Resistance training may help ease symptoms in people with hand osteoarthritis, study suggests
A number of studies have looked at the effectiveness of resistance strength training on osteoarthritis of the hip and knees but, until now, little research has been done into the effectiveness of the therapy on people with hand osteoarthritis.
New findings by researchers at Universidade Federal de Sãn Paulo, Brazil, suggests that resistance strength training helps reduce pain and increases function and treatment satisfaction in people with hand osteoarthritis. The research was presented at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Meeting in San Francisco.
“There is a scarce literature regarding strength exercise in hand osteoarthritis, and there is no consensus about it. So, we decided to do this study to evaluate the effectiveness of progressive strength exercise for these patients,” explains lead investigator, Michele Nery PT, MsC.
For 12 weeks, researchers followed 60 participants who had been medically diagnosed with hand osteoarthritis for arthritis for at least one year and who were experiencing pain in the joints of their fingers. The participants all received instruction on joint protection and energy conservation at the beginning of the study and then they were placed into two random groups.
Group one then followed a progressive resistance exercise programme targeted at the small muscles in the hand and fingers, while the second group did not.
Both groups were then evaluated, although the evaluator did not know who was in each group. They performed evaluations at the beginning of the study and again at six and 12 weeks, using a number of tools to measure pain, disability, joint stiffness and grip and pinch strength. Both groups showed very similar results at the beginning of the study, with the exception of two pinch-strength tests.
The evaluator noted at the end of the study that patients in the exercise group showed better function, reduced hand pain, and more satisfaction with their treatment, when compared to the group that did not follow the resistance exercise programme.
“This study shows that progressive strength exercise can improve some aspects of hand osteoarthritis, such as pain and function,” explains Nery. “We believe this can be an option for the treatment of hand osteoarthritis patients, and they should talk to their physicians about it.”
Nery’s team believes more studies need be done to compare this progressive strength program with another kind of exercise or rehabilitation and suggest those studies follow participants long-term.
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Image credit: John Genius
