Osteoarthritis, which is also called degenerative joint disease, is a common form of arthritis. This condition takes places when the cartilage in the joints wears away. There is no cure for osteoarthritis, but there are many treatment options available and they include medications, therapy, and surgery and home remedies.
It can affect any joint in the body, but the most commonly affected areas are the ones in the hands, hips, knees, neck and lower back. The condition worsens over time. The different treatments will relieve the pain, but will not provide a cure.
The symptoms will often develop quite slowly. You will feel pain in the joint while you are moving or after you have moved. There will be tenderness in the joint if you apply pressure to it. If you have been inactive for a while or when you awake in the morning, there may be stiffness in the joint. The range of motion in the joint may become limited. There may be a grating sound from the joint when you use it. There could be extra bits of bone which form around the joint. This will be felt as hard lumps.
The causes of osteoarthritis include aging; injury or stress to the joint; muscle weakness or obesity. The tests that will be performed by your doctor will include x-rays which will be taken of the affected joint. MRI scans will be requested. Blood tests will be done to rule out other possible causes of joint pains. And joint fluid analyses will be done.
Treatment with acetaminophen will relieve the pain, but it will not reduce the inflammation. It is effective for those who have mild to moderate pain. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories will relieve the pain and it will reduce the inflammation. Tramadol is a prescription analgesic that will relieve pain, but will not relieve the inflammation. Stronger painkillers can be prescribed if you suffer from severe osteoarthritis pain. Cortisone injections will relieve excessive pain.
You could go for physical therapy which will strengthen the muscles that are around the joints. This will increase the range of motion and reduce the pain in the joint. There are also shoe inserts or braces that will assist with pain relief.
Surgical procedures include joint replacement. The surgeon will replace the damaged joint with plastic or metal prostheses. The hip joint and the knee joints are the most commonly replaced ones. Realignment of bones is an option where surgery is done to realign the bones in order to relieve pain. It is normally offered in place of joint replacement, particularly to younger people who suffer from the condition. Bone fusion is another option to increase stability as well as to reduce pain. The joint will then be able to painlessly bear weight, but will have no flexibility.
Some of the home remedies that are available are regular exercise and the use of hot or cold packs to manage the pain. Weight loss will assist in removing the stress that is placed on weight-bearing joints like the knees and the hips. There is no cure for osteoarthritis, but there are ways to relieve the pain and the inflammation that is caused by it.
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