What is Arthritis? Arthritis is the disease when the joints (the places where the bones meet and can move) of the body are affected and the person feels constant pain in the joints. The main cause of painful joints is damaged cartilage which binds together the joints and helps you move easily without pain. The disease can cause inflammation, stiffness, and swelling in some areas of the body and limit the person from being active physically. There are several types of arthritis that may have different causes and treatments but one thing is common in them; the pain that needs special attention and treatment.
Although the disease is “well-known” among elders, arthritis happens also within younger people and even children. There are too many types (almost a hundred) of arthritis but the two most common types are Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid arthritis. Osteoarthritis, also called Degenerative Joint Disease, is the biochemical changes in the joints. It is really more common among older people while Rheumatoid arthritis happens mostly to people from 20-50. It is the type when pain and stiffness occur in both sides of the body part (that is, both hands or both feet, etc.) and is a result of an immune disorder. Another type of arthritis is Psoriatic Arthritis, which affects not only the joints but also skin (burning and itchy skin). The next one is Gout, which is usually taken for arthritis in general but the fact is that this type is always inflammatory, while some arthritis’s types are not. The main cause of Gout is uric acid which forms and “gathers” crystals mainly in the big toe. It can happen to everyone but men are most likely to suffer from it as they have much more uric acids than women. And the last most common type is Ankylosing Spondylitis. It is when only the spine is affected and the person can have chronic pain and inflammation. The condition is life-long but the pain in this type may vary, some have severe pain while others have lighter symptoms.
Causes and Symptoms of Arthritis
Arthritis affects the following parts of the body; hands, feet, shoulders, knees, hips and lower back. The causes of arthritis vary from age to sex, from genetics to weight problems, and from diet to lifestyle.
The symptoms are; pain, stiffness, swelling, warmth, and redness. If you have at least one of these symptoms, it doesn’t mean you should diagnose yourself as a person with arthritis, but you should see a specialist to find out whether you have the disease or not.
Arthritis is one of those diseases that unfortunately can’t be cured thoroughly but there are lots of effective methods for relieving the pain and condition and now we’ll speak about the most effective ways of treatment.
The effective treatment methods
Physiotherapy is a trusted and effective method for people with Arthritis. With the help of physiotherapy, the pain and stiffness of your joints will be regained and the flexibility of your muscles and body recovered.
Nutritional Supplements are another tried method within patients. As we have mentioned above, Arthritis is caused by the damaged cartilage in the joints, and in order to repair that cartilage, your body needs these supplements; Glucosamine and Chondroitin which you can find in Progressive labs vitamins. These supplements will not only reduce pain but will also slow down the progression of Arthritis, regain and recover the damaged cartilage which is responsible for moving joints.
The other effective method is anti-inflammatory medication, which will mostly relieve pain and stop the inflammation process (swelling, crunching, redness) in your body.
There is also another method for treating Arthritis, Surgery, which is for very severe cases when no other method will help. But in order not to reach this level, you should be attentive to your body signals and take care of your health.
