What Is Arthritis?
What Is Pain?
How Many Americans Have Arthritis Pain?
What Causes Arthritis Pain? Why Is It So Variable?
How Do Doctors Measure Arthritis Pain?
What Will Happen When You First Visit a Doctor for Your Arthritis Pain?
Who Can Treat Arthritis Pain?
How Is Arthritis Pain Treated?
What Alternative Therapies May Relieve Arthritis Pain?
How Can You Cope With Arthritis Pain?
What Research is Being Conducted On Arthritis Pain?
Where Can You Find More Information on Arthritis Pain?
Things You Can Do To Manage Arthritis Pain
What Is Arthritis
The word arthritis literally means mutual inflammation, but is often used to refer to a group of more than 100 rheumatic diseases that can end in pain, stiffness, and swelling in the joint. These diseases may affect not only the joint but also other parts of the body, including important supporting structures such as muscles, bones, tendons, and ligaments, as ably as some internal organs. This fact sheet focuses on twinge caused by two of the most adjectives forms of arthritis--osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
What Is Pain?
Pain is the body's warning system, alerting you that something is wrong. The International Association for the Study of Pain define it as an unpleasant experience associated with actual or potential tissue defacement to a person's body. Specialized a bundle of nerves system cells (neurons) that transmit anguish signals are found throughout the skin and other body tissues. These cells respond to things such as injury or tissue harmed. For example, when a harmful agent such as a sharp spear comes in contact beside your skin, chemical signals travel from neurons in the skin through nerves in the spinal cord to your brain, where they are interpreted as strain.
Most forms of arthritis are associated with twinge that can be divided into two general category: acute and chronic. Acute pain is intervening. It can last a few second or longer but wanes as invigorating occurs. Some examples of things that raison d`être acute pain include burns, cuts, and fractures. Chronic throbbing, such as that seen surrounded by people beside osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, ranges from mild to severe and can last a lifetime.
How Many Americans Suffer From Arthritis Pain?
Chronic cramp is a major form problem in the United States and is one of the most declining effects of arthritis. More than 40 million Americans suffer from some form of arthritis, and many enjoy chronic pain that edges daily distraction. Osteoarthritis is by far the most common form of arthritis, affecting just about 20 million Americans, while rheumatoid arthritis, which affects about 2.1 million Americans, is the most crippling form of the disease.
What Causes Arthritis Pain? Why is It So Variable?
The discomfort of arthritis may come from different sources. These may include inflammation of the synovial membrane (tissue that lines the joints), the tendons, or the ligaments; muscle strain; and fatigue. A combination of these factors contributes to the intensity of the throbbing.
The pain of arthritis vary greatly from person to party, for reasons that doctors do not even so understand completely. Factors that contribute to the anguish include swelling within the shared, the amount of heat or rosiness present, or damage that have occurred inwardly the joint. In complement, activities affect anguish differently so that some patients note backache in their joint after first getting out of bed in the morning whereas others develop pain after prolonged use of the communal. Each individual has a different threshold and tolerance for headache, often artificial by both physical and emotional factor. These can include depression, anxiety, and even hypersensitivity at the affected sites due to inflammation and tissue injury. This increased sensitivity appears to affect the amount of stomach-ache perceived by the individual. Social support networks can make an noteworthy contribution to pain admin.
How Do Doctors Measure Arthritis Pain?
Pain is a private, unique experience that cannot be see. The most common route to measure discomfort is for the doctor to ask you, the patient, just about your difficulties. For example, the doctor may ask you to describe the level of throbbing you feel on a enormity of 1 to 10. You may use words like sore, burning, stinging, or throbbing. These words will give the doctor a clearer picture of the spasm you are experiencing.
Since doctors rely on your description of pain to abet guide treatment, you may want to keep a throbbing diary to record your stomach-ache sensations. You can begin a week or two formerly your visit to the doctor. On a each day basis, you can describe the situations that mete out or alter the intensity of your pain, the sensations and severity of your torment, and your reactions to the anguish. For example: "On Monday night, sharp pains in my knees produced by housework interfered next to my sleep; on Tuesday morning, because of the pain, I have a hard time getting out bed. However, I coped near the pain by taking my medication and applying rime to my knees." The diary will give the doctor some insight into your backache and may play a critical role in the direction of your disease.
What Will Happen When You First Visit a Doctor for Your Arthritis Pain?
The doctor will usually do the following:
* Take your medical history and ask questions such as: How long own you been experiencing stomach-ache? How intense is the pain? How repeatedly does it occur? What cause it to get worse? What cause it to get better?
* Review the medication you are using
* Conduct a physical examination to determine cause of the pain and how this misery is affecting your ability to function
* Take blood and/or urine sample and request necessary laboratory work
* Ask you to obtain x rays taken or undergo other imaging procedures such as a CAT scan (computerized axial tomography) or MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) to see how much collective damage have been done.
Once the doctor have done these things and reviewed the results of any tests or procedures, he or she will discuss the findings beside you and design a comprehensive management approach for the dull pain caused by your osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis.
Who Can Treat Arthritis Pain?
A number of different specialists may be involved in the watchfulness of an arthritis patient--often a team approach is used. The troop may include doctors who treat people beside arthritis (rheumatologists), surgeons (orthopaedists), and physical and occupational therapist. Their goal is to treat adjectives aspects of arthritis pain and relieve you learn to have power over your pain. The physician, other condition care professionals, and you, the tolerant, all play an moving role in the control of arthritis pain.
How Is Arthritis Pain Treated?
There is no single treatment that applies to adjectives people near arthritis, but rather the doctor will develop a administration plan designed to minimize your specific pain and revolutionize the function of your joints. A number of treatments can provide short-term throbbing relief.
Short-Term Relief
* Medications--Because ancestors with osteoarthritis enjoy very little inflammation, backache relievers such as acetaminophen (Tylenol*) may be effective. Patients near rheumatoid arthritis generally enjoy pain cause by inflammation and often benefit from aspirin or other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen (Motrin or Advil).
* Heat and cold--The result to use either fry or cold for arthritis pain depends on the type of arthritis and should be discussed next to your doctor or physical therapist. Moist fry, such as a warm hip bath or shower, or dry heat, such as a heat pad, placed on the bumpy area of the unified for about 15 minutes may relieve the niggle. An ice pack (or a pack of frozen vegetables) wrapped in a towel and placed on the sore nouns for about 15 minutes may back to reduce swelling and stop the agony. If you have poor circulation, do not use cold pack.
* Joint Protection--Using a splint or a brace to allow joints to rest and protect them from injury can be obliging. Your physician or physical therapist can fashion recommendations.
* Transcutaneous electrical gall stimulation (TENS)--A small TENS device that directs mild electric pulses to nerve ending that lie beneath the skin in the bleeding area may relieve some arthritis affliction. TENS seems to work by blocking headache messages to the brain and by modifying pain perception.
* Massage--In this pain-relief approach, a press therapist will weakly stroke and/or knead the painful muscle. This may increase blood flow and bring temperature to a stressed area. However, arthritis-stressed joint are very sensitive so the psychotherapist must be very used to with the problems of the disease.
Osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis are chronic diseases that may ultimate a lifetime. Learning how to manage your dull pain over the long term is an far-reaching factor in controlling the disease and maintain a good aspect of life. Following are some sources of long- permanent status pain nouns.
Long-Term Relief
* Medications
Biological response modifiers--These new drugs used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis run down inflammation in the joints by blocking the antipathy of a substance called tumor necrosis factor, an immune system protein involved in immune response system. These drugs include Enbrel and Remicade.
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)--These are a class of drugs including aspirin and ibuprofen that are used to curtail pain and inflammation and may be used for both short-term and long-term nouns in relations with osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. NSAIDs also include Celebrex and Vioxx, so-called COX-2 inhibitors that block and enzyme agreed to cause an inflammatory response.
Disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs)--These are drugs used to treat empire with rheumatoid arthritis who hold not responded to NSAIDs. Some of these include the new drug Arava and methotrexate, hydroxychloroquine, penicillamine, and gold ingots injections. These drugs are thought to influence and correct abnormalities of the immune system responsible for a disease approaching rheumatoid arthritis. Treatment with these medication requires careful monitoring by the physician to avoid side effects.
Corticosteroids--These are hormones that are exceptionally effective within treating arthritis but cause lots side effects. Corticosteroids can be taken by mouth or given by injection. Prednisone is the corticosteroid most often given by mouth to lessen the inflammation of rheumatoid arthritis. In both rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, the doctor also may inject a corticosteroid into the affected mutual to stop pain. Because frequent injections may cause smash up to the cartilage, they should only be done once or twice a year.
Other Products--Hyaluronic tart products like Hyalgan and Synvisc mimic a inherently occurring body substance that lubricates the knee reciprocal and permits flexible reciprocal movement without distress. A blood filtering device call the Prosorba Column is used in some strength care services for filtering out noxious antibodies in general public with severe rheumatoid arthritis.
* Weight reduction--Excess pounds put extra stress on weight-bearing joint such as the knees or hips. Studies have shown that overweight women who lost an average of 11 pounds substantially reduced the nouns of osteoarthritis in their knees. In auxiliary, if osteoarthritis has already artificial one knee, solidity reduction will drop off the chance of it occurring in the other knees.
* Exercise--Swimming, walking, low-impact aerobic exercise, and range-of-motion exercises may reduce unified pain and stiffness. In appendix, stretching exercises are helpful. A physical shrink can help plan an exercise program that will impart you the most benefit. (The National Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Information Clearinghouse has a separate certainty sheet on arthritis and exercise. See the end of this booklet for contact information.)
* Surgery--In select patients near arthritis, surgery may be necessary. The surgeon may carry out an operation to remove the synovium (synovectomy), realign the joint (osteotomy), or within advanced cases replace the damaged common with an artificial one (arthroplasty). Total collective replacement has provided not one and only dramatic relief from twinge but also improvement surrounded by motion for many citizens with arthritis.
What Alternative Therapies May Relieve Arthritis Pain?
Many family seek other ways of treating their disease, such as special diets or supplements. Although these methods may not be bad for you in and of themselves, no research to date shows that they lend a hand. Some people hold tried acupuncture, in which meagre needles are inserted at specific points in the body. Others have tried glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate, two pure substances found in and around cartilage cell, for osteoarthritis of the knee.
Some alternative or complementary approaches may relieve you to cope or reduce some of the stress of living beside a chronic illness. If the doctor feel the approach has plus and will not harm you, it can be incorporated into your treatment plan. However, it is influential not to neglect your regular strength care or treatment of serious symptoms.
How Can You Cope With Arthritis Pain?
The long-term aim of pain guidance is to help you cope beside a chronic, often disabling disease. You may be caught in a cycle of niggle, depression, and stress. To break out of this cycle, you need to be an involved participant with the doctor and other form care professionals surrounded by managing your pain. This may include physical psychiatric help, cognitive-behavioral therapy, career therapy, biofeedback, relaxation technique (for example, deep breathing and meditation), and kinfolk counseling therapy.
The Multipurpose Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases Center at Stanford University, supported by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), have developed an Arthritis Self-Help Course that teaches citizens with arthritis how to give somebody a lift a more active part of a set in their arthritis supervision. The Arthritis Self-Help Course is taught by the Arthritis Foundation and consists of a 12- to 15-hour program that includes lectures on osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, exercise, torment management, nutrition, medication, doctor-patient relationships, and nontraditional treatment.
You may want to contact some of the organization listed at the appendage of this fact sheet for added information on the Arthritis Self-Help Course and on coping with affliction, as well as for information on support groups in your nouns.
Things You Can Do To Manage Arthritis Pain
* Eat a healthy diet
* Get 8 to 10 hours of sleep at hours of darkness.
* Keep a daily diary of aching and mood changes to share beside your physician.
* Choose a caring physician.
* Join a support group
* Stay informed more or less new research on managing arthritis anguish.
What Research Is Being Conducted On Arthritis Pain?
The NIAMS, part of the National Institutes of Health, is sponsoring research that will increase kind-hearted of the specific ways to diagnose, treat, and possibly prevent arthritis pain. As a bit of its commitment to pain research, the Institute together with oodles other NIH institutes and offices contained by 1998 in a special announcement to awaken more studies on pain.
At the Specialized Center of Research within Osteoarthritis at Rush-Presbyterian-St Luke's Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois, researchers are studying the human knees and analyzing how injury in one joint may affect other joint. In addition, they are analyzing the effect of spasm and analgesics on gait (walking) and comparing pain and gait formerly and after surgical treatment of knee osteoarthritis.
At the University of Maryland Pain Center in Baltimore, NIAMS researchers are evaluating the use of acupuncture on patients near osteoarthritis of the knee. Preliminary findings suggest that traditional Chinese acupuncture is both sheltered and effective as an new therapy for osteoarthritis, and it significantly reduce pain and improve physical function.
At Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, NIAMS researchers own developed cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) involving both patients and their spouses. The objective of CBT for arthritis pain is to support patients cope more effectively with the long-term demands of a chronic and potentially disabling disease. Researchers are studying whether aerobic fitness, coping ability, and spousal responses to pain behaviors diminish the tolerant's pain and disability.
NIAMS-supported research on arthritis dull pain also includes projects in the Institute's Multipurpose Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases Centers. At the University of California in San Francisco, researchers are studying stress factors, including headache, that are associated with rheumatoid arthritis. Findings from this study will be used to develop merciful education programs that will upgrade a person's fitness to deal near rheumatoid arthritis and enhance their quality of energy. At the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, health protection professionals are looking at the causes of throbbing and joint disability contained by patients with osteoarthritis. The aim of the project is to improve doctor-patient communication something like pain supervision and increase patient delight.
The list of stomach-ache studies continues. A NIAMS-funded project at Stanford University in California is evaluating the effects of a patient teaching program that uses a book and videotape to control chronic pain. At Indiana University contained by Indiannapolis, Institute-supported scientists are determining whether strength training can diminish the risk of sever pain from knees osteoarthritis. And a multicenter study funded by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine and NIAMS, and coordinated by the University of Utah School of Medicine, is investigating the effects of the dietary supplements glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate for knee osteoarthritis.
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