All About Arthritis- Causes, Cure, Therapies and Treatments
Conditions > All About Arthritis- Causes and Cure
Inflammation of the joints causing pain, stiffness and swelling in the muscles and the bones is arthritis. There are two main types of arthritis- osteo-arthritis and rheumatoid. On a general note, some of the many reasons behind this disease are your obesity and constant use of the same joint. The commonly affected areas are the hands and the elbows, the knees and the hip too.
Osteoarthritis form of arthritis is the result of the normal degeneration of the different joints of the body. Slowly, you feel pain in the knees or in the elbows, which over a period develops into swelling and lack of mobility of the said area. Rheumatoid is very different as here your own body system attacks the joints of your body, thereby disabling them and affecting your movement of the limbs and joints.
There are different types of drugs and treatments for arthritis. However, they bring along many side effects. A very recent addition is your grandmother’s remedies. Many herbal potions are also available, which reduce the sufferings and do not cause any side effects.
Previously, doctors advised against any form of exercises for arthritis patients. However, now studies have proven that a light exercise routine helps keep the pain at bay. The best are walking, light bicycling and swimming. These exercises allow better movement of joints and increase the strength in your muscles.
Try to follow the saying- Prevention is better than cure. You can guard yourself from an onslaught of arthritis by reducing excessive strain on the joints and muscles. Do not wait for the symptoms to go up to alarming levels and consult an orthopedic at first itself. Exercises will make your bones and muscles stronger and increase the flexibility in them. Eat fresh fruits, vegetables and whole foods and reduce the intake of packaged foods. Take in a lot of water, which lubricates the joints. Yoga can also help. Keep a check on your obesity level.
Arthritis Treatments
Arthritis can hit a person without warning. Usually it happened to people in their fifties. One day they will be just fine, and the next a pain unlike anything words could do justice to rakes their joints and limbs. In some cases the pain is so great they are taken to the hospital via the emergency services. The pain can be so bad that it is impossible to move or stand on a their legs. Other times a persons hands will lock, in a fist and the person can not open it up. The knuckles on a persons hand can become deformed and become knotted.
The problem is that arthritis treatments are not the same for each person that efflicted with this nasty disease. One doctor might prescribe a strong pain killer, but that is just a short term fix because a person can not function in life while taken a pain killer. That and the fact that pain killers are very addictive. Another might suggest exercise, and one has to wonder how that could happen if the patient can not stand?
In the media we have all heard that the most popular drug Vioxx has been taken off the shelf. Leaving arthritis suffers searching for something that can replace this treatment and worried that they will have the complications now associated with the drug. There are cases proving the fact the long term users of vioxx have suffered heart failures and strokes as a result of the use.
Another popular drug on the market is mobicox , which is proving to be the replacement drug or vioxx. However will this drug, have long term side effects as well? Only time will tell and users of any drugs should keep an eye open for any studies being done on the drug they are using. One new treatment, for people that suffer from arthritis in their wrist, are arm braces. They are worn at night to bed, and have proven to relieve the pain that is found in the morning.
Types of Arthritis Treatments
There are many different types of arthritis treatments that you can use to treat arthritis and its symptoms. Most arthritis treatments involve some type of relaxation and rest combined with a healthy diet that may or may not include medications. Some forms of arthritis will benefit from certain methods of pain relief as well as external devices such as braces or splints. If you have arthritis your doctor will work with you to find the best types of arthritis treatments for your symptoms and condition.
Many times if you have arthritis you will have to maintain a lifestyle of a combination of rest and exercise. These types of arthritis treatments are important so that your body gets an equal amount of relaxation mixed with a certain level of activity. If you don’t get enough exercise your joints and muscles will become stiff and painful. This can begin a cycle of inactivity that can hinder any type of arthritis treatments that your doctor may want to prescribe for you.
Any arthritis treatments that involve exercise of some kind will be very explicit in the types of exercise that you can engage in. There are basically three types of exercise that your doctor may recommend for you. These include endurance (aerobic) exercises, strengthening exercises, or motion exercises that will help you to condition and maintain your joint movement. If you are considering playing any types of sports you will want to consult with your doctor first.
Many arthritis treatments include the use of hot and cold therapy. Hot and cold arthritis treatments will help to ease the pain and reduce the inflammation of arthritis. You will want to use a combination of hot and cold therapy. Hot therapy will help to increase the flow of blood in your body as well as help with the pain of arthritis. Cold therapy will often help to relieve the inflammation of arthritis as well as muscle spasms. Your doctor will help you to determine what combination of hot and cold arthritis treatments are best for you.
No matter what type of arthritis treatments that your doctor prescribes for you it’s important to follow his instructions carefully so that you can get the most out of the treatment.
Therapies for Arthritis
Drug Therapies for Arthritis how effective are prescribed methotrexate, minocycline, sulphasalazine, etanercept, chloroquine, and many other pharmaceutical treatments for arthritis? Additional Medical Treatments—current research is being done on apheresis treatments, laser therapies, radiosynoviorthesis, and more.
Drug therapies for arthritis are under fire in the media today. Vioxx and Celebrex are deemed to have caused may heart attacks and strokes in those that have been prescribed them to help control the pain of Arthritis. There are many on going law suits right now from suffers of arthritis that have suffer complications linked to the use of these drugs. Other drug therapies are still being used with good results and to date there are no reported cases of complications associated with their use.
The pain of Arthritis can be so extreme it can take the quality of life from those afflicted by it. This disease hits with out warning and can reseed for days and come back with a force that may send patients to the emergency room. There are how ever medical treatments that have been tried and have proven to be effective. More recently laser therapies are considered to be one of the most effective not evasive procedures.
It has been said that a treatment plan for an arthritis suffer is a hard one to set out. And that during this course of finding the right one the sufferer can be a great deal of pain, it is important to try all options until the correct form of therapy and treatment is found. Some patients find that water therapy is beneficial, while other find that the simple act of water brushing against effected joints can feel like a thousand tiny pins piercing their skin.
For more Information on Arthritis and more check out our page General Arthritis.