Arthritis is a common disease and people have a certain fear of this disease because of the inconvenience it causes to the work and life of many patients. In fact, it is not that serious. Here we answer this question together with you, what to do if you have arthritis?
First, are you really suffering from arthritis?
The concept of arthritis is an inflammatory reaction in the joint tissue (synovium, cartilage, synovial fluid), which is characterized by swelling, pressure pain and limited movement of the affected joint. Joint pain alone is not called arthritis, only joint pain. If your joints do show these symptoms, you can be diagnosed with arthritis.
What are the types of arthritis?
There are many types of arthritis, such as rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, crystal arthritis (gout), and post-streptococcal arthritis (rheumatoid arthritis). The severity and prognosis of different types of arthritis vary, as do the treatment responses, so it is important to know which type of arthritis you have.
What kind of arthritis do you have?
1. Rheumatoid arthritis.
Although the whole body can be involved in large and small joints, but mainly in the hands and feet small joint swelling and pain, morning stiffness time > 1 hour, 70% of patients rheumatoid factor positive. Now we also have laboratory indicators for the diagnosis of early rheumatoid arthritis, such as anti-CCP antibodies.
2. Osteoarthritis.
Also called osteophytes, it is a degenerative arthritis, 50% of people over 60 years of age suffer from osteoarthritis, and 80% of people over 70 years of age suffer from osteoarthritis. Weight-bearing and wear-prone joints, such as the knee, hip, lumbar spine, cervical spine and hands are most susceptible to osteoarthritis. When the knee joint is painful when going up and down, stiff when stationary, or even when the joint is swollen and painful, be alert to whether you have osteoarthritis and go to the hospital for a knee x-ray, which can be diagnosed immediately. Hand osteoarthritis should be distinguished from rheumatoid arthritis. The distal interphalangeal joints are susceptible to involvement, and morning stiffness lasts <1 hour, unlike rheumatoid arthritis.
3. Ankylosing spondylitis.
There is a certain genetic predisposition, 90% of patients carry the HLA-B27+ gene, with a peak incidence in males around 20 years of age. The main manifestations are inflammatory lower back pain and arthritis mainly in the lower extremities. Sacroiliac arthritis is necessary for the diagnosis of ankylosing arthritis.
4. Psoriatic arthritis.
It is easier to diagnose when a patient has psoriasis first and then arthritis. Some patients develop arthritis first, but arthritis has certain characteristics, such as the distal interphalangeal joints of the accumulated fingers and salivary fingers (toes), which are helpful for diagnosis.
5. Acute gouty arthritis.
With the improvement of people’s living standards, acute gouty arthritis is becoming more and more common. This arthritis is closely related to diet and alcohol consumption, and it is characterized by the most likely to involve the female toe joints, sudden onset, red, swollen and hot pain in the affected joints. It is often accompanied by hyperlipidemia, hyperglycemia and hypertension.
6. Arthritis following streptococcal infection.
To be precise, it is a metamorphic reaction to streptococcal infection, and is often called “rheumatoid arthritis”. It is common in young women who have an upper respiratory infection 2-3 weeks before the onset of arthritis. The characteristics of this arthritis are that the large joints are easily involved, the arthritis is wandering, and there is usually no joint deformity.
IV. Treatment countermeasures for various types of arthritis
1, different kinds of arthritis treatment measures, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis is chronic arthritis, such as irregular treatment can appear joint deformity, the condition is relatively complex, in addition to taking symptom relief drugs, but also need to take drugs to relieve the condition, these two types of drugs have many varieties, it is best to go to a regular hospital consultation, the doctor will be based on your specific situation, choose the most The doctor will choose the most suitable medication for you according to your specific situation.
Rheumatoid arthritis is a kind of reactive arthritis after streptococcal infection, so the first thing is to control the inflammation of the pharynx and give regular antimicrobial treatment for about 1 week, while using anti-rheumatic drugs, such as aspirin, fenbid, celebrex, etc.
2, the treatment of gouty arthritis can be divided into two parts, namely the usual treatment of lowering uric acid and anti-inflammatory and pain relief treatment during acute arthritis attacks, we think the former is more important, if the blood uric acid can be controlled at normal levels, acute arthritis will not occur, the methods to control blood uric acid are
(1) Drinking more water and excreting more than 2000 ml of urine per day.
(2) Eating a low purine diet.
(3) Abstain from alcohol, especially beer.
(4) stop using diuretic antihypertensive drugs and switch to Corsoa (both lowering blood pressure and uric acid).
(5) Take a drug that reduces uric acid production (allopurinol).
(6) or take drugs that increase uric acid excretion (Ligurian).
3, osteoarthritis is more closely related to our middle-aged and elderly friends, we introduce to you a comprehensive treatment program, including.
(1) weight loss, to reduce the burden on the joints, which is very important for joint protection.
(2) appropriate exercise, too much exercise aggravates joint wear and tear, and also acute synovitis; too little exercise, muscle and ligament weakness, poor joint stability, also aggravates joint destruction.
(3) When joint swelling and pain are obvious, anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving drugs can be taken, such as Tyrolean, Fenbendazole, Aminomycin, etc.
(4) Now there are also cartilage-protective drugs, such as the domestic drug Glucophage and the imported drug Vibram, which can slow down the degeneration of cartilage.
(5) If the joint space has been narrowed, hyaluronic acid can be injected into the joint cavity, which is equivalent to adding some lubricant to the joint.
(6) When the disease reaches an advanced stage, the joint space disappears and movement is limited, only artificial joint replacement is possible.
We hope that the answers to the above questions will give you some preliminary understanding of several common arthritis, especially osteoarthritis and gout, which occur mostly in our middle-aged and elderly population, and we have made a relatively detailed introduction, so now you should know what to do if you have arthritis.