Arthritis

By Nikki White


If you are experiencing arthritis or somebody you know does, you can understand how incapacitating this condition can be. My mother's hands were entwined and distorted due to arthritis and years of use. She stitched, tinted, and created every kinds of art in her entire life, even though it was tough and excruciating in her later years.

Arthritis is when the joints are inflamed and sore. Numerous kinds of arthritis are as follows, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, gout, lupus, fibromyalgia, Lyme disease, infectious arthritis and juvenile arthritis. We will only tackle here the two kinds of arthritis, rheumatoid and osteoarthritis. Rheumatoid arthritis starts with the inflammation and pain in the joints, exhaustion, anemia, weight loss and even fever and its manifestations are deformity, hardness and partial immobility thus termed as the 'crippler'. Tautness of the joint come about at the time of waking up and may continue for an hour or more and the particular finger or wrist may enlarge for rheumatoid arthritis sufferers. Rheumatoid arthritis will generally start with soreness and hardness of a single joint of a finger, hind, wrist or knee, involving all joints surrounded by a synovia-secreting membrane. This type of arthritis is an autoimmune disorder, that is, when one's immune system improperly identifies something as foreign and attacks it causing inflammation. One of the differences between rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis is the sound the joints make. The ruffling sound of the joints, like cellophane, is identified with rheumatoid arthritis. The sound of the joints in osteoarthritis seems similar to a bursting or snapping sound.

Osteoarthritis affects individual joints and causes stiffness and pain on joint motion, and usually comes on gradually. Inflammation does not typically happen during the beginning stages of osteoarthritis. On the other hand, when osteoarthritis is in its final stages, soreness, joint enlargement and contracture of the muscles can occur, and cartilages covering the end of the bones will deteriorate. It is degenerative and related to the wear and tear of aging and use. This is what my mother suffered. Initially it was her index finger until it affected her whole hand.

An excessive assessment of 43 million adults suffer some type of arthritis, and it is expected to affect 63 million Americans by the year 2030. By chance if you are reading this, you also are suffering from it.

If you believe you have arthritis, consult your physician to establish the appropriate treatment that is suitable to you. In aiding you to control arthritis, diet and exercise are important matters to consider. In addition, you can discuss with your health care provider options to pain control, such as analgesic gels or gel packs, moist heat therapy, (the paraffin heat systems feel wonderful - I know I have tried them myself), T.E.N.S units (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation) or other nerve stimulation systems, and back braces in the case of osteoarthritis, to help relieve and control pain.

Hope for the best. With today's advanced technology, and specialized help, you will surely find a treatment that will work for you.




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