Rheumatic disease: exercise or immobilization?

Though it may be true that, in the absence of a dependable cause, there is no single cure for inflammatory diseases of the locomotor system, nevertheless there is no reason for therapeutic nihilism. Much can be done to induce a remission in the disease while at the same time suppressing inflammation, relieving pain, preventing or correcting deformities, easing stiffness and increasing muscular control of the joints. However, no drug regime can be expected to achieve this, and reliance on drugs alone invariably leads to disappointing results, both for the doctor and patient. Hence every patient also should have a properly organized and supervised regime of physical methods of treatment. The relative value of rest or exercise remains controversial, and different considerations play a role in some of the disease processes. Thus in patients with active rheumatoid synovitis there seems no doubt that at first, extra rest to the inflamed joints is essential, but as the disease process is brought under control, the patient can be mobilized and made more active. In patients with ankylosing spondylitis, the emphasis should be placed on activity and exercise.