Suffering from Joint Pain?

Joint pain is the sensation of discomfort or soreness in a joint or joints of the body. Joints are the spaces or areas where two or more bones meet, such as the hip, knee, shoulder, elbow and ankle. Joint pain can occur with or without movement and can be severe enough to limit movement. People may describe joint pain as discomfort, inflammation, increased warmth or burning, soreness, stiffness, or pain. Below are the list of joint arthritis problem:

Osteoarthritis

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What is Osteoarthritis? Osteoarthritis is a common problem for many people after middle age. Osteoarthritis is sometimes referred to as degenerative, or wear and tear arthritis. It is the most common forms of arthritis. The disease causes cartilage breakdown found in joints. This breakdown removes the buffer between bones and the resulting bone against bone friction causes pain and eventual loss of movement. Bone spurs may form around the joint as the body’s response.

The symptoms of osteoarthritis are mainly pain, swelling, and stiffening of the knee. Osteoarthritis develops slowly, but may present with sudden attacks of knee pain. The pain of osteoarthritis is usually worse after activity. Some patients may have pain and stiffness on standing after a prolonged sitting period. Activities such as squatting and climbing of stairs become painful. In the late stages, the pain is worse with walking. The knee becomes difficult to straighten or bend fully.

How do you get it? There are a wide array of factors that cause the development and progression of the disease.

RISK FACTORS INCLUDE:

  • Aging
  • Obesity
  • Joint injuries (sports, work or accidents)
  • Genetics
How do patient know they are suffering from it? An individual must be diagnosed by a doctor. After a physical examination and full detailing of symptoms, the physician may also recommend X-rays to confirm presence of the disease. X-rays are very helpful in the diagnosis and may be the only special test required in the majority of cases. In some cases of early osteoarthritis, the X-rays may not show changes typical of osteoarthritis. If the diagnosis is still unclear, arthroscopy may be necessary to actually look inside the knee and see if the joint surfaces are beginning to develop changes from wear and tear. Arthroscopy is a surgical procedure where a small fibre-optic television camera is inserted into the knee joint through a very small incision, about 5mm. The surgeon can then move the camera around inside the joint while watching the pictures on a TV screen. The structures inside the joint can be examined with small surgical instruments to see if there is any damage.

What are the treatments?
  • Weight management to relieve stress on weight-bearing joints
  • Glucosamine Sulphate 1500mg per day
  • Anti-inflammatory drugs and analgesics
  • Injection of lubricants into the knee
  • Arthroscopy to wash away the inflamed fluid, debris and loose fragments inside the joint. Abrasive-therapy to stimulate cartilage growth
  • Osteotomy to straighten the leg to reduce the stress acting on the bad part of the knee.
  • Partial knee replacements (unicompartmental knee replacement – replaces only the diseased portion of the joint)
  • Total knee replacement (used when severe osteoarthritis is present)

Rheumatoid Arthritis

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What is Rheumatoid Arthritis? Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a long-term disease that leads to inflammation of the joints and surrounding tissues. It can also affect other organs.

The cause of RA is unknown. It is considered an autoimmune disease. The body’s immune system normally fights off foreign substances, like viruses. But in an autoimmune disease, the immune system confuses healthy tissue for foreign substances. As a result, the body attacks itself.

RA can occur at any age. Women are affected more often than men.RA usually affects joints on both sides of the body equally. Wrists, fingers, knees, feet, and ankles are the most commonly affected. The course and the severity of the illness can vary considerably. Infection, genes, and hormones may contribute to the disease.

What are the causes?
  • Hereditary
  • Cigarette
What are the symptoms?
  • Fatigue
  • Loss of energy
  • Lack of appetite
  • Muscle and joint aches and stiffness
What are the treatments? Rheumatoid Arthritis usually requires lifelong treatment, including medications, physical therapy, exercise, education, and possibly surgery. Early, aggressive treatment for RA can delay joint destruction. Seek for an Orthopaedic Surgeon and find out what treatment best suit your condition.

Adult Still's Disease

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What is Adult Still Disease? Adult Still’s disease is a rare inflammatory condition that may lead to chronic arthritis and other complications. A separate condition, formerly known as Still’s disease, is now commonly referred to as systemic onset juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) or juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA).

What are the causes?
  • Infection with a microbe
  • Hypersensitive
  • Autoimmune Disorder
What are the symptoms?
  • Fatigue
  • Come and go fever
  • Lack of appetite
  • Weight loss
What are the treatments? The goal of treatment for adult Still’s disease is to control the symptoms of arthritis. Aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen, are usually the first form of treatment.

Prednisone may be used for more severe cases.

If the disease persists for a long time (becomes chronic), medicines that suppress the immune system might be needed.

Psoriatic Arthritis

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What is Psoriatic Arthritis? Osteoarthritis is a condition that affects the joints.

Three key characteristics of osteoarthritis are:

  • mild inflammation of the tissues in and around the joints
  • Damage to cartilage, the strong, smooth surface that lines the bones and allows joints to move easily and without friction
  • Bony growths that develop around the edge of the joints
Osteoarthritis mostly occurs in the knees, hips and small joints of the hands and base of the big toe. However, almost any joint can be affected .Osteoarthritis usually develops in people over 50 years of age and is more common in women than in men. It is commonly thought that osteoarthritis is an inevitable part of getting older, but this is not quite true. While in very old people the changes of osteoarthritis are visible on X-rays, they don’t always have related pain or problems with joint function.Younger people can also be affected by osteoarthritis, often as a result of an injury or another joint condition.

What are the causes?
  • Genetic Immune Disorder
  • Arthritis of the spine
What are the symptoms?
  • Rheumatoid Arthritis
  • Joint stiffness
  • Inflammation of the tendons
  • Chest pain
What are the treatments? The goal of treatment for adult Still’s disease is to control the symptoms of arthritis. Aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen, are usually the first form of treatment.

Prednisone may be used for more severe cases.

If the disease persists for a long time (becomes chronic), medicines that suppress the immune system might be needed.

Gonococcal Arthritis

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What is Gonococcal Arthritis? Gonococcal arthritis is inflammation of a joint due to a gonorrhea infection.

What are the causes?
  • Bacterial infection of a joint
What are the symptoms?
  • Fever
  • Lower abdominal pain
  • Pain in the hand due to tendon inflammation
  • Single joint pain
  • Skin rash