What Is Osteoarthritis And Why Does It Hurt?

There are about 100 forms of arthritis. Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common. "Osteo" is from the Greek word for bone. "Arthr" means joint. And "itis" means inflammation.

Osteoarthritic cartilage can become brittle, thin, and frayed. Eventually it wears away, leaving craters of underlying bone. This process can take many years, or sometimes happens quickly - perhaps after an injury. Irritated joints try to protect themselves by producing extra fluid, and can become swollen (called "water on the knee").

Normally, the synovial membrane (see my last post) that lines the joint looks like a sheet of satin. However, when inflamed, it becomes more like wet terrycloth. This inflammation of the joint lining is usually what causes arthritis pain. The swollen lining gets pinched between the moving bones. Once the cartilage layer is thinned and worn, the joint loses its spacer and becomes less stable. If your muscles are weak and flabby, they can't provide the necessary support.

Think of the rough surfaces within the joint acting like a match head on a flint. Imagine a wobbly knee where every step causes the jagged surfaces to rub together, igniting a little "fire." That fire is the inflammation of arthritis pain.

So what exactly is inflammation anyway?

Inflammation is the tissues' response to injury or irritation. It causes pain, swelling, redness and heat, and results from an elaborate sequence of biochemical reactions in the body. Although these biochemicals are associated with the undesirable symptoms of OA and fever, they also do good work.

• They begin the first steps of healing after an injury.
• They help the body fight off infection.
• They regulate kidney function.
• They balance acid and mucus production inside the stomach.
• They help maintain blood pressure
• They control blood clotting.

So when using medications that block inflammation to treat OA symptoms, the challenge is to block the bad effects of inflammation while permitting its healthy housekeeping functions to continue.

[The above article was taken from excerpts  from Know Your Bones: Making Sense of Arthritis Medicine, a guidebook written for those who suffer from osteoarthritis.]

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[Kia]

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[chronic arthritis]

Treatment of Arthritis
A cornerstone of therapy of any form of arthritis is physical therapy and occupational therapy to maintain joint mobility and range of motion. The proper kind and amount of this therapy will vary depending upon the underlying cause and upon individual factors that your physician will discuss with you.

Many drugs are now used to treat the inflammation and pain associated with arthritis. Aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen (Motrin, and others), naproxen (Naprosyn, and others) and dicolfenac (Voltaren), have immediate analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects and are relatively safe.

[arthritis knee]

Medical supervision is a must, because this form of arthritis can be crippling, other organs may be affected and all treatments may, on occasion, cause side effects.

Doctors now have many ways of treating rheumatoid arthritis. Large doses of aspirin or aspirin-like drugs can be effective in reducing pain and inflammation. If the arthritis is aggressive, drugs called DMARDs or SAARDs (disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, or slow-acting antirheumatic drugs) such as the anti-malarials may be used. Certain immunosuppressants biologic response modifiers, corticosteroids, or gold therapy may be used. All these drugs require close supervision, since they may have hazardous side effects.