BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Aging is a dynamic, progressive and unavoidable process bringing several physical and emotional changes. Arthralgia is one of the most limiting factors with regard to elderly people's functionality. This study aimed at reviewing the literature in search of possible non-pharmacological treatments which may contribute to improve the quality of life (QL) of arthralgia patients. CONTENTS: LILACS, Medline, Pubmed, Bireme and Scielo databases were queried from 1998 to 2012. Among intervention methods to rehabilitate arthralgias in the elderly there are kinesiotherapy, thermotherapy, electrotherapy and hydrotherapy. CONCLUSION: Hydrotherapy associated to kinesiotherapy may bring significantly positive results to the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis and osteoporosis.
Arthralgia; Elderly; Physiotherapy