There are some misconceptions about rheumatic diseases that many patients have. Because these misconceptions can lead to many adverse consequences, it is necessary to reacquaint yourself with these issues.
1, joint pain is “rheumatism”.
Several conceptual issues.
(1) rheumatism
The origin of “rheumatism”: the evil qi in traditional Chinese medicine – pathogenic factors
Su wen – the general assessment of deficiency and reality – “limp feet, cold, wind and dampness of the disease”
Suwen – six elements of the discipline of the great treatise “wind and damp cross, wind into rain …… wind and damp phase thin, rain is after.”
The “Theory of Typhoid – identify spasm and dampness amenable to perturbation
”The patient all over the pain, fever, day Asr by the dramatic, this is called rheumatism. This disease is injured in sweating when the wind, or long injury to take cold caused.”
It is treated with Gui Zhi and Eucommia Tang and Gan Cao and Eucommia Tang.
Gui Zhi Fen Zi Tang Formula
Gui Zhi four taels (peeled, pungent and hot) three pieces of Radix Pseudostellariae (cannon, peeled, broken eight pieces, pungent and hot) three taels of ginger (cut, pungent and warm) two taels of licorice (roasted, sweet and warm) twelve pieces of jujube (broken, sweet and warm)
The right five flavors, six liters of water, boil two liters, remove the dregs, divided into warm three servings.
”Wind and dampness fight each other, the bones and joints annoying pain, switch pain, can not be flexed and stretched, close to the pain is sharp, sweating short breath, urine is not conducive, evil wind does not want to go to the clothes, or the body slightly swollen, licorice and herbs soup is the main.”
(2) Rheuma
The Complete Works of Hippocrates, 3rd century B.C.
Rheuma – ancient Greek, meaning “flow”, the theory of body fluids – blood, mucus, yellow bile, black bile, the imbalance or abnormal flow of the four body fluids lead to disease, causing Pain – rheuma
(3) Rheumatic diseases: (rheumatic diseases) is a group of diseases that affect bones, joints and their surrounding soft tissues, such as muscles, bursae, tendons, fascia, nerves, etc. in general.
Rheumatic diseases are characterized by pain (diseases of joints, muscles, soft tissues, nerves, etc.) as the main symptom and arthritis due to various causes as an important component, but rheumatic diseases are not limited to arthritis. The “connective tissue disease” or “collagen disease” referred to in the past are part of rheumatic diseases, and they cannot be fully equated with “rheumatic diseases”.
(4) Rheumatoid arthritis: a type of rheumatic disease characterized by symmetrical small arthritis, with synovitis as the basic pathological change, and in severe cases leading to disability.
(5) Rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatic fever joint changes, symmetrical large arthritis as a characteristic, does not lead to deformity.
2, the acute phase of arthritis should be bed-braked and wait for the arthritis to heal before moving.
The acute phase of arthritis is characterized by redness, swelling, and pain in the joints. At this time, many patients have difficulty moving, so they think they should rest in bed and not move, and wait for arthritis to heal before moving. This idea is more common in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis and other arthritis. We have met many such patients who have long-term joint inactivity until they develop joint dysfunction or even severe disability.
In the actual clinical process, we instruct patients, even in the acute stage, with severe joint redness, swelling and heat pain, to perform appropriate functional exercises. This exercise is based on functional activities in all directions of the joint and should not be performed in large amounts, especially in patients with involvement of the lower extremities.
3, arthritis treatment drug treatment is the most important, functional rehabilitation is not important.
Many arthritis patients believe that treatment is all about medication and that functional rehabilitation of the joints is not very important.
According to our clinical experience, functional rehabilitation of the joints is as important as medication and plays an equal role in the treatment of arthritis. Most arthritis is a chronic disease that lasts for decades or even a lifetime, and is prone to recurrence, with alternating periods of activity and remission, making the treatment process very lengthy. There are several types of medications used to treat arthritis: non-steroidal anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs (NSAIDs), which work quickly but do not relieve the disease; disease-modifying drugs (DMARDs), which work slowly and take more than a few months to work; and hormones, which work quickly and have a strong anti-inflammatory effect, acting as a “bridge” between NSAIDs and DMARDs. “Hormones, which are fast-acting, have a strong anti-inflammatory effect and act as a bridge between NSAIDs and DMARDs, but do not control the disease at all and have some side effects.
Biologics, effective but expensive. Also herbal medicines, which are slow to work. When the effects of these drugs are measured together, it takes at least several months to achieve remission and control of the disease, and with individual differences, some may take a year or even several years, which is a very important stage, as joint disability often occurs during this process. .
4, the treatment of rheumatism Western medicine side effects, should only take Chinese medicine.
Many rheumatism patients believe that the side effects of Western drugs are large, long time taking will damage the liver and kidneys, Chinese medicine side effects are small, should only take Chinese medicine.
This idea is also very common. We believe that ①Chinese medicine is effective, but it is not a panacea, not all diseases can be cured. ②There are three poisons in a medicine, and Chinese medicine is no exception, and the Chinese medicine Leigongteng for rheumatism is an example. ③Chinese medicine is slow to take effect. So we emphasize the combination of Chinese and Western medicine treatment, Chinese medicine identification combined with Western medicine formal treatment, to achieve very good results.
5.Hormones have big side effects and can be reduced or stopped by themselves.
Hormones have good anti-inflammatory effect, so they are more commonly used in rheumatic diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus, polymyositis/dermatomyositis, leukodystrophy, systemic vasculitis, rheumatoid arthritis and so on. However, hormones also have a lot of side effects, such as causing metabolic disorders (hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, centripetal obesity), osteoporosis, inducing or aggravating infections, etc., so many patients are afraid of them.
Some patients with lupus obeyed the treatment in the hospital and had good results with hormone therapy, but after taking them for a long time, the side effects of hormones showed up, so they started to reduce or even stop using them on their own. We have met many such patients, and what are the consequences? In the light cases, the disease rebounded, and the hormone dosage was increased again, and the disease was controlled; in the serious cases, the hormone dosage was increased again, and the disease was difficult to control, which endangered the life and even died.
Therefore, we hope that all rheumatism patients who apply hormones, especially those with systemic lupus erythematosus, dermatomyositis and systemic vasculitis, must take the medicine according to the doctor’s prescription when applying hormones, and must not reduce or stop using the medicine by themselves, otherwise the consequences are hard to imagine.
6, there is no good way to treat rheumatism in big hospitals now, you can try the prescription or in some small hospital treatment.
Rheumatism is a difficult disease, the current medical means difficult to cure, most need to control drugs. Therefore, many patients are recklessly seeking medical help, placing their hopes on “prescriptions” or some small hospitals. We have seen many cases of this kind, especially rheumatoid arthritis. The most common is the treatment of rheumatoid capsules, there is no drug approved, to Henan’s most, as long as you eat effective, stop using will aggravate, the reason is that most of the hormones or anti-inflammatory painkillers added. The consequences are delayed in the mild cases and life-threatening in the severe cases.
Therefore, our advice is that rheumatism must adhere to the regular hospital, professional department, regular treatment.
7, some health care products have a very good effect on rheumatism, you can try.
It also belongs to the disease. Health care products can not promote the efficacy, in foreign countries belong to the supplementary food, mainly used to supplement certain nutrients. Some domestic health products business, illegal to promote the efficacy.
Consequences: the lighter the patient’s financial burden, the heavier the delay in the disease.
8, elderly people with osteophytes, although painful, should increase their activities and wear off the enlarged parts.
This idea is also relatively common. Osteoarthritis caused by osteophytes, also known as proliferative arthritis, degenerative arthritis, belongs to the common diseases of middle-aged and elderly people, mainly involving weight-bearing joints, the basic pathological changes are degenerative changes in the cartilage and the formation of bone superfluous at the edge of the joint.
The etiology and pathogenesis of osteoarthritis are not fully understood, but it is generally accepted that one of the important factors is the change of physical stress in the joint area, which leads to friction of the cartilage surface and aggravates the local inflammation. Therefore, once diagnosed with osteoarthritis, attention should be paid to moderate functional activities, avoiding weight bearing and strain. Too much exercise can instead cause an increase in arthritis.