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Arthritis Pain
What is arthritis?
Arthritis is a disease that causes pain and loss of movement of the joints. The word arthritis literally means joint inflammation
(arth=joint, ritis=inflammation), and refers to more than 100 different diseases including two of the most heard about: Rheumatoid
Arthritis & Osteoarthritis (or hypertrophic arthritis)
For information on some of the latest top arthritis advances and what they mean for those suffering from arthritis pain click on this
link
www.athritis.org/top-10-2007.php
The Arthritis Foundation has a great deal of information which can be of help. Go to
http://www.arthritis.org/understanding-pain.php
where you will find:
Understanding Your Pain
Dealing with pain can be the hardest part of having arthritis or a related condition, but you can learn to manage it and its
impact on your life. The first step is knowing which type of arthritis or condition you have, because that will help determine your
treatment. Before learning different management techniques, however, it's important to understand some concepts about pain.
The Purpose of Pain
Pain is your body's alarm system that tells you something is wrong. When your body is injured, nerves in the affected area release
chemical signals. Other nerves send these signals to your brain, where they are recognized as pain.
Pain often tells you that you need to act. For example, if you touch a hot stove, pain signals from your brain make you pull your hand
away. This type of pain helps protect you.
Long-lasting pain, like the kind that accompanies arthritis or fibromyalgia, is different. While it tells you that something is wrong,
it often isn't as easy to relieve. Managing this type of pain is essential to enhance your quality of life and sense of well-being.
Causes of Pain
Arthritis pain is caused by several factors, such as:
- Inflammation, the process that causes the redness and swelling in your joints;
- Damage to joint tissues, which results from the disease process or from stress, injury or pressure on the joints;
- Fatigue that results from the disease process, which can make your pain seem worse and harder to handle;
- Depression or stress, which results from limited movement or no longer doing activities you enjoy. You can get caught in a
cycle of pain, limited/lost abilities, stress and depression that makes managing pain and arthritis seem more difficult.
Different Reactions to Pain
People react differently to pain for several reasons. Physical factors include the sensitivity of your nervous system and the
severity of your arthritis. Emotional and social factors include your fears and anxieties about pain, previous experiences with pain,
energy level, attitude about your condition and the way people around you react to pain.
and much much more
HealthLink lists Facts about and causes of arthritis pain as well as treatments:
http://healthlink.mcw.edu/article/926043924.html
Athritis.com covers joint pain and lists answers to typical questions concerning pain:
http://www.arthritis.com/
Knee pain
Exercise will help. This is of particular value for golfers
Place a towel or blanket on the floor and lay on it. Pull one leg with the opposite arm up and across your body. Pull your knee toward
your body until you feel a tightness or stretch in your hip region. Hold for 30 seconds or as long as possible. Repeat.
Place a towel or blanket on the floor and lie on your side keeping your knees together. Without rolling off your side lift your heel
(top leg) away from your bottom leg. Repeat 10 times. Rest and repeat again.
Hand pain
According to the Mayo Clinic hand exercises can benefit suffers of hand pain. Bend your fingers The following hand exercises show
moves that can provide arthritis pain relief. You can do these hand exercises daily or, preferably, several times a day. You might
find it helps to do hand exercises while soaking your hands in warm water. Know your limitations, though. Hand exercises shouldn't
cause pain.
Start your hand exercises by relaxing your hand. Start with your fingers straight and close together. Bend the end and middle joints
of your fingers. Keep your wrist and knuckles straight. Moving slowly and smoothly, return your hand to the starting position. Repeat
with your other hand. If you can, perform multiple repetitions of this exercise on each hand.
See your physician
and be prepared to ask questions to get a better understanding of how you can treat your pain.
- What tests do I need to find out if my pain is arthritis and what type of arthritis it is?
- If it is indeed arthritis, what kind is it?
- Will this be a crippling disease and will it affect other organs?
- Should I be consulting with a Rheumatologist and who do you recommend?
- What medications can you prescribe to ease the pain as well as help prevent additional progression of the disease?
- What exercises should I do that could ease the pain and help my mobility?
- Should I be taking any vitamins or glucosamine and/or chondroitin?
- What about steroids?
What is glucosamine?
Many physicians recommend their patients suffering from mild to moderate arthritis pain take glucosamine and chondroitin. While studies
have not positively confirmed the value of these supplements enough people suffering from arthritis pain have found at least some
relief that this course of action seems warranted.
Available evidence from randomized controlled trials supports the use of glucosamine sulfate in the treatment of osteoarthritis,
particularly of the knee. It is believed that the sulfate moiety provides clinical benefit in the synovial fluid by strengthening
cartilage and aiding glycosaminoglycan synthesis. If this hypothesis is confirmed, it would mean that only the glucosamine sulfate
form is effective and non-sulfated glucosamine forms are not effective. Glucosamine is commonly taken in combination with chondroitin,
a glycosaminoglycan derived from articular cartilage. Use of complementary therapies, including glucosamine, is common in patients
with osteoarthritis, and may allow for reduced doses of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents.
Aspirin
High doses of aspirin help to control arthritis pain, but many patients are unable to tolerate the gastrointestinal toxicity. High
aspirin dosage also promotes bleeding and bruising and is not recommended for some patients for that reason. The taking of aspirin or
any over-the-counter drug in high dosage is not recommended without consulting your physician.
Tylenol Arthritis Pain
This medication is 650 mg of acetaminophen in each caplet in a time release formula. The instructions say take 2 caplets/geltabs of
Tylenol Arthritis which gives you 1300 mg of pain relief over an extended amount of time 4-8 hours. This is an excellent help for
those with mild to medium pain. Make sure to read the directions prior to embarking on using this over-the-counter medication and
check with your physician if you plan to take it over a protracted period of time.
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