We’ve been having a lot of conversation in the clinic about general arthritis. It seems to be on everyone’s imaging and yet, medical providers seem to want to blame that general arthritis for any type of joint pain. So why does arthritis get such a bad wrap?
- Arthritis, by definition, is inflammation in the joint. Some symptoms associated with arthritis are pain, swelling, redness, and difficulty moving a joint, however, a lot of varying diagnoses and problems will have these same symptoms.
- Just because you have arthritis on your imaging, doesn’t mean that is why you have pain. Unfortunately, in the body, 1 + 1 does not always equal 2. There are many factors that can contribute to any joint pain such as decreased range of motion due to fear of moving the joint, weakness, emotional trauma, and stress to name a few.
- I promise you, moving your body to perform daily activities is not going to damage your body. I like to tell clients and patients that “movement is lotion for the body”. We need the fluid that surrounds your joints to be flowing and healthy and the most helpful way to achieve that is to move.
- Just like any other inflammatory response, arthritis can be treated using techniques to reduce inflammation such as nutrition, compression, anti-inflammatory supplements, topical creams, massage, lymphatic drainage, and exercise!