Rheumatoid arthritis. Present-day physical therapy.

Physical therapy is an important therapeutic agent for patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Well directed exercise balanced with rest is fundamental. Careful muscular reeducation is as important in the treatment of patients with arthritis as it is in caring for a patient with paralysis. Pain with slight malalignment and limitation in the joint will cause muscles to lose their sequence of action and so upset the rhythm of motion. Active exercise with a balanced use of assistance and resistance to movement, combined, as indicated, with traction upon the joint or stretching of constricted tissues may result in (1) stabilization of the joint, (2) increase in range of movement, (3) relaxation of antagonists, and (4) reduction of atrophy. The objectives of muscular exercise then are (1) reduction of pain, spasm and deformity, (2) development of muscular power, and (3) restoration of the normal rhythm of movement.