapists can help meet this goal. It involves techniques where therapists use their hands to manipulate and mobilize the neck. A study on patients who had manual therapy found that it helped 70% of them achieve significant increases in their ability to do normal daily activities. 

3. Improving your posture — Poor head and neck posture can magnify cervical osteoarthritis symptoms. A physical therapist can take steps to help address this type of poor posture. For one thing, they can suggest ergonomic changes you can make at home or at work. Your therapist can also show you how to do postural exercises designed to help you maintain better posture. 

Discover treatment for neck osteoarthritis pain at Rehab Access PT

Ready to find treatment that can decrease your neck osteoarthritis pain? Our physical therapists at Rehab Access Physical Therapy are prepared to help you treat all of your symptoms. We offer free screenings intended to confirm that your symptoms are being caused by neck osteoarthritis. Also, our team excels at building customized therapy plans designed to reduce arthritis pain and help you manage it in the future. Even better, you can get our help from home by using our virtual therapy service. 

Contact our team today for more information about our arthritis treatment services or to schedule an initial appointment.