Do you have any achy joints?
Do you have any joint stiffness when you wake up in the morning?
Do you have pain going up and down stairs?
Do you have difficulty getting into a car or getting up from a seated position?
Do your hands hurt to grip stuff strongly?
Do you have shoulder stiffness or decreased shoulder range of motion?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may have arthritis in one or more of your joints. Arthritis is a generalized term that describes more than 100 different types of joint disease. Arthritis affects nearly one out of every six adults in the U.S. and more than 300,000 children. Arthritis can effect any joint in the body including the hip, knee, shoulder, ankle, elbow, foot, hands, neck, and back. Arthritis is responsible for disabling more people than any other disease. Symptoms of arthritis range from joint pain, swelling, warmth, stiffness, decreased range of motion, or other concerning joint symptoms. The symptoms can be mild, moderate, or severe as well as intermittent or persistent.
Typically osteoarthritis or more commonly known as "wear and tear" disease of the joint increases in frequency with age. It's symptoms can change with weather shifts and symptoms can change with activity. Severe arthritis can make it difficult to do normal activities of life. It can cause permanent joint destruction and chronic disabling pain.
If you think you may have symptoms of arthritis and either the symptoms last more than three days or you have multiple episodes within a month, please check with your primary care doctor or orthopedic surgeon. There are many treatments for arthritis and it is important to review your symptoms and possibly x-ray your joint so a diagnosis can be made and a comprehensive treatment plan may be initiated. Primary goals of treatment for your arthritis will be in control of pain, preservation of joint function and range of motion, and improving your quality-of-life. The most common treatment plan for osteoarthritis involves regular exercise, weight reduction if indicated, anti-inflammatory medications, joint health supplementation, corticosteroid injections, viscosupplementation injections, and a last resort of surgical intervention. New treatment options including biologic joint preservation with platelet-rich plasma (PRP), commercially available stem cell products, and stem cell treatments are also available.
Contact one of our doctors if you think you may have symptoms of arthritis.
