Arthritis Treatment
Arthritis Treatment programs help Arthritis, which is a disease that affects the bone joints in a human body. In arthritis the bone joints & the tissues surrounding the joints gets degenerated overtime. It results in swelling, pain & stiffness around the affected joints. Causes for arthritis could be many. They may happen from an injury which you did not take proper care of & it could slowly degenerate the bone joints to a point where arthritis happen. It may also happen from certain infections like Lyme disease or it may happen from an overactive immune system. At times arthritis are also hereditary & can affect a person who has history of arthritis in his or her family.
Arthritis treatment: Overview
Arthritis treatment programs, therefore, start with determining the cause of arthritis. Once the cause is determined, then the actual medication & treatment starts. But if the problem is minor then the patient may not need to go to a doctor at all. A disciplined life with certain precautions will go a long way in helping the patients with their treatments of arthritis. But if the pain & swellings are of severe nature, then one must visit a doctor immediately.
Self-care Arthritis Treatment:
One may not at all require treatment if there is no pain or a minimal amount of pain. But if there is severe pain & inflammation then one need to be careful & take some precautionary measures such as rest, hot & cold application, anti-inflammatory medications, topical creams etc.
As a first step one may go for a lot of rest & alternate heat & cold applications to soothe the pain a little. For osteoarthritis over the counter food supplements like glucosamine & chondroitin have been seen to be effective. You can get these supplements in pharmacies & health food stores without any prescriptions. Although the manufacturer of these supplements claims that these can rebuild cartilages, no evidence in support of this claim has been found yet.
Fish oils which are rich in Omega-3 fatty acids have been found to be extremely effective in fighting arthritis. They have anti-inflammatory properties in them & help in reducing the pain & swellings around the affected areas.
Over the counter pain killers like acetaminophen can be extremely helpful in reducing the pain one suffers from mild osteoarthritis.
There are patients who dip their hands in hot wax (paraffin) dip to get relief from the pain which osteoarthritis causes. Pain relieving creams can also be helpful in relieving the pains from minor osteoarthritis. Creams like arthricare, Zostrix, Aspercreme, Bengay, Flexall can be extremely helpful in relieving pains from mild osteoarthritis.
Medical Arthritis Treatment:
Not every person needs medical treatment for arthritis. If someone has mild or no pain from osteoarthritis, he/she may not need any medical treatment at all. The necessity of medical treatments depends on the severity of the problem. If a patient who is having mild pain, for him aspirin or acetaminophen is sufficient.
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as aspirin, ibuprofen, nabumetone, and naproxen are extremely capable in reducing both pain & inflammation.
Many times cortisone is used to treat arthritis. It can be taken by mouth, injected in the veins or injected directly into the affected bone joints to reduce the inflammation quickly. Cortisone is used only when the problem is serious & not used in other cases since excessive use of it can damage the tissues & muscles around the joint.
Medical arthritis treatment also includes weight reduction exercises if arthritis is being caused due to overweight. If the problem is of extremely serious nature then surgeries are also performed in the affected bone joint/joints.