Adjunctive Treatments For Rheumatoid Arthritis

Hello There Rheumatology Fans,

What To Expect In This Article

• Overview (Free)

• Thermotherapies

• Manual Therapies

• Electrotherapies

• Acupuncture/Dry Needling

• Other(s)

Overview

Let me set the scene here a bit with a definition of “adjunctive” in this context which is those non-pharmocologic treatments that we have available alongside the core ones we need to use in this population. These core ones are condition education, exercise programs and optimising general health. That leaves us with what I describe on my courses as “other stuff”. I would deem all these to not be necessary but if resource allows they may be helpful in a patients journey.

This article will look to explore when we should offer these, or maybe more importantly when we shouldn’t and also give my experience on their clinical utility with tips on maximising this.

I am going to start with a blunt list below and expand further on. Should we offer this “adjunctive treatment” for Rheumatoid Arthritis...:

Thermotherapies - YES

Manual Therapies - SOMETIMES

Electrotherapies - RARELY

Acupuncture - RARELY

Other(s) - NO

Before continuing on, I need you to remember that although Rheumatoid Arthritis affects the Musculoskeletal (MSK) system - predominantly joints and tendons. This is NOT an MSK disorder, it is an auto-inflammatory arthritis and if your reasoning process doesn’t reflect that fact then it is flawed…

The “treatments” on this list might affect local inflammation, they will not strongly affect systemic inflammation and they certainly won’t undo the fault in the immune system that leads to Rheumatoid Arthritis and as such any effect will be short lived.

Let’s get to more specifics.