Your Body s Joints Are Not Like the Joints of a Robot

WHAT IS ARTHRITIS?

Your body’s joints are not like the joints of a robot. They can’t be oiled when they feel stiff. Yet the joints in your body are mechanical parts, and when they no longer move easily and smoothly, they do not work effectively and comfortably. 

What causes the pain? 

What causes the stiffness?

What can you do about it?

The first thing to get out of the way is the myth that there is such thing as a single disease called arthritis. The truth is that the word arthritis is about as useful and specific as the word infection; and just as there are over a hundred different types of infection so there are over a hundred different types of arthritis. Because arthritis takes many forms, some with devastating effects on your future health, careful diagnosis as soon as symptoms are noticed, is important. Early detection and prompt treatment can help relieve pain and prevent later complications. 

Arthritis affects individuals indifferent ways. Treatments that work for one person with one type of arthritis do not always work for another person with another type. Self-diagnosis and self-treatment, based on the experiences of others, can have potentially harmful effects in that it causes the self-medicator to postpone more appropriate, individualized treatment.If you have symptoms of arthritis, you can help yourself by seeking prompt medical attention and diagnosis. 

If someone you love thinks he or she has arthritis, encourage the person to have a professional diagnosis and begin treatment.Knowing more about the various types of arthritis will help you understand the disease and how you can help yourself while following the treatment plan outlined by your physician.

OSTEOARTHRITIS:

 The Wear-And-Tear Disease Osteoarthritis affects more people than any other type.Physicians may refer to it as degenerative joint disease. Patients usually know this disease best as old age arthritis.Why does osteoarthritis occur? In a normal joint a smooth,elastic material called cartilage covers the ends of your bones where they meet. Cartilage enables the bones to glide smoothly across each other and gives joints their flexibility. When the cartilage wears away, it becomes painful to move the joint. 

The ends of the bones may develop spurs, or outgrowths, and ligaments and membranes around the bones may thicken. As a result the shape and structure of the joint may change. In reaction to the pain, muscles near the joint may become tense and contract. 

As muscles weaken, use of the joint may become more restricted. While each case of osteoarthritis is different, your understanding should begin with the anatomy of bones and joints.While osteoarthritis can occur in any joint, the joints most commonly affected are the weight-bearing ones: knees, hips, and lumbar spine.It often affects the joints of the fingers, the base of the thumb, and the big toe. Physicians categorize cases of osteoarthritis as primary and secondary. 

The primary form seems to begin by itself, with no specific cause,while the secondary type may have many causes but often results from too much stress and strain on a joint. 

Primary osteoarthritis occurs mostly in women and may have a hereditary component because it seems to appear more in some families than in others. It sometimes begins fairly early in life, even during the late thirties and early forties. Osteoarthritis seems to be quite generalized and affects small joints such as the fingers and toes.