Juvenile idiopathic arthritis belongs to the group of rheumatic diseases. Although the cause is unknown, there are several factors that favor the development of juvenile idiopathic arthritis:
- Juvenil is the Latin name for youth, or means occurring in adolescence
- Idiopathic is the term for the unknown cause
- Arthritis is the name of an inflammatory joint disease (Arthros = joint, -itis = inflammation)
- Infections
- Auto-immunization procedures
- Genetic disposition
Physiotherapeutic intervention
Conservative therapy consists of a combination of physiotherapy, occupational therapy, which is mainly focused on everyday activities, and medication. As described above, the course of juvenile idiopathic arthritis is very diverse in its forms, severity and thus also in its consequences and symptoms. What they have in common, however, is the painful restriction in joint mobility, which is why the main goal of physiotherapeutic intervention is intensive movement training.
In addition, individual symptoms are treated with adapted measures. Training in exercise baths is easy on the joints because the water takes the weight of the body and joints can be moved without stress. Furthermore, the use of electrotherapy and ultrasound has proven to be effective, which not only influences mobility and tissue and muscle tension, but also has a positive effect on the perception of pain.
Depending on the sensation and the goal, heat and cold are used – cold to inhibit pain and to dampen inflammatory reactions, and as a decongestant measure for the joints. Warmth also has a pain-relieving effect, but should not be applied to inflammations, rather to tense muscles and tissues, which continuously restrict mobility. A further part of the physiotherapeutic intervention is the practice of everyday demands and optimization of these movements.
Depending on the affected joints, this can be gait, grasping, or other movements. It is important that especially children understand the disease and therefore the importance of their own cooperation. Passive help can only be given up to a certain degree, the decisive factor is active movement and, even as the disease progresses, the motivation not to lose motivation and to remain active in order to avoid serious problems such as irreversible joint contractures. The therapy also varies depending on the timeliness of the last episode. These articles may also be of interest to you:
- Physiotherapy gait training
- Exercises for gait disorders
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