Arthritis
Joint inflammation
Last reviewed: February 14, 2011.
Arthritis is inflammation of one or more joints. A joint is the area where two bones meet. There are over 100 different types of arthritis.
See also: Joint pain
Causes, incidence, and risk factors
Arthritis involves the breakdown of cartilage. Cartilage normally protects a joint, allowing it to move smoothly. Cartilage also absorbs shock when pressure is placed on the joint, such as when you walk. Without the normal amount of cartilage, the bones rub together, causing pain, swelling (inflammation), and stiffness.
Joint inflammation may result from:
An autoimmune disease (the body's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue)
Broken bone
General "wear and tear" on joints
Infection, usually by bacteria or virus
Usually the joint inflammation goes away after the cause goes away or is treated. Sometimes it does not. When this happens, you have chronic arthritis. Arthritis may occur in men or women. Osteoarthritis is the most common type. See: Osteoarthritis
Other, more common types of arthritis include:
Ankylosing spondylitis
Gonococcal arthritis
Gout
Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (in children)
Other bacterial infections (nongonococcal bacterial arthritis)
Psoriatic arthritis
Reactive arthritis (Reiter syndrome)
Rheumatoid arthritis (in adults)
Scleroderma
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)
Symptoms
Arthritis causes joint pain, swelling, stiffness, and limited movement. Symptoms can include:
Joint pain
Joint swelling
Reduced ability to move the joint
Redness of the skin around a joint
Stiffness, especially in the morning
Warmth around a joint
Signs and tests
The health care provider will perform a physical exam and ask questions about your medical history.
The physical exam may show:
Fluid around a joint
Warm, red, tender joints
Difficulty moving a joint (called "limited range of motion")
Some types of arthritis may cause joint deformity. This may be a sign of severe, untreated rheumatoid arthritis.
Blood tests and joint x-rays are often done to check for infection and other causes of arthritis.
Your doctor may also remove a sample of joint fluid with a needle and send it to a lab for examination.
Treatment
The goal of treatment is to reduce pain, improve function, and prevent further joint damage. The underlying cause cannot usually be cured.
LIFESTYLE CHANGES
Lifestyle changes are the preferred treatment for osteoarthritis and other types of joint inflammation. Exercise can help relieve stiffness, reduce pain and fatigue, and improve muscle and bone strength. Your health care team can help you design an exercise program that is best for you.
Exercise programs may include:
Low-impact aerobic activity (also called endurance exercise)
Range of motion exercises for flexibility
Strength training for muscle tone
Physical therapy may be recommended. This might include:
Heat or ice
Splints or orthotics to support joints and help improve their position; this is often needed for rheumatoid arthritis
Water therapy
Massage
Other recommendations:
Get plenty of sleep. Sleeping 8 to 10 hours a night and taking naps during the day can help you recover from a flare-up more quickly and may even help prevent flare ups.
Avoid staying in one position for too long.
Avoid positions or movements that place extra stress on your sore joints.
Change your home to make activities easier. For example, install grab bars in the shower, the tub, and near the toilet.
Try stress-reducing activities, such as meditation, yoga, or tai chi.
Eat a healthy diet full of fruits and vegetables, which contain important vitamins and minerals, especially vitamin E.
Eat foods rich in omega-3 fatty acides, such as cold water fish (salmon, mackerel, and herring), flaxseed, rapeseed (canola) oil, soybeans, soybean oil, pumpkin seeds, and walnuts.
Apply capsaicin cream over your painful joints. You may feel improvement after applying the cream for 3-7 days.
Lose weight, if you are overweight. Weight loss can greatly improve joint pain in the legs and feet.
MEDICATIONS
Medications may be prescribed along with lifestyle changes. All medications have risks, some more than others. It is important that you are closely monitored by a doctor when taking arthritis medications.
Generally, over-the-counter medications are recommended first:
Acetaminophen (Tylenol) is usually tried first. Take up to 4 grams a day (two arthritis-strength Tylenol every 8 hours). Do not take more than the recommended dose or take the drug along with a lot of alcohol. Doing so may damage your your liver.
Aspirin, ibuprofen, or naproxen are nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) that can relieve arthritis pain. However, they have many potential risks, especially if used for a long time. Potential side effects include heart attack, stroke, stomach ulcers, bleeding from the digestive tract, and kidney damage.
Prescription medicines include:
Biologics are used for the treatment of autoimmune arthritis. They include etanercept (Enbrel), infliximab (Remicade), adalimumab (Humira), abatacept (Orencia), rituximab (Rituxan), golimumab (Simponi), certolizumab (Cimzia), and tocilizumab (Actemra). These drugs can improve the quality of life for many patients, but can have serious side effects.
Corticosteroids ("steroids") help reduce inflammation. They may be injected into painful joints or given by mouth.
Disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) are used to treat autoimmune arthritis. They include methotrexate, gold salts, penicillamine, sulfasalazine, and hydroxychloroquine.
Immunosuppressants such as azathioprine or cyclophosphamide are used to treat patients with rheumatoid arthritis when other medications have not worked.
It is very important to take your medications as directed by your doctor. If you are having difficulty doing so (for example, because of side effects), you should talk to your doctor. Also make sure your doctor knows about all the medicines you are taking, including vitamins and supplements bought without a prescription.
SURGERY AND OTHER TREATMENTS
In some cases, surgery may be done if other treatments have not worked. This may include:
Arthroplasty to rebuild the joint
Joint replacement, such as a total knee joint replacement
Expectations (prognosis)
A few arthritis-related disorders can be completely cured with proper treatment.
Most forms of arthritis however are long-term (chronic) conditions.
Complications
Complications of arthritis include:
Long-term (chronic) pain
Disablity
Difficulty performing daily activities
Calling your health care provider
Call your doctor if:
Your joint pain persists beyond 3 days.
You have severe unexplained joint pain.
The affected joint is significantly swollen.
You have a hard time moving the joint.
Your skin around the joint is red or hot to the touch.
source;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/
ARTHRITIS.(Treatment by HOMEO Medicines);
(Gout, Arthritis dseformans, estc)
#Colchicum. [Colch]
This is the great old school remedy for gout; every case gets it in
some form; and, strange to say, in the homoeopathic school it is one
of the first remedies thought of, but not every case of arthritic
trouble receives **Colchicum from the careful homoeopathic prescriber.
The typical case calling for **Colchicum is where the swelling is red
or pale, with extreme tenderness to touch, a tendency to shift about
from joint to joint, and pains which are worse on the slightest
motion. If the general symptoms of great prostration of the muscular
system and abdominal bloating be present **Colchicum is the remedy.
Gastric symptoms and cardiac complications also characterize. It is
more indicated when the smaller joints, fingers, toes, wrists and
ankles are affected; the pains are very violent, patient cannot bear
to have the parts touched or to have anyone come near him. **Arnica
has this fear that the part my be hit by anyone passing; it has also
arthritic pains in the foot, worse towards evening; and a red big toe
joint which feels as though it has been sprained, so Arnica may be
indicated well in gout. The **Colchicum patient is apt to be
exceedingly irritable and the gout is not apt to decrease this
irritability. Unless **Colchicum be given according to these
indications it will do no permanent good. The habit of giving
**Colchicum to every case of gout in order to palliate the trouble may
cause it to attack the heart or fly to other parts.
Indeed in potency it is Homoeopathic to gout, with metastasis to the
heart.
**Aconite is most useful in acute attacks of gout in the joints of the
feet. It corresponds only to the onset and if continued for a day or
two will cure many cases.
#Ledum. [Led]
**Ledum is a useful remedy in gout as well as in many articular
troubles. We have the symptoms that the ball of the great toe is
swollen, sore and painful on stepping, drawing pains worse from
warmth, pressure and from motion. It has also gouty nodosities in the
joints, it differs from Bryonia in having a scanty instead of a
profuse effusion; it is, perhaps, better adapted to hot swelling of
the hip joint than is **Bryonia. All the pains of **Ledum travel
upwards. **Ledum is also useful after abuse of **Colchicum.
It may be the first remedy to use when the patient comes from
allopathic hands, having been dosed with large doses of **Colchicum,
which is a very asthenic remedy, producing great muscular weakness, as
we have seen.
**Ledum, it must be remembered is a cold remedy, and attending all the
symptoms is a general chilliness and lack of animal heat. Another drug
having gouty nodosities in the joints is **Guaiacum. This remedy has
tearing pains in the extremities and contractions ;of the muscles. It
is also especially useful for gouty inflammation affecting the knee
joint.
#Ammonium phosphoricum. [Am-p]
This is a useful remedy in constitutional gout where there are
nodosities in the joints.
It is not so much a remedy for the acute symptoms, but for chronic
cases where there are deposits of urate of soda concretions in the
joints and the hands become twisted out of shape. **Antimonium crudum
has gouty nodes in the joints, but it is easily selected from its
gastric symptoms. Urinary symptoms, strong urine, etc., would suggest
**Benzoic acid, and much red **Lycopodium, both ;of which may be found
useful in gout. **Staphisagria has a similar application to gout when
it becomes systematized, as has also **Ammonium phosphoricum.
**Rhododerndron has enlargements of the joints not due to gouty
deposits, worse during rest and on approach of a storm.
**Urtica urens. This remedy is said to cure more cases of gout than
any other. Under its use pain and swelling subside and large
quantities of sand are passed.
**Picric acid. Halbert mentions this remedy as useful in arthritis
deformans, and thinks that treating the disease from the homoeopathic
standpoint will yield best results.have lost weight unintentionally.
Prevention
Early diagnosis and treatment can help prevent joint damage. If you have a family history of arthritis, tell your doctor, even if you do not have joint pain.
Avoiding excessive, repeated motions may help protect you against osteoarthritis.
Last reviewed: February 14, 2011.
Arthritis is inflammation of one or more joints. A joint is the area where two bones meet. There are over 100 different types of arthritis.
See also: Joint pain
Causes, incidence, and risk factors
Arthritis involves the breakdown of cartilage. Cartilage normally protects a joint, allowing it to move smoothly. Cartilage also absorbs shock when pressure is placed on the joint, such as when you walk. Without the normal amount of cartilage, the bones rub together, causing pain, swelling (inflammation), and stiffness.
Joint inflammation may result from:
An autoimmune disease (the body's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue)
Broken bone
General "wear and tear" on joints
Infection, usually by bacteria or virus
Usually the joint inflammation goes away after the cause goes away or is treated. Sometimes it does not. When this happens, you have chronic arthritis. Arthritis may occur in men or women. Osteoarthritis is the most common type. See: Osteoarthritis
Other, more common types of arthritis include:
Ankylosing spondylitis
Gonococcal arthritis
Gout
Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (in children)
Other bacterial infections (nongonococcal bacterial arthritis)
Psoriatic arthritis
Reactive arthritis (Reiter syndrome)
Rheumatoid arthritis (in adults)
Scleroderma
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)
Symptoms
Arthritis causes joint pain, swelling, stiffness, and limited movement. Symptoms can include:
Joint pain
Joint swelling
Reduced ability to move the joint
Redness of the skin around a joint
Stiffness, especially in the morning
Warmth around a joint
Signs and tests
The health care provider will perform a physical exam and ask questions about your medical history.
The physical exam may show:
Fluid around a joint
Warm, red, tender joints
Difficulty moving a joint (called "limited range of motion")
Some types of arthritis may cause joint deformity. This may be a sign of severe, untreated rheumatoid arthritis.
Blood tests and joint x-rays are often done to check for infection and other causes of arthritis.
Your doctor may also remove a sample of joint fluid with a needle and send it to a lab for examination.
Treatment
The goal of treatment is to reduce pain, improve function, and prevent further joint damage. The underlying cause cannot usually be cured.
LIFESTYLE CHANGES
Lifestyle changes are the preferred treatment for osteoarthritis and other types of joint inflammation. Exercise can help relieve stiffness, reduce pain and fatigue, and improve muscle and bone strength. Your health care team can help you design an exercise program that is best for you.
Exercise programs may include:
Low-impact aerobic activity (also called endurance exercise)
Range of motion exercises for flexibility
Strength training for muscle tone
Physical therapy may be recommended. This might include:
Heat or ice
Splints or orthotics to support joints and help improve their position; this is often needed for rheumatoid arthritis
Water therapy
Massage
Other recommendations:
Get plenty of sleep. Sleeping 8 to 10 hours a night and taking naps during the day can help you recover from a flare-up more quickly and may even help prevent flare ups.
Avoid staying in one position for too long.
Avoid positions or movements that place extra stress on your sore joints.
Change your home to make activities easier. For example, install grab bars in the shower, the tub, and near the toilet.
Try stress-reducing activities, such as meditation, yoga, or tai chi.
Eat a healthy diet full of fruits and vegetables, which contain important vitamins and minerals, especially vitamin E.
Eat foods rich in omega-3 fatty acides, such as cold water fish (salmon, mackerel, and herring), flaxseed, rapeseed (canola) oil, soybeans, soybean oil, pumpkin seeds, and walnuts.
Apply capsaicin cream over your painful joints. You may feel improvement after applying the cream for 3-7 days.
Lose weight, if you are overweight. Weight loss can greatly improve joint pain in the legs and feet.
MEDICATIONS
Medications may be prescribed along with lifestyle changes. All medications have risks, some more than others. It is important that you are closely monitored by a doctor when taking arthritis medications.
Generally, over-the-counter medications are recommended first:
Acetaminophen (Tylenol) is usually tried first. Take up to 4 grams a day (two arthritis-strength Tylenol every 8 hours). Do not take more than the recommended dose or take the drug along with a lot of alcohol. Doing so may damage your your liver.
Aspirin, ibuprofen, or naproxen are nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) that can relieve arthritis pain. However, they have many potential risks, especially if used for a long time. Potential side effects include heart attack, stroke, stomach ulcers, bleeding from the digestive tract, and kidney damage.
Prescription medicines include:
Biologics are used for the treatment of autoimmune arthritis. They include etanercept (Enbrel), infliximab (Remicade), adalimumab (Humira), abatacept (Orencia), rituximab (Rituxan), golimumab (Simponi), certolizumab (Cimzia), and tocilizumab (Actemra). These drugs can improve the quality of life for many patients, but can have serious side effects.
Corticosteroids ("steroids") help reduce inflammation. They may be injected into painful joints or given by mouth.
Disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) are used to treat autoimmune arthritis. They include methotrexate, gold salts, penicillamine, sulfasalazine, and hydroxychloroquine.
Immunosuppressants such as azathioprine or cyclophosphamide are used to treat patients with rheumatoid arthritis when other medications have not worked.
It is very important to take your medications as directed by your doctor. If you are having difficulty doing so (for example, because of side effects), you should talk to your doctor. Also make sure your doctor knows about all the medicines you are taking, including vitamins and supplements bought without a prescription.
SURGERY AND OTHER TREATMENTS
In some cases, surgery may be done if other treatments have not worked. This may include:
Arthroplasty to rebuild the joint
Joint replacement, such as a total knee joint replacement
Expectations (prognosis)
A few arthritis-related disorders can be completely cured with proper treatment.
Most forms of arthritis however are long-term (chronic) conditions.
Complications
Complications of arthritis include:
Long-term (chronic) pain
Disablity
Difficulty performing daily activities
Calling your health care provider
Call your doctor if:
Your joint pain persists beyond 3 days.
You have severe unexplained joint pain.
The affected joint is significantly swollen.
You have a hard time moving the joint.
Your skin around the joint is red or hot to the touch.
source;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/
ARTHRITIS.(Treatment by HOMEO Medicines);
(Gout, Arthritis dseformans, estc)
#Colchicum. [Colch]
This is the great old school remedy for gout; every case gets it in
some form; and, strange to say, in the homoeopathic school it is one
of the first remedies thought of, but not every case of arthritic
trouble receives **Colchicum from the careful homoeopathic prescriber.
The typical case calling for **Colchicum is where the swelling is red
or pale, with extreme tenderness to touch, a tendency to shift about
from joint to joint, and pains which are worse on the slightest
motion. If the general symptoms of great prostration of the muscular
system and abdominal bloating be present **Colchicum is the remedy.
Gastric symptoms and cardiac complications also characterize. It is
more indicated when the smaller joints, fingers, toes, wrists and
ankles are affected; the pains are very violent, patient cannot bear
to have the parts touched or to have anyone come near him. **Arnica
has this fear that the part my be hit by anyone passing; it has also
arthritic pains in the foot, worse towards evening; and a red big toe
joint which feels as though it has been sprained, so Arnica may be
indicated well in gout. The **Colchicum patient is apt to be
exceedingly irritable and the gout is not apt to decrease this
irritability. Unless **Colchicum be given according to these
indications it will do no permanent good. The habit of giving
**Colchicum to every case of gout in order to palliate the trouble may
cause it to attack the heart or fly to other parts.
Indeed in potency it is Homoeopathic to gout, with metastasis to the
heart.
**Aconite is most useful in acute attacks of gout in the joints of the
feet. It corresponds only to the onset and if continued for a day or
two will cure many cases.
#Ledum. [Led]
**Ledum is a useful remedy in gout as well as in many articular
troubles. We have the symptoms that the ball of the great toe is
swollen, sore and painful on stepping, drawing pains worse from
warmth, pressure and from motion. It has also gouty nodosities in the
joints, it differs from Bryonia in having a scanty instead of a
profuse effusion; it is, perhaps, better adapted to hot swelling of
the hip joint than is **Bryonia. All the pains of **Ledum travel
upwards. **Ledum is also useful after abuse of **Colchicum.
It may be the first remedy to use when the patient comes from
allopathic hands, having been dosed with large doses of **Colchicum,
which is a very asthenic remedy, producing great muscular weakness, as
we have seen.
**Ledum, it must be remembered is a cold remedy, and attending all the
symptoms is a general chilliness and lack of animal heat. Another drug
having gouty nodosities in the joints is **Guaiacum. This remedy has
tearing pains in the extremities and contractions ;of the muscles. It
is also especially useful for gouty inflammation affecting the knee
joint.
#Ammonium phosphoricum. [Am-p]
This is a useful remedy in constitutional gout where there are
nodosities in the joints.
It is not so much a remedy for the acute symptoms, but for chronic
cases where there are deposits of urate of soda concretions in the
joints and the hands become twisted out of shape. **Antimonium crudum
has gouty nodes in the joints, but it is easily selected from its
gastric symptoms. Urinary symptoms, strong urine, etc., would suggest
**Benzoic acid, and much red **Lycopodium, both ;of which may be found
useful in gout. **Staphisagria has a similar application to gout when
it becomes systematized, as has also **Ammonium phosphoricum.
**Rhododerndron has enlargements of the joints not due to gouty
deposits, worse during rest and on approach of a storm.
**Urtica urens. This remedy is said to cure more cases of gout than
any other. Under its use pain and swelling subside and large
quantities of sand are passed.
**Picric acid. Halbert mentions this remedy as useful in arthritis
deformans, and thinks that treating the disease from the homoeopathic
standpoint will yield best results.have lost weight unintentionally.
Prevention
Early diagnosis and treatment can help prevent joint damage. If you have a family history of arthritis, tell your doctor, even if you do not have joint pain.
Avoiding excessive, repeated motions may help protect you against osteoarthritis.
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