Relieving Arthritis Pain
Are you experiencing pain in your groin or stiffness in your back? Do you find it painful to go up and down stairs? Are these symptoms making it difficult for you to go about your daily routine?
You could be suffering from osteoarthritis.
Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis, affecting nearly 30 million nationwide. OA is a degenerative joint disease often described as “wear and tear” arthritis. Repetitive movement and prior injuries also contribute to the condition.
Early on, the condition most commonly is associated with stiffness and ache after prolonged rest and inactivity. As the condition advances, inflammation leads to pain and loss of motion in the joints.
While arthritis can be debilitating, there’s a lot that you can do to alleviate the pain and improve your function, joint movement, muscle strength, balance, and coordination. It’s even possible to eliminate symptoms, depending on the amount of arthritis you have.
Call our clinic today to make an appointment. With guidance from your physical therapist, you can find solutions to your pain and get back to living the life you enjoy!
What Is Arthritis, Exactly?
Osteoarthritis is also known as degenerative joint disease. The main characteristic is the loss of articular cartilage and joint disability. It is known as the “wear and tear” form of arthritis. The breakdown of the cartilage affects the whole joint, causing inflammation, bone/joint structural changes, and bone spur formation.
Primary osteoarthritis has no known cause, but almost 30–65% is thought to be genetically determined. Secondary osteoarthritis mainly comes from traumatic events. Despite the differences in the causes, the two types of osteoarthritis progress in similar directions, ultimately resulting in the loss and destruction of articular cartilage.
Typical symptoms include pain, muscle weakness, joint instability, brief morning stiffness, crepitus (i.e., noises like snaps and pops), and physical inactivity.
What Causes Osteoarthritis?
There is increasing evidence that different risk factors are associated with osteoarthritis, including:
- Obesity
- Genetic predispositions
- Sociodemographic characteristics (e.g., female gender, African-American race)
- Specific bone/joint shapes
There are also physical risk factors associated with increased osteoarthritis including:
- Joint injury
- Participation in certain occupational activities (i.e., repetitive movements like bending or prolonged positions like sitting/driving)
- Participation in sports (i.e. contact sports)
- Thigh flexor muscle weakness and knee osteoarthritis
- Joint malalignment
Although aging is one of the most significant risk factors for osteoarthritis, obesity is also a major contributor to developing osteoarthritis. Obese patients have extra weight on their bodies that add to cartilage breakdown.
Recent research suggests that unhealthy diets are associated with systemic inflammation. This inflammation is responsible for a 2.5-times higher likelihood of experiencing knee pain than patients with healthy weight and diets and similar cartilage damage.
However, this cycle can be broken by improving joint movement, muscle strength, balance, and coordination, reducing pain and inflammation.
How Physical Therapy Can Help Arthritis
Your physical therapist will assess your particular condition to identify the contributing factors and address all of them. Regardless of the cause of arthritis, physical therapy plays a significant role in treating arthritis symptoms and should be the first step.
Your therapist can educate you on how regular physical activity and individualized exercise programs can reduce your pain, prevent the condition from worsening, and improve daily function.
Physical therapists can also help you choose healthier lifestyles for losing weight if you are overweight or obese. In addition, your PT can guide you on ways to maintain a healthy weight using diet changes and exercise.
In many cases, physical therapy can help patients by choosing specific exercises and designing appropriate strengthening exercises that improve your function without aggravating your pain. Your therapist can help you reclaim a healthy lifestyle. From start to finish, we’re dedicated to your ongoing well-being. On every level, physical therapy serves to enhance the patient’s quality of life.
Call Our Clinic Today
Contact one of our providers today, and tell us about your symptoms. We offer the results you are looking for!
Our Patients Get Great Results
“I have really benefitted and enjoyed PT with Keagan at Prevail Physical Therapy! I was referred to Keagan by my husband who saw him for a knee injury months ago, and was impressed by his great communication skills as well as the exercise and strength-building techniques he put him through. And I couldn’t agree more! I so much appreciate the bone-strengthening exercises, balance work, encouragement, and even a little push to challenge myself more. Also, I’ve really been impressed by his knowledge and understanding of other health issues and how it all connects (in my case osteoporosis and Parkinson’s). The balance work and weight-lifting are helping me strengthen my body in order to avoid injuries. I feel so encouraged by the PT I’ve received!
Lastly, Keagan is super-upbeat and friendly, and so is everyone who works at Prevail!”
– Catherine M.
Dear UHC Patients,
We are writing to inform you of an upcoming change in our insurance network. Effective April 30, 2025, Prevail Physical Therapy will no longer be in-network with health insurance plans from United Healthcare (UHC).
We understand this may impact your decision to continue care with us, and we want to assure you that we remain committed to providing excellent service and support during this transition.
You may continue your care at Prevail Physical Therapy with a different financial agreement (see below), or your treatment will need to discontinue by 4/30/25, in which case please work with your clinician on a strategy well before then to best conclude your plan of care by the termination date.
You can continue your care with us!
- Out of network coverage: your UHC plan may have “out-of-network” coverage for physical therapy. We can help check this for you, but you should check your plan details as well for specific costs and limitations.
- Time of Service Option: We offer private-pay options, including discounted packages for 5 and 10 visits. Please see our Front Desk Team or website for pricing.
- Insurance change: Depending on your plan, you may be able to switch your insurance to continue in-network coverage. We remain in-network with nearly all other plans. Inquire with your HR department or agent where you purchased your UHC plan and double check with Prevail about our network participation for plans you may change to.
Why This Change Is Happening
Our decision to terminate our contract with UHC was not made lightly and comes after a long period of analysis and thought. UHC’s reimbursement rates (what they pay to us) are among the lowest in the industry—below the cost of providing care—and their administrative requirements for us to be reimbursed for services have always been more difficult than all other private insurances. Our staff works very hard to manage these challenges on our end so that we may serve UHC patients with minimal apparent impact from them. In 2024 UHC implemented even further requirements that have been unpredictable and unmanageable, resulting in the denial of coverage and loss of revenue on hundreds of claims.
Prevail PT is one of the few private practices in the Puget Sound area that was in network with UHC, but it has become an unsustainable relationship financially and enables an insurance company to continue the unethical practice of prioritizing profits over the well-being of their customers. We believe the only way this will change is when UHC loses enough customers that it affects their profit margin more than continuing their current practice.
We’re Here to Help
If you have questions about this change or how it affects your care, please reach out to our team. We are happy to discuss your options, whether that’s transitioning to a cash-pay arrangement or exploring alternative insurance plans.
Thank you for trusting us with your health and well-being. We are grateful for the opportunity to serve you and are committed to making this transition as smooth as possible.
Warm regards,
Bruk Ballenger, PT, DPT, founder of Prevail Physical Therapy
February is Heart Health Month
When’s the last time you thought about your heart health? February is heart health month, so there’s no better time to give one of your most essential organs the attention it deserves.
According to the National Library of Medicine, an estimated 16.3 million Americans aged 20 and older have coronary heart disease (CHD). The symptoms of CHD include heart attacks and chest pain. In the United States, 7.9 million individuals have suffered from heart attacks, and 9 million have experienced chest pain.
These statistics can be alarming, but rest assured that there are several ways you can help improve your heart health! The therapists at Prevail Physical have put together a list of manageable lifestyle changes you can make as soon as today to ensure good heart health for years to come.
1. Exercise regularly
Regular physical activity can help you gain muscle strength and endurance. Exercise helps your cardiovascular system work more efficiently by delivering oxygen and nutrients to your tissues.
If you are not currently exercising regularly, start by taking a ten-minute walk around your neighborhood each day. From there, increase the amount of time you walk each day and quicken your pace. You will eventually be able to work up to a more strenuous activity, like running or biking.
2. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables
According to a study published in the International Journal of Epidemiology, eating ten servings of fruits and vegetables a day can lower your risk of cardiovascular disease by 28% and premature death by 31%.
Ten servings may sound like a lot, but remember that there are many ways to up your fruit and veggie intake. You could add fruit to your water, add vegetables to your fruit smoothie, and snack on carrots and hummus during the day instead of chips.
3. Manage your stress
Did you know that there are over 1,400 biochemical responses to stress? Some of these include a rise in blood pressure and a faster heart rate. For these reasons, stress can have long-term adverse effects on your health.
Try to take the time out of your day to practice mindfulness and check in with your body. Deep breathing activities and meditation can do wonders for anxiety. Practicing yoga may also help you decrease your stress levels.
Come Back to Physical Therapy at Prevail!
Feeling pain or slowed down? Come back to Prevail Physical Therapy for a personalized plan to get you strong, pain-free, and moving again!
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Quick & Easy Healthy Recipe
Valentine’s White Chocolate Raspberry Smoothie
Ingredients:
- 1 tbsp white chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup nonfat vanilla Greek yogurt
- 3/4 cup frozen raspberries
- 1 cup almond milk/milk of choice
- 1/2 cup ice
- Fresh raspberries for garnish (optional)
Directions:
In a small microwave safe bowl, heat white chocolate chips about 30 seconds and stir until smooth and melted through. Set aside to cool slightly. Add all ingredients, including melted chocolate, to a blender (or bullet, food processor, etc). Blend until smooth. Pour into glasses and top with fresh berries. Enjoy!
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Our purpose at Prevail Physical Therapy is to leave a greater impact on the community around us. In order to achieve our goal we want to change as many lives as possible as we become a beacon of positivity in our community.
Meet Our Team
Bruk Ballenger
PT, DPT
Sam Kidder
PT, DPT
Rachel Krieder
PT, DPT
Keagan Tice
PT, DPT
Adam Waggoner
PT, DPT
Stephanie Dunagan
Office Manager
Vanessa N.
Client Services Coordinator
