Diagnosing polymyositis is a step by step process. The physician will start by doing a physical exam to assess their strength, followed by blood tests, an EMG, and a muscle biopsy. In this video, Dr. Lisa Christopher-Stine, the Director of the Myositis Center, discusses how polymyositis is diagnosed.
There are many medications that can help decrease muscle inflammation, but with a myopathy, the best way to feel better is to exercise. In this video, Dr. Lisa Christopher-Stine, the Director of the Myositis Center, explains how we go about treating polymyositis.
There are many things to do at home to ease the muscle pain and inflammation. Self-care, including massages, taking a break from work or working from home, and eating more holistically can help. In this video, Dr. Lisa Christopher-Stine, the Director of the Myositis Center, delves into how to live a normal, healthy life with a diagnosis of polymyositis.
Sleep problems can occur in patients with psoriatic arthritis. While there are unfortunately many causes of these problems, there are also many solutions. In this video, Victoria Ruffing, RN, BC, the director of patient education at Johns Hopkins Rheumatology, discusses ways to combat sleeplessness and feel more restful throughout the day.
Living with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis is difficult. It can be stressful and unfortunately lead to anxiety and depression. In this video, Dr. Dana DiRenzo gives tips on ways to work with your physician and help combat and prevent anxiety and depression.
Through research conducted at the Johns Hopkins Arthritis Center and elsewhere, yoga has shown promise for improving arthritis symptoms, physical fitness, mental health and quality of life. However, in order to be safe and effective, yoga must also be appropriate for people living with arthritis. While there are many ways that yoga poses can be adapted, a chair is a readily available tool that makes yoga more accessible. Dr. Steffany Moonaz will guide you through these videos, which can be used one at a time or in sequence, depending on how much time you have and what you want to practice. It includes information on posture, breathing, movement, yoga poses that are done seated and standing, and a relaxation.
In this yoga sequence, Dr. Moonaz takes you through the movement of all major joints of the body. This can be a great activity for mornings to reduce stiffness or as a warm-up to any kind of exercise or a longer yoga practice. You can also use any of these movements throughout the day if you are starting to feel stiff or just need a little bit of movement in your day.
This video contains a few yoga poses that can be done seated in a chair. You’ll want one chair to sit on and another in front of you to put your feet on. Alternatively, these poses can also be done sitting on the floor if you feel comfortable doing so. You may also want something like a strap, a belt, or a necktie to hold into in some of the poses. These gentle poses can help to stretch the back of the legs and bring more movement into the spine.
Knowing the possible Rheumatoid Arthritis triggers can be helpful in preventing an RA flare up. Dr. Uzma Haque talks about the triggers her patients have told her about as well as what a patient should do when they are about to flare up.
Dr. Uzma Haque goes over some self-management techniques to help alleviate the symptoms of a flare.
The KEVZARA® single use pre-filled pen is injected by simply pressing the pen down against your skin at a 90-degree angle. Vicky Ruffing, RN-BC, walks you through how to inject your medication with this new device.
Did you know that the very first yoga pose was just about how to sit properly? And standing upright with healthy alignment is called Mountain Pose? We may not think of sitting and standing as yoga, but the way we sit and stand can affect the pressure on our joints, the way we breathe, and even our mood. In this video, Dr. Moonaz guides you through considerations for healthy alignment while sitting and standing, so you can practice yoga all day long!