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Joint Pain

5 Signs Of Arthritis You Shouldn’t Ignore

It is not unusual to experience joint pain occasionally, particularly if you lead an active lifestyle. Not warming up correctly prior to exercise or injuring muscles, ligaments, or tendons near a joint can lead to pain. Fortunately, this pain is often only temporary. However, if you start to experience chronic aching, pain, or stiffness around a joint, it could indicate a more serious condition, such as arthritis, and may require treatment.

What Is Arthritis?

Arthritis is a common disease that can cause pain, stiffness, immobility, and swelling in a joint. Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis and causes the protective cartilage that covers the ends of bones to gradually break down and wear away. Cartilage is a tough, shock absorbing material that provides a smooth surface to allow bones to easily and painlessly glide against each other during motion. Loss of the protective cartilage lining can cause painful bone on bone rubbing in the joint. Other symptoms can include immobility, swelling, and the formation of boney growths in the affected area.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disease that can lead to deformity and loss of function. It commonly affects the hands but can happen anywhere in the body. Healthy synovium (the protective membrane that covers joints) secretes a lubricant called synovial fluid, which acts as a cushion between joints and ligaments to reduce friction between the bones and prevents wear and tear.

Rheumatoid arthritis causes the synovium to become inflamed, which stops it from working properly. This causes cartilage, bones, and tissues to deteriorate. As swelling occurs, the tendons and ligaments stretch, leading to joint misalignment and deformity. Rheumatoid arthritis is one of the most severe and disabling types of arthritis.

Signs You Shouldn’t Ignore

If you start to notice the following symptoms on a regular basis, you should seek advice from your doctor. It could mean you have arthritis.

1. Swelling, Warmth, Or Redness Around A Joint If you notice swelling or redness around a joint, or if the area feels unusually warm or tender to the touch, it can indicate inflammation around the joint, which can be a symptom of rheumatoid arthritis. It could, however, also indicate an infection or other condition such as gout, so it is best to speak to your doctor to get an accurate diagnosis.

2. Joint Stiffness In The Morning Many people start to feel stiff in the morning when they first wake up, particularly older individuals. This joint stiffness should ease as you begin moving and shouldn’t last more than half an hour or so. If your joint stiffness doesn’t ease as you get moving or lasts for several hours a day or more, it could indicate that you have arthritis. 

3. Joint Pain At Night You may not notice joint pain as much during the day when you are moving around and carrying out normal activities. Arthritis pain, however, can become worse during the night. If you are finding a joint, such as your knee, hip, spine, or big toe, causing you pain at night, or your sleep is being severely disrupted as a result of joint pain, it may be time to see a doctor. 

4. Discomfort After Exercise It is natural to have some discomfort after strenuous exercise and could be caused by the overstretching of muscles, tendons, or ligaments. However, if you are suffering with pain, discomfort, or stiffness within a joint which has been triggered by being active and is becoming a more frequent problem, it could be a sign of arthritis. 

5. You Are Struggling With Day-To-Day Activities If you are finding you have an inability to carry out normal day-to-day activities without joint pain or stiffness, or you are finding yourself avoiding activities that you normally enjoy, you should see a doctor. Temporarily restricting or avoiding certain activities as a result of an injury is normal, but if your lifestyle is becoming increasingly affected by joint pain, this could indicate a chronic joint condition, such as arthritis.

Treatment For Arthritis

Arthritis can be very painful and disabling. Medications, physical therapy, other modalities, and lifestyle adjustments can help to alleviate symptoms. Sometimes, however, surgical treatment may be necessary. Your doctor will be able to help you explore different treatment options available to effectively reduce your joint pain, stiffness, and reduced mobility.

Arthritis Care In Wellington And Royal Palm Beach, Florida

At Advanced Medical Clinic, we offer a high standard of primary and urgent care. Our comprehensive treatment options are designed to help you achieve a better quality of life through management of health conditions, including arthritis.

Dr. Ishan Gunawardene is an internal medicine specialist and offers continuity of care. For more information about our services, call us today at (561) 434-1935, or request an appointment online.

Common Treatments for Arthritis

Arthritis refers to inflammation or disease in one or more joints. The word comes from the Greek word “arthron,” meaning “joint,” and the suffix “-itis” which means “inflammation.” Symptoms of arthritis usually include joint pain, stiffness, swelling, and mobility/movement issues.

Over time, arthritis can wear down and damage the protective cartilage in the joints so that the movement of the joints is no longer smooth. Pain can develop that becomes chronic or debilitating, which then requires treatment.

Let’s talk about some of the noninvasive and minimally invasive treatments for arthritis and where you can find medical expertise to help you control the condition.

How Is Arthritis Treated?

Treatments for arthritis will begin with noninvasive modalities such as over-the-counter medication and therapeutic exercise, and the treatments will become more invasive if your arthritis becomes worse. These methods include the following:

Rest and Medication

In many cases, especially in the early stage, arthritis symptoms are relieved by rest, ice therapy, heat therapy, and anti-inflammatory medications. You may use assistive devices such as a splint or a cane to avoid stressing your joints and to provide extra support.

These conservative treatments usually provide much-needed relief from joint pain and stiffness. Your doctor may give you a prescription that will provide more extensive relief from the pain and other symptoms.

Exercise and Physical Therapy

No treatment plan for arthritis is complete without physical therapy. This includes strengthening and stretching exercises which will have a direct effect on the joints that are affected by arthritis.

The strengthening exercises help reinforce the muscles around the arthritic joint to give it extra stability and support, so there is less stress and pressure on the joint. Low-impact exercise such as walking, dancing, yoga, and pilates can greatly benefit arthritis sufferers.

Dietary Modifications

Being overweight puts added stress on your joints, which can therefore cause you to develop arthritis because of the weight-bearing pressure wearing down the cartilage in your joints. By switching to a healthy diet, you will eventually shed pounds which eases pressure on your joints.

Additionally, certain foods have anti-inflammatory properties, such as fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids and fruits and vegetables such as oranges, papayas, berries, grapes, tangerines, carrots, bell peppers, and pumpkin. It is also a good idea to stay away from foods with processed sugar.

Viscosupplementation

If you do not experience a reduction in arthritis symptoms after including the abovementioned factors in your lifestyle, then you will likely respond well to viscosupplementation. During this minimally invasive procedure, the doctor injects hyaluronic acid into the arthritic joint in order to reduce the symptoms of arthritis. This treatment helps to protect the bones in the joint from rubbing against each other by essentially fostering a cartilage-like supportive effect.

Acupuncture

Acupuncture is traditional Chinese medicine and has been used in the Far East for thousands of years for pain relief. This treatment involves inserting thin, hair-like needles into pressure points in order to promote healing and reduce pain and inflammation. Acupuncture is rarely a standalone treatment and is usually part of a comprehensive treatment plan for best results.

Arthritis Treatment in Wellington and Royal Palm Beach

Do not let arthritis limit your life. Here at Advanced Medical Clinic, our compassionate primary care physicians offer you advanced and customized treatment options for your condition. We want to be your go-to family doctors.

To schedule a consultation, call us today at (561) 434-1935 or request an appointment now via our online form. We look forward to helping you enjoy a pain-free lifestyle of health and wellness.

 

Joint Pain? When is It Time to See A Doctor?

Have you ever had a cramp in your hand from persistently trying to open a jar, but no matter how hard you tried, it just would not budge? leaving you with nothing but frustration and a hurt hand. Whether your hands are overworked or time has simply taken its toll, joint pain is nothing we should suffer through.

Your joints are the connections between your bones that allow you to bend and move many parts of the body. Having strong bones goes hand in hand with having healthy joints. Your joints are just one part of your musculoskeletal system that enable us to have mobility, giving us balance and stability. Therefore, keeping them healthy is essential, but this is often one of those things that can be easier said than done.

Joint pain — it can be described as a nagging pain that won’t go away no matter what you try to do. Pain in your joints is often a persistent feeling that won’t go away, a throbbing disruption, both physically and mentally. Some people will try to ignore pain and hope it will go away, but in the case of degenerative joint disease, this pain overpowers and hinders an individual’s quality of life.

Degenerative joint disease is a condition that is so common, yet so misunderstood. Approximately 25 million people in the United States suffer from some sort of joint disease, the most common being arthritis (osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis). For over one third of adults 60 years of age and older, sometimes their joints become so worn down that even the slightest movements, like reaching for something such as a glass on a shelf, can be exceedingly difficult. In other words, this type of pain isn’t easy to ignore even if we tried.

Joint pain is incredibly common, but that doesn’t mean it should become the new normal. While joint pain may have been caused by overuse, from playing a sport, or wear and tear from aging, joint problems are not something to just write off as you get older.

Don’t wait until pain is unbearable to seek medical attention. If your painful joints are also swollen, red, warm to the touch, or very tender to touch, you should make an appointment with your doctor. Seeing your doctor soon after the onset of joint pain can prevent further joint damage from being done. There are many types of diseases that cause joint pain, and though they’re rarely cause for an emergency, speedy diagnosis may be important to future quality of life.

Therefore, if your joints are swollen, red, or very tender when they are touched, these are even more of a reason that a trip to the doctor is necessary. Seeing your doctor after the first bout with joint pain can reduce pain and inflammation, and most importantly, prevent further joint damage from occurring. There are many types of diseases that cause joint pain, and though they’re rarely cause for an emergency, speedy diagnosis may be important to future quality of life.

If you can’t move a joint or it appears to have some sort of deformity, you should also plan on seeing your healthcare provider immediately. You should also seek your doctor’s help if you continue to experience intense or persistent pain, or the joint begins to suddenly swell up like a balloon.  

If you experience joint pain at any time, go see the doctor to get help as early as possible. The earlier an accurate diagnosis is made, the better the outcome will be. Since stiffness, pain, and immobility are exceedingly common symptoms of joint disease, these complications plus others, can be avoided easily if a doctor performs an examination, and prescribes the right form of treatment. This in return, also will provide you with a higher quality of life in the long run.

To learn more about join pain, and what type of treatment can help remedy it, call Advanced Medical in Wellington and Royal Palm Beach, Florida at (561) 434-1935 to request an appointment, or you can request an appointment online.