What is Arthritis?
Arthritis is a common disease that is characterized as the wear and tear of your joints as you age. Arthritis can affect any joint, but most commonly affects those in the:
- Hands and wrists.
- Knees.
- Hips.
- Feet and ankles.
- Shoulders.
- Lower back.
There are more than 100 different types of arthritis, including some of the most common:
- Osteoarthritis.
- Rheumatoid arthritis.
- Gout.
- Ankylosing spondylitis.
- Psoriatic arthritis.
Pain Management to Treat Arthritis
Pain management is an integrated approach to making pain tolerable by learning physical, emotional, intellectual, and social skills. This may include exercise, physical therapy, medication, holistic therapies, and counseling. With these methods, we can help you stay in control of your health.
Arthritis can be stressful and taxing on the body, especially in advanced stages. Although there is no cure for arthritis, our team of pain management physicians will help you develop a personalized treatment plan to help manage your symptoms. Which treatments you need will depend on what is causing your arthritis, the severity and which joints it is affecting. Common treatments will include:
- Medication – medication will vary from person to person. Over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medications or corticosteroids can help with relieving some of the pain and swelling that is caused by arthritis.
- Physical therapy – this treatment can help you improve your strength, range of motion and confidence while you are moving. It can also help to show you different ways of performing everyday tasks to improve your daily quality of life.
- Surgery – if nonsurgical treatments do not help to relieve symptoms of arthritis, your provider may recommend surgery. Joint fusion and joint replacement are the two most common forms of surgery to treat arthritis.
Living with Arthritis
If you have developed arthritis, you should expect to manage your symptoms for a long time, most likely the rest of your life. Your provider will continue to work with you on managing these symptoms and provide the best quality of life possible. Symptoms may get more severe as you age, so routine follow-ups are important to ensure you are getting the most out of your treatment plan.