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- Arthritis Basics
- Types Of Arthritis - Causes, Symptoms
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- The joints one by one become painful, tender, and have hard bony swelling.
- They pass through a painful phase but end up as painless but knobby fingers.
- There if deformity but the function of the limb remains unhampered.
- Stiffness in sitting is characteristic of osteoarthritis.
- Unlike rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis causes pain but very little heat or redness.
- Osteoarthritis also causes a bony type of joint enlargement, not a soft tissue swelling.
- It may follow some injury, but tends to occur in older subjects (40-60 years).The joint starts getting deformed as has been mentioned earlier and there is fluid accumulation in the joints.
- Creaking or grating may be felt or heard when it is moved, while pain is variable and tends to be worse in wet weather and in night.
- This disease is caused due to a gradual destruction of cartilage. Its precise cause is unknown but it is no longer known as a simple wear and tear disease.
- Hereditary seems to play a very important role in osteoarthritis.
- The treatment of osteoarthritis is simpler than that of the more severe forms of arthritis.
- The step in treatment is to assure the patient that it is not crippling, deforming disease.
- This is often a great relief to the patient since the patients usually think that they have a destructive form of arthritis. They often harbors more fear about their future regarding the course the disease would take in their life more than the disease warrants.
- Joint rest is important and special exercises are needed.
- Postural exercises are important aids in treatment.
- The body weight should be kept down
- Drug therapy is kept to a minimum. The principal drug is Aspirin and Paracetamol; the dose is to be decided by the doctor.
- Walking shoes with raised heel often help. The patient should also use a walking stick.
- Physiotherapy, heat, active exercises and wax baths all help.
- Among the various surgeries available for arthritis, Osteotomy is the most successful.
Osteoarthritis
This is a chronic and mild form of arthritis which is distinguished by degenerative changes affecting primarily the articular cartilage and adjacent bone which can usually be seen on x-ray. Sometime, only one joint is affected, and it is usually a large one such as the hip. Osteoarthritis is extremely common and usually constitutes a little more than a considerable and continuing nuisance. The chance of getting it increases with age. The weight-bearing joints are more commonly involved, but one hereditary form of osteoarthritis involves the end and middle joints of fingers.