Dealing with Arthritis
November 11, 2008
Simply, the pain in the knees and stiffness in the fingers are so momentary that they are ignored and believed to be just the results of hard work at the work or the long playing at the basketball. Then, after some days, this type of pain reoccurs more noticeably; however it disappears at the end of the day. Is this due to the old age or something serious such as arthritis? As per the report of Arthritis Foundation, nearly 30 million men suffer from some types of arthritis or chronic joint symptoms in the United States, causing them a clear disruption in lives such as difficulties in simple routine activities of walking, bathing, and dressing.
Osteoarthritis
The most common arthritis amongst all its types is the osteoarthritis or OA. In osteoarthritis the cartilage covering the ends of the bones in a joint slowly gets affected followed by wearing away of it. This causes pain and stiffness because the bones grind against each other with every joint movement. Some additional pains can occur making the thing worse if the bone spurs grow in the joint, which restricts the range of motion.
Causes of OA
The definite origin of arthritis is unknown; though, as per a general belief, combining factors contribute to the development of OA. These are obesity, muscle weakness, joint damages as a result of sports injury, heredity, and aging process.
Areas of OA occurrence
It strikes differently at the different people.Medically speaking, it can affect any joint; though, in most people the susceptible joints are those of finger, thumbs, neck, spine, hips, knees, and feet.
The symptoms of OA
Progressive condition is a characteristic of osteoarthritis. This means that it develops slowly and progresses worse with the time. Initially, the pain is felt normally after physical activities or exercises. The pain keeps on waxing and waning; but as the time passes, this happens more frequently. Apart from pain, there are other symptoms too of osteoarthritis that the men worry about. You should know them such as joint stiffness mostly after waking up in morning or at sitting down for a long time, crunching sound or sensation when joints move, swelling and tenderness, discomfort with the weather change, and loss of flexibility of the jaunts.
Chances of OA development
There are no certain criteria to forecast firmly about the OA. But, there are risk factors associated with the development of OA that increases the chances. Generally these are: The age above 45; the overweight; hereditary musculoskeletal conditions such as defective cartilage and malformed joints; and joint injuries due to physical activities or sports. Moreover, some other disease can also increase the risk of OA; for instance, the rheumatoid arthritis and gout.
See a doctor the earliest
See a doctor the earliest after you first notice any joint pains because if this is osteoarthritis it will worsen over the time. You should approach a doctor with no delay if your daily activities are disrupted by the pain, or if there is a continuous joint pain or sporadic joint pain with a period of two weeks.
The treatment for OA
As a treatment of OA, most of the people go for topical pain relievers, the prescription drugs like nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID), or the over-the-counter medications like acetaminophen and ibuprofen. The doctor may additionally prescribe the steroid injections, special analgesics or powerful painkillers like COX-2 inhibitors.
Beside drugs, you can do many things.This will also avoid the side effects of the drugs; of note, making the headlines recently, COX-2 inhibitors is linked with the risk of heart attack and stroke. These options include regular joint-friendly exercise with low impact such as walking and aquatic exercise focusing on the strength of muscle tone and flexibility. Extra weight reduction can also help by easing your joints.
Recent studies show that nutritional supplements can improve joint health. As per the Anchor Health’s Joint Solution Extra, natural ingredients like glucosamine, yucca roots, chondroitin sulfate, sea cucumber, and other herbal extras may cure the joint problems. Glucosamine is an amino acid lubricant. Chondroitin is a part of cartilage building blocks. While yucca roots and sea cucumber may possess anti-inflammatory properties.
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