ARTHRITIS (JOINT PAIN)
Stiffness in a joint; Pain - joints; Arthralgia
Last reviewed: May 4, 2010.
Joint pain can affect one or more joints.
See also:
Arthritis (inflammation of joints)
Bursitis
Muscle pain
Considerations
Joint pain can be caused by many types of injuries or conditions. No matter what causes it, joint pain can be very bothersome.
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disorder that causes stiffness and pain in the joints. Osteoarthritis involves growth of bone spurs and degeneration of cartilage at a joint. It is very common in adults older than 45 and can cause joint pain.
Joint pain may also be caused by bursitis (inflammation of the bursae). The bursae are fluid-filled sacs that cushion and pad bony prominences, allowing muscles and tendons to move freely over the bone.
Common Causes
Autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus
Bursitis
Chondromalacia patellae
Gout (especially found in the big toe)
Infectious diseases, including
Epstein-Barr viral syndrome
Hepatitis
Influenza
Lyme disease
Measles (rubeola)
Mumps
Parvovirus
Rheumatic fever
Rubella (German measles)
Varicella (chickenpox)
Injury, including fracture
Osteoarthritis
Osteomyelitis
Septic arthritis
Tendinitis
Unusual exertion or overuse, including strains or sprains
Home Care
Follow prescribed therapy in treating the underlying cause.
For nonarthritis joint pain, both rest and exercise are important. Warm baths, massage, and stretching exercises should be used as frequently as possible.
Anti-inflammatory medications may help relieve pain and swelling. Consult your health care provider before giving aspirin or NSAIDs such as ibuprofen to children.
Call your health care provider if
Contact your health care provider if:
You have fever that is not associated with flu symptoms
You have lost 10 pounds or more without trying (unintended weight loss)
Your joint pain lasts for more than 3 days
You have severe, unexplained joint pain, particularly if you have other unexplained symptoms
What to expect at your health care provider's office
Your health care provider will perform a physical exam and ask you about your medical history. The following questions may help identify the cause of your joint pain:
Which joint hurts? Is the pain on one side or both sides?
How long have you been having this pain? Have you had it before?
Did this pain begin suddenly and severely, or slowly and mildly?
Is the pain constant or does it come and go? Has the pain become more severe?
What started your pain?
Have you injured your joint?
Have you had an illness or fever?
Does resting the joint reduce the pain or make it worse?
Does moving the joint reduce the pain or make it worse?
Are certain positions comfortable? Does keeping the joint elevated help?
Do medications, massage, or applying heat reduce the pain?
What other symptoms do you have?
Is there any numbness?
Can you bend and straighten the joint? Does the joint feel stiff?
Are your joints stiff in the morning? If so, how long does the stiffness last?
What makes the stiffness better?
Tests that may be done include:
CBC or blood differential
Joint x-ray
Sedimentation rate, a measure of inflammation
Blood tests specific to various autoimmune disorders
Physical therapy for muscle and joint rehabilitation may be recommended. A procedure called arthrocentesis may be needed to remove fluid from the sore joint.
ARTHRITIS.Homeo treatment of;
(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.
source;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/
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