Arthritis Treatment in Las Cruces and El Paso is Here!
Have you experienced joint pain, joint swelling joint stiffness, hand pain, ankle pain, hand swelling, red joints, swollen joints, morning stiffness, painful movements and other series of pain that are symptoms of arthritis? If this is the case, we highly recommend that you fix an appointment with a pain management specialist.
If your area of residence is in Las Cruces or El Paso please call one of our offices closest to you. We have pain management office in Las Cruces. We have a team of experienced and highly trained pain management staff that will help patients with successful treatment of arthritis.
What is Chronic Pain?
Arthritis is a joint disorder which causes inflammation, with arthritis comes series of symptoms. The region where joints meet can get inflamed and then progress to arthritis. Patients starts to report joint pain and series of other common symptoms when this happens. There are at least 100 types of arthritis; of which the most common ones are degenerative osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and gout.
Symptoms of Arthritis
People suffering from arthritis suffers from joint pain, joint swelling, joint stiffness, hand pain, ankle pain, hand swelling, red joints, swollen joints, morning stiffness, and painful movements.
Depending on individuals, the severity of the pain varies. Also, symptoms of arthritis come with different types of arthritis; rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis are the two most common types.
What are the Possible Causes of Arthritis?
As we previously said , the causes also depend on the type of arthritis diagnosed. Additionally, there are certain risk factors that may make patients more likely to develop arthritis.
Risk factors and causes of arthritis include:
gender
age
metabolic abnormalities
family history (hereditary factors)
immune system problems (i.e. a misdirected immune system)
previous joint injuries
obesity
indirect and direct consequences of infections
Types of Treatment and Care for Arthritis
The severe nature of arthritis will seriously affect the arms and hands to the point where executing normal daily tasks and activities becomes a real challenge. If the joints that bears weight (knees and ankles, feet, etc) are affected by arthritis, patients will experience difficulty with sitting up straight and walking. This often grows to become frustrating and irritating to many.
Home treatment of arthritis can actually be effective, but it is important to note that as much as some arthritis responds to treatment, other types don’t. The purposes of arthritis treatment: to improve joint function, to relieve symptoms, to reduce pain, and to prevent more joint damage.
Three main types of arthritis treatment exist: medications, therapy, and surgery.
Common medications for arthritis treatment include:
- analgesics
- non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)
- counterirritants
- corticosteroids
- biologics
- disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs)
with the aid of medication, the symptoms such as inflammation are reduced to a minimal threshold. As soon as our team are able to ascertain the type of arthritis, they will determine if the best approach to alleviate your pain is through medication.
Another treatment option is therapy. Patients who show the most need for improving range of motion benefit more from therapy. Therapy helps strengthen the muscles near the joints. Physical therapy is good, but those who benefit from it are few as it is only effective for some certain types of arthritis. We have experienced pain management staff who will help you to determine if the physical therapy is the best option for you.
Hygia Pain Management most preferred approach is to treat health conditions without surgery or addictive medications. We will ensure that we do our best and use the most appropriate approach when treating your arthritis.
Here are some alternative remedies that can prove to be effective with arthritis treatment and its symptoms:
- massage
- yoga or tai chi
- acupuncture
- glucosamine
- transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS)
When you come in for your appointment, our pain management staff can speak to you more regarding custom pain care options.
Managing and Living with Arthritis
Living with arthritis doesn’t necessarily have to be painful experience, with some few strategies, you can actually achieve living a pain free and symptom free life.
- Lose weight.Extra weight puts an additional stress on the joints which will actually cause arthritis down the road. Try as much as possible to lose excess weight and see the experiential feeling of having joints that are healthy.
- Use heat and cold therapy. Every time you experience joint pain or other pain and symptoms related to arthritis, make use of both heat and cold therapies to alleviate the pain. We advise that you make use of heating pads or ice packs.
- Exercise as much as possible. The exercise statement seems to be wrong, because it could be difficult with arthritis pain, but the truth is, it’s not. Exercise often help relief the stiffness. We don’t mean that you should overdo it, but it is expedient that you keep up with a regular exercise routine. Routines such as: leisure walk a few times per week, swimming or water aerobics, riding bicycle, etc.