Arthritis is a general term that refers to joint pain or joint disease, and there are more than 100 different types. However, the two most common forms are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
Osteoarthritis is related to wear and tear to your joints over time. As you get older, the cartilage that cushions your joints can wear down. This can result in your bones rubbing directly against each other, leading to pain and decreased range of motion.
Rheumatoid arthritis, on the other hand, is an autoimmune disease and the exact causes aren’t known. It involves your immune system attacking your own joints. It begins with inflammation and swelling of joints and can eventually damage your cartilage and bones.
So while there are different causes for the various forms of arthritis, some common risk factors include:
- Joint injuries
- Obesity
- Age
- Family history
There are many different forms of arthritis, but they all involve issues with your joints. A few symptoms that are common among the different types of arthritis include:
- Joint pain
- Stiffness
- Swelling
- Decreased range of motion
- Redness
There is a range of treatment options for arthritis, including:
- Physiotherapy: Can provide exercises and other therapies to manage your arthritis pain, improve fitness, and restore range of motion.
- Medications: Can provide pain relief and slow the progression of some forms of arthritis. They include painkillers, anti-inflammatories, corticosteroids, and disease-modifying drugs.
- Custom orthotics: Can ease the stress on joints that are commonly affected by arthritis, like the knees and hips.
Physiotherapists at Activa Clinics can create custom treatment plans that combine a variety of therapies. This lets them take a whole-body approach to treat arthritis and its associated issues. Just some of the ways they can help include:
- Exercises and stretches
- Recommendations on how to overcome physical limitations
- Massage therapy
- Chiropractic
- Acupuncture
- Custom orthotics
- Functional braces
Here are some simple lifestyle changes you can use to reduce your risk of developing arthritis.
- Eat more fish that are high in omega-3 fatty acids. That includes salmon, trout, mackerel, and sardines.
- Maintain a healthy weight. This can significantly reduce your risk for developing osteoarthritis in your knees.
- Stay active to keep the muscles around your joints strong. This helps stabilize and protect them.
Arthritis can be a painful and debilitating condition. If it’s allowed to progress unchecked, it can lead to serious joint damage that makes it difficult to perform even simple tasks like walking or climbing stairs.
We can create a custom treatment plan to help you overcome these limitations, avoid further joint damage, and relieve your pain. With our advanced diagnostics, a wide range of therapies, and our team of experienced health care providers, our clinics are the ideal place to get arthritis treatment.
FAQ's
The early signs of arthritis are joint pain and stiffness, after you have used those joints a lot. Later, you will start to ache without having been any more active than normal. Some people also report feeling achy when it rains or is humid, years before they develop full-blown arthritis. Taking action at this stage by eating a healthy diet and using appropriate exercise to build up your muscles and bones can slow the progression of the disease.
Studies have shown that eating too much fatty and processed foods makes most people`s arthritis symptoms worse Foods that are super-heated, for example, fried or pasteurized, produce AGEs. These build up and trigger inflammation in the body. Sufferers should also avoid alcohol, smoking and sugary foods. . Eating a mostly raw diet has been shown to reduce the symptoms.
There are some indications that drinking lemon water is good for arthritis. It contains a lot of antioxidants, which helps to flush toxins from the body. Tea is another excellent source of antioxidants. Drinking a glass of water first thing in the morning will also help to flush toxins away.
Arthritis doesn’t affect young people as much as it does adults, but lots of teens still get it.
Curcumin from turmeric root, Vitamin D, Omega-3 fatty acids, and Glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate are among the vitamins and supplements that can be beneficial for your arthritis.
There are hereditary forms of osteoarthritis that are caused by mutations in genes for collagen. This type of osteoarthritis can first appear at a young age, quickly causing severe damage, though not very common.