Rheumatoid arthritis and rheumatoid foot in physiotherapy

Abstract

Rheumatic diseases are not fatal, but they result in shorter life expectancy of the patients suffering from them. This applies to all inflammatory rheumatic diseases, especially rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Rheumatic diseases, in which most of all the joint inflammatory process develops with progressive joint damage, are the cause of patients’ disability, prevent patients from working and everyday functioning, also at home, and affect all aspects of social life. The objective of rehabilitation in RA is to relieve pain, reduce or inhibit inflammation, and maintain the proper functioning of the locomotor system while slowing down or ceasing structural lesions in the joints.