Everything You Need To Know About Arthritis

If you or a loved one suffers from the pain and immobility of arthritis, you are not alone. In fact, according to the CDC, 24% of all adults in the United States, or 58.5 million people, live with arthritis which can drastically hinder their overall quality of life.¹

However, no matter your age or what form of arthritis you suffer from, there is one thing that all arthritis sufferers want - pain relief. And a chiropractor can help you achieve that naturally.

What is Arthritis?

Arthritis is the term used to describe pain, swelling, and stiffness in the joints (the area where two or more bones meet, such as in the fingers, knees, etc.), and refers to over 100 types of arthritis and related conditions such as osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

What often is thought of as an elderly person’s disease that is brought on by aging actually affects people of all ages, races, and sexes, and the causes of many types of arthritis are not fully known. However, some known causes of arthritis are as follows:

• Problems with the immune system or by a metabolic condition, such as gout.
• Environmental factors such as obesity, which puts added strain on joints; activities that involve repetitive movements of a particular joint i.e., sports; previous damage to a joint
• Lack of physical activity
• Infection

The most common form of arthritis is osteoarthritis where the joints in your body become inflamed and damaged causing the bones in the joint to eventually rub together. This causes pain, swelling, stiffness, and reduced movement within the joint and can make it harder to walk, climb stairs, open jars, and lift yourself from a seated position to standing.

Osteoarthritis can affect any joint in the body, but it commonly is found in the knees, hips, finger joints, and big toe and can develop at any age. Other common forms of arthritis include:

• Rheumatoid Arthritis - Autoimmune disease in which the immune system doesn’t recognize the tissue lining the joints commonly found in the hands and feet to be part of the body and subsequently attacks it causing joints to become swollen and painful
• Gout - A form of arthritis that leads to painful inflammation in a joint most commonly found in the big toe but also affecting the hands, wrists, knees, ankles, elbows, or any other joint in the body
• Ankylosing Spondylitis - Arthritis that affects the joints and ligaments of your spine as well as other large joints

What are the Symptoms of Arthritis?

Arthritis affects each person individually and the symptoms can vary in severity with many sufferers noting things such as weather, physical activity, and time of day as influencing their level of mobility, swelling, and pain. However, common symptoms of arthritis can include:

• Pain in the joints i.e., fingers, hands, elbows, shoulders, etc.
• Swelling in and around joints
• Redness and warmth in the area affected
• Clicking noises coming from the joints during movement such as bending down to pick up an object from the floor
• Grating sensations when moving a joint
• Stiffness or reduced movement of a joint i.e., unable to lift arm over your head due to shoulder pain
• Tiredness
• Weight loss
• Feeling unwell

At the onset of arthritis, many people describe arthritis pain as feeling like a dull ache or a burning sensation that increases over time and worsens with repetitive use of the joint. For example, after washing numerous dishes by hand you may feel the ache in your fingers, hands, and wrists; walking up a flight of stairs may cause pain in your knees, hips, and back; playing a repetitive motion sport such as tennis may cause pain in your elbows and shoulders.

There is no cure for arthritis, however, with early and ongoing chiropractic treatment, pain, swelling, and inflammation can be reduced thereby increasing your mobility, range of motion, blood flow, nerve signals, and strength.

How can chiropractic care help me?

Chiropractic care is a safe, non-invasive, non-addictive treatment for managing and reducing pain caused by arthritis by reducing joint restrictions and/or misalignments in the spine and other joints in the body through a series of chiropractic adjustments.

Using gentle adjustments to your joints and muscles to return them to their proper structure and alignment, Chiropractic care works at reducing inflammation and improving the function of both the affected joints and the nervous system which allows your body to increase the healing of your damaged joint tissues.

An example of how a chiropractor helps restore bodily function in arthritis sufferers is to view your body as a network of nerves and blood vessels similar to a multi-lane highway. Should an accident occur in one or more lanes, traffic on all lanes will be affected thereby slowing the transportation of goods and services. Should traffic come to a stop, the goods and services will never reach their destination.

The same goes for your body. If one or more nerves and vessels are blocked, pinched, or out of alignment, bodily signals essential for healing cannot reach their destination. Chiropractic adjustments help restore the body’s highway allowing the pathways of nerves and vessels to flow uninterrupted.

With an all-natural, safe, and non-invasive approach to the whole body’s health and alignment, chiropractic care is an excellent way to reduce painful symptoms of arthritis while restoring your mobility and your body's natural healing capabilities without the use of pain medications or invasive procedures.

A joint that is immovable degenerates over time. Chiropractic care helps stop the degeneration process by keeping the joints aligned and functioning properly and offers the following benefits.

Chiropractic Benefits for Arthritis Include:

• Better flexibility
• Improved mobility and range of motion
• Reduction in pain and discomfort
• Reduced inflammation
• Lifestyle improvements
• Personalized therapy plan tailored to your specific needs

If you or a loved one is suffering from arthritis pain and inflammation, book an appointment with a member of our team for a personalized consultation. Discover how we can help you regain mobility and restore your quality of life.

We understand that not everyone is familiar with chiropractic care, so all new patients receive a consultation, examination and if necessary, an x-ray. Then our doctors will review your condition and walk you through an easy-to-follow treatment plan that’s unique to you.

There’s no pressure when you visit our office. Our friendly staff want to answer any questions or concerns you may have regarding your health.