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Arthritis is a disease that affects
millions of Americans. Few
people consider the health and well being of their bones and joints until they
experience the pain of inflammation and stiffness. For those who currently
experience joint pain, you know all too well that it is far from pleasant.
However, there are certain things you can do to help alleviate the severity of
your discomfort and possibly prevent inflammation and cartilage degeneration,
which cause this type of joint pain.
As a normal function, your body offers
a joint maintenance program that includes rebuilding and regenerating cartilage.
As a result, your joints are mostly able to maintain their shock-absorbing
capabilities.
However, as you age or incur injuries,
the body is sometimes unable to sustain the level of cartilage regeneration
required by the body. Upon injury or cartilage breakdown, the body's natural
reaction is to produce inflammation within the joint so blood flow is increased,
making more nutrients and oxygen available to aid in the healing process. Pain
and discomfort that prohibit normal movement can result from the inflammation
and injury.
What is arthritis?
 It is very important for people who
are suffering from any of the rheumatic or arthritic conditions to understand
that "arthritis" in itself is a rather bad name.
The literal translation of arthritis
is: Inflammation of, or belonging to, a joint. To differentiate between the various
types of inflammation which can be found in and around joints we add a word
before it. The two most common words we use are:
(a) osteoarthritis
(b) rheumatoid arthritis
Osteoarthritis
(OA)
Osteoarthritis is a condition which in
the first instance attacks the cartilages of the joint. Cartilage is the very
smooth substance which surrounds the ends of the bone and makes it easy for the
two surfaces to run together. The cartilage is of a very smooth silvery grey
appearance. An osteoarthritic joint is a mechanical condition which is brought
about when the joint bears loads or strains at the incorrect point. For example,
a sufferer with an osteoarthritic hip joint has for some considerable time been
carrying his/her weight incorrectly.
When the cartilage of the joint wears,
due to incorrect weight bearing, nature comes to the defense of the joint.
First of all, it tightens up the soft
tissue, around the joint i.e. the ligaments, tendons and muscles. This makes the
joint rather difficult to move.
The next stage is that, as cartilage
is difficult to regenerate and bone is easy to regenerate, extra bone is laid
down to replace the damaged or lost cartilage. The amount of bone laid down is
grossly in excess of the quantity that is needed to replace the damaged
cartilage. This leads to the typical x-ray appearance of an osteoarthritic joint
where there are little pinnacles (spikes) sticking out which are very easily
detectable.
The challenge is to persuade the bone
to deposit less, and at the same time maintain the flexibility of the soft
tissues around the joint, and persuade the joint to move; this can minimize the
damage already done to the osteoarthritic joint, and make it as near as is
humanly possible a perfectly useful and pain free joint.
This is the typical process of
degeneration of an osteoarthritic joint.
There is a second type of
osteoarthritic joint and that is caused by direct violence to a joint i.e. a
fracture through the joint or a very severe blow or break or damage in any shape
or form, such as from a fall.
If you, or any friends of yours, are
in the least bit doubtful about the resultant effect of falls - this especially
applies to teenage children - then do seek advice as quickly as possible,
bearing in mind that under the National Health Service very few General
Practitioners have the time to devote to a full scale investigation as to why
these little niggling pains are developing.
Arthritis Health Center
Arthritis or other chronic joint pain affects nearly 70 million people in the
U.S. alone. Get in-depth information here about osteoarthritis, rheumatoid
arthritis, and related conditions. You'll find articles about arthritis symptoms
and prevention, arthritis drugs, and other promising treatments. |
