Many people experience pain and loss of mobility due to arthritis and wonder if there’s a chance of being cured. While there’s hope for the future, arthritis is not reversible.
However, contemporary arthritis management plans can ease the symptoms and slow the progression. As sports medicine specialists, our team at Princeton Sports and Family Medicine, P.C., in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, regularly treats arthritis-related joint pain along with the accompanying stiffness and loss of mobility.
To help you better understand arthritis and its long-term outlook, we’ve prepared this month’s blog to explain how it progresses.
Arthritis is a general category of inflammatory conditions impacting joints. The most common form is osteoarthritis; which is a wear-and-tear condition and is progressive.
The problem starts with articular cartilage — a tough, slippery tissue that covers the ends of bones where they meet at joints. This cartilage can be damaged through injury. However, for many, it simply starts to break down over time due to aging.
The second most common form of arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, has a different mechanism. An autoimmune condition, your body starts to attack tissue in joint linings, leading to deterioration. Without treatment, rheumatoid arthritis continues to damage tissue.
There are other types of arthritis generally regarded as life-long and not curable. However, they are manageable or less aggressive.
There are two goals for arthritis treatment: managing pain and slowing progression. Usually, this involves a mix of medication, therapy, and lifestyle changes.
Medications focus on pain relief and symptoms. For rheumatoid arthritis, you can expect both pain medication and immunity drugs to modify the progression of the disease.
However, daily pain medication isn’t a safe or viable long-term solution. Physical therapy aims to build support for embattled joints by building muscle for support.
Joint motion may seem counterintuitive for painful joints. However, motion is part of your body’s healing systems, aiding blood flow, which is critical to inflammation control.
While your body can’t repair tissue faster than the rate of degeneration, it can relieve symptoms and regain some mobility.
Lifestyle changes support arthritis management as well. If you are overweight, even small amounts of weight loss add up to significant reductions in the forces placed on arthritic joints. A nutritious diet promotes weight loss and provides the building blocks of healing and pain management.
Easily-tolerated low-impact activities like walking, swimming, or riding a bike can build motion back into your life, providing a wide range of health benefits and supporting arthritis management.
For an arthritis management plan customized to your needs, contact Princeton Sports and Family Medicine, P.C., for an exam and evaluation. Call or click to book your appointment today.
