[Rehabilitation in rheumatic diseases]

Rehabilitation of rheumatic diseases is a difficult subject because it deals with a chronic life-long illness. The necessary therapy has to adjust to the changing symptoms of pain and malfunction. In this article we introduce the various means of physical medicine required. It will be a life-long rehabilitation process with changing handicaps and disabilities. Improvement with nearly no functional deficits and no clinical symptoms but impairment and disability show how varied this group of patients is. There is no borderline between the acute and chronic stage. We need an interdisciplinary approach and specialised centres for the rehabilitation of rheumatoid diseases.