Arthritis - Causes, Symptoms, Treatment

Arthritis, even a mild case is no fun. Arthritis is painful and can have a negative effect on your life. There are some things you can try to lessen the pain of arthritis. Some remedies do not require a prescription. Talk to your doctor if you have questions about any arthritis solutions.

Arthritis literally means joint inflammation but the term often is used to refer to more than 100 different rheumatic diseases that can affect children and adults. Arthritis is the leading cause of disability in people over the age of 55. Arthritis is a costly disease: It's the leading cause of absenteeism; more than 45 million work days are lost each year. Arthritis and other rheumatic conditions are the leading cause of disability in the United States, affecting approximately 43 million people.

Rheumatoid Arthritis is not restricted to any particular age. It can happen to you at any age. The causes are yet to be discovered. Among the different types of arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis is the most devastating as it can cause severe deformities of the joints coupled with general weakness of the entire body. Rheumatoid arthritic patients usually suffer from problems such as hammer toes, claw toes and several others that can truncate the normal lifestyle of an individual.

Causes

The exact cause of childhood arthritis is unknown. Childhood arthritis does not usually run in families and cannot be passed from one person to another. The onset of childhood arthritis may follow an infection or injury, but these events do not cause the arthritis. With childhood arthritis, the body's immune system stops working properly. The immune system's job is to fight off germs and disease. However, in a child with childhood arthritis the immune system attacks healthy tissues. What triggers this process is unknown.

Symptoms

Arthritis signs and symptoms include pain and limited functions of joints, joint swelling, joint stiffness, tenderness or pain when touching a joint and warmth and redness in the joint. Arthritis can attack joints in almost any part of the body. Different forms of arthritis such as osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis can cause changes that you can see and feel. With Osteoarthritis the symptoms can range from stiffness and mild pain that comes and goes with activities like walking, bending or stooping to severe joint pain.

An arthritis symptom will vary from one person to the next, however, everyone will experience one common arthritis symptom, and this is stiffness and joint pain that is caused by inflammation of the joints. Some individuals can also develop calcium phosphate crystals or uric acid in the joints that are affected, and will cause an increase in limited mobility and pain with this arthritis symptom.

Treatments of Arthritis

Subsequent to appropriate diagnosis, a doctor can prescribe the particular arthritis treatments to lessen the pain. Fundamentally, few steps of treatments are followed with respect to arthritis disease. The initial treatments are mild in nature and usually involves consumption of contemporary medications as such use of creams or gels. This helps in cooling or warming of the skin and creates a feeling that aids in distracting the patient from severe pain.

Additionally, discuss with your doctor about whether to use hot or cold packs for pain relief, as the type of arthritis you have will dictate which is best. Many patients find joint stabilization (splints) very helpful in relieving their arthritis pain. Massage is also helpful in managing pain, but because the affected area may be very sensitive, a professional massage therapist familiar with arthritis pain is best suited for this. If necessary, your doctor can prescribe medications to help control the pain, but these are some tips as to what you can do yourself.

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