Everyone has probably had joint pain at some point in their lives. Whenever we have pain that affects our activities or even our sleep, are you worried: “Do I have arthritis?”, “Is it rheumatism or rheumatoid rheumatism? , “Should I rest more or exercise more?” What should I pay attention to in terms of diet?” What should I do?”, “How should I treat it?” And so on and so forth? Then, let’s discuss arthritis together.
(A) Joint pain is not arthritis
Arthritis is an inflammation of the joints, often manifested as redness, swelling, heat, pain, and limited movement of the joints.
(b) Does arthritis mean rheumatism or rheumatoid arthritis?
Common arthritis includes osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, gouty arthritis, infectious arthritis and reactive arthritis, etc. It takes a rheumatologist to determine which kind of arthritis it is after a systematic examination and corresponding laboratory tests, and rheumatoid arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis are only two of them.
Many people mistakenly believe that a positive rheumatoid factor means you have “rheumatoid arthritis” and an increased “anti-O” means you have “rheumatoid arthritis”. Rheumatoid arthritis is mostly manifested as multiple small joint swelling and pain in the hands and feet with morning stiffness, rheumatoid factor titers are elevated more than 3 times to be meaningful, simply positive does not necessarily have rheumatoid; and “anti-O” increased only indicates that there has been a recent or previous streptococcal infection, with the widespread use of antibiotics in recent years, rheumatoid arthritis is rare.
In fact, the most common is osteoarthritis, after the age of 45 is the high incidence of osteoarthritis, more than half of the population over 50 years old suffer from osteoarthritis, it can be said that it threatens the normal activities of about 1/3 of the world’s adults, and the knee is the most common site of incidence, if we put our hands on the knee when the knee can feel the grinding sensation can be identified with osteoarthritis of the knee.
(c) Do I need more rest if I have arthritis?
Arthritis in the acute phase of redness, swelling and pain should be rested, especially many early gout arthritis patients can significantly improve just by resting a few days, while osteoarthritis itself is related to mechanical damage to the joints, joint overuse and strain, so patients with osteoarthritis should also rest more, but it does not mean that as far as possible do not move, appropriate exercise, more joint no-load exercise (such as in bed), reduce the pressure on the bone joint For example, it is beneficial for patients with osteoarthritis of the knee to strengthen the muscles of the quadriceps (thigh muscles) by raising the straight leg upward in a sitting position to exercise the quadriceps. Swimming is a good form of exercise, as is cycling and walking on flat roads, but strenuous exercises such as ball games and mountain climbing should be reduced. Avoid prolonged sitting and standing and avoid a part of the joint in a long-term weight-bearing state; reduce up and down stairs, less walking downhill, avoid repeated squatting and should pay attention to the joint parts to keep warm.
Exercise can make the muscles and ligaments more elastic, joint range of motion increases, but also to reduce stiffness, pain and other discomfort, osteoarthritis of the knee can do the following exercises: (1) twist the knee: (2) rub the leg belly: (3) shake the leg. Patients with rheumatoid arthritis should also move their joints more after the pain and swelling of the joints have been reduced, which can slow down the deformation of joint ankylosis and can reduce the occurrence of osteoporosis and muscle atrophy.
(d) What should I pay attention to in terms of diet?
Patients with osteoarthritis should control their weight, because obese joints are overwhelmed by the weight of the body, accelerating the wear and tear of the soft tissues between the joints and causing premature degeneration of the joints.
Gout arthritis is a metabolic disease, closely related to diet, often triggered by drinking alcohol (including white wine and beer) or eating seafood, animal offal, so after suffering from gout should first quit drinking alcohol, drink a lot of water (should be more than 2000ml per day, available sodium bicarbonate liquid), in the acute attack should be low purine food such as rice, vegetables, fruits, etc., eat more alkaline food, prohibit the consumption of high purine food, such as Animal liver, kidney, brain, fish, poultry, and peanuts, dried beans, and whole grains. In the absence of attacks should also control weight, avoid overweight, limit fat and animal protein, to eat mainly plant protein.
Patients with rheumatoid arthritis should pay more attention to calcium and vitamins in their diet, and to potassium and alkali supplementation when combined with dry syndrome and renal tubular acidosis.
(E) How to treat?
1, oral drugs: (1) osteoarthritis: anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs, glucosamine or diacetin; (2) rheumatoid arthritis: anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs, salicyclovir, methotrexate, leflunomide, rehmannia polysaccharide, etc.; (3) gout arthritis: anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs, colchicine, benzbromarone, etc.
2. Biological agents: subcutaneous injection of Yicep for the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis and rheumatoid arthritis with satisfactory results.
3. Intra-articular injection of sodium hyaluronate: it can significantly reduce the inflammatory response, lubricate and nourish joint cartilage, and relieve pain.
4. Physiotherapy: far infrared ray, low frequency pulse, spectrum, magnetic therapy, wax therapy, etc.
5. Surgery: arthroscopic arthroscopy, arthroplasty, etc.