Arthritis awareness: Causes, Preventative Care, and Treatments
What causes hip or knee pain?
Injury, over-use, or lack of use can cause short-term pain. However, if the pain lasts longer than a few weeks, seek medical advice. Arthritis is the single greatest cause of chronic hip and knee pain, and disability in America.
How to prevent arthritis
Exercise and stretch. Strengthen muscle that supports your joints and keep joints limber.
Keep a healthy weight. Extra pounds put pressure on joints such as the hips and knees.
Control your blood sugar. High blood sugar may cause joint tissue to be stiffer.
Eat more food with Omega-3, such as salmon, trout, and mackerel
Get routine preventive medical care
Don’t smoke
Symptoms of arthritis
Chronic pain
Joint stiffness
Swelling around the joint
Decreased/limited range of motion
Joint tenderness
Warmth and/or redness around the joint
Treatments for arthritis
If you suffer from one or more of the symptoms above, see your doctor. Although there is no cure for arthritis, the earlier you seek treatment, the more options you will have. Your doctor may suggest the following:
Physical therapy to strengthen muscles
and improve range of motion
Topical solutions to reduce joint aches and pains
Anti-inflammatory or pain reducing drugs, such as aspirin, acetaminophen and ibuprofen
Disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs)
Corticosteroid injections
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)
Surgical options for arthritis
When lifestyle changes and medicine aren’t enough, surgery may be the recommended option. Today, through a select few orthopedic surgeons, patients have the opportunity of in or outpatient hip or knee surgery, as well as advanced surgical techniques for performing the surgery. These advanced techniques allow surgeons to personalize the procedure and optimize patient outcomes.
Advanced surgical techniques and technology allow patients to recover faster with less risk
Advances in hip and knee replacement treatment options including implant design, pain and blood loss management, as well as minimally invasive surgical techniques are producing fewer complications, fewer infections, greater satisfaction, and shorter recovery times. Innovative 3D preoperative planning technology allows surgeons to make patient-specific bone cutting templates that determine which implant size, position and alignment is best suited for individual patients.
