What is arthritis?
Arthritis refers to a category of diseases that involve inflammation in one or more of your joints. Symptoms of arthritis include:
- Pain
- Decreased mobility
- Swelling
- Stiffness
- Redness
The symptoms of arthritis typically come and go in the form of flare-ups.
What causes arthritis?
A number of factors can cause or worsen arthritis, such as:
- Underlying diseases
- Infections
- Uric acid crystals
Lifestyle factors, such as nutrition and physical activity level, might also be involved with arthritis.
Some of the risk factors for arthritis might be out of your control, such as aging, genetics, and previous joint injuries.
What are the different types of arthritis?
Arthritis has many different types.
Rheumatoid arthritis
When your body’s immune system attacks the lining of the joint capsule (the synovial membrane), you have rheumatoid arthritis. In addition to causing swelling and inflammation in the joints, the disease process can destroy and damage cartilage and bone over time.
Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis is a type of arthritis that involves the gradual damage and wear-and-tear to the cartilage in your joints.
More severe osteoarthritis can lead to bone grinding directly on bone. Bone friction is painful and limits movement. An infection or an injury can exacerbate or trigger osteoarthritis.
Other arthritic conditions
There are other arthritic and inflammatory conditions, such as ankylosing spondylitis. These conditions can be associated with bacteria, genetics, and environmental factors.
Ankylosing spondylitis also causes the immune system to attack itself. Widespread painful inflammation throughout the body can even affect organ systems like the eyes.
How is arthritis diagnosed?
Your physician discusses your medical history and symptoms, performs a physical exam, and evaluates your joints for signs of inflammation and arthritis.
Your physician might suggest additional testing, such as an X-ray or MRI, or joint fluid, blood, or urine tests.
How is arthritis treated?
To treat and manage your arthritis, your physician might recommend:
- Weight loss
- Spinal cord stimulation
- Medications when necessary, such as pain relief, steroids, and anti-inflammatories
- Intrathecal pump
- Kyphoplasty or vertebroplasty (to treat compression fractures usually caused by osteoarthritis)
- Disc-FX® system
- A2M (Alpha 2 Macroglobulin) injections
- Epidurals, corticosteroid injections, Traumeel® injections, and Zeel® injections
- Intradiscal electrothermal therapy (IDET)
- Biological therapy
- Healthy lifestyle changes, such as nutrition, rehabilitative exercise, and stress management
- Cortisone (anti-inflammatory) injections for hip arthritis pain
- Genicular block
- Genicular rhizotomy
Improve your physical functioning, wellness, and quality of life with highly personalized and effective arthritis treatments. Call Payam Vahedifar, M.D. Nuvo Spine and Sports Institute & Ortho Regenerative Center today or use the online booking tool.
