WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT JOINT PAIN TREATMENTS?

Joints form the connection between your bones. They provide support and help you move appropriately. Joints can damage from disease or injury and can interfere with your movement and cause a lot of pain.

Joint pain is extremely common. Many different conditions can lead you to painful joints, which may include osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, bursitis, gout, strains, sprains, and other injuries. Any part of your body can affect by joint pain, from your ankles and feet to your shoulders and hands. As you get older, painful joints become increasingly more frequent.

Joint pain usually range from mildly irritating to debilitating. It may be acute (doesn’t last for so long) or chronic (last for weeks or maybe months). Even short-term pain and swelling in the joints can affect your daily life. Whatever the cause of joint pain, you can usually manage it with joints pain treatment like medication, physical therapy, or alternative treatments.

What treatment options are available for joint pain?

First, doctor will try to diagnose and treat the condition that is causing your joint to hurt. The goal is to reduce inflammation and pain, and preserve joint function. Joints pain treatment options include:

Home treatment

Joints pain treatment which you can try at home works to manage your pain.

·         It might help you to use pain relievers or take nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs to reduce pain, swelling, and inflammation.

·         Stay physically active and follow your fitness program focusing on moderate exercise.

·         Maintain a good range of motion in your joints by stretching before exercising.

·         Keep your body weight within a normal healthy range. This will lessen stress on the joints.

·         You can try taking a nonprescription, anti-inflammatory drug, getting a massage, taking a warm bath, stretching frequently, and getting adequate rest, if your pain isn’t due to arthritis.

Medications

For moderate-to-severe joint pain with swelling, an over-the-counter or prescription nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) such as aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), or naproxen sodium (Aleve), can use as joints pain treatment. They will provide relief. A newer generation of NSAIDs known as Cox-2 inhibitors is also good for pain relief, but all of these drugs have been removed from the market because of an increased risk of stroke, heart attack, and other cardiovascular events. NSAIDs also have side effects, potentially increasing your risk for gastrointestinal bleeding.

Other drugs which may help relieve pain include:

·         Muscle relaxants to treat muscle spasms (can be used together with NSAIDs to increase the effect)

·         Some antiepileptic and antidepressants drugs (which both interfere with pain signals)

Physical Therapy

It strengthens the muscles around your joint, stabilize the joint, and improve your range of motion. Techniques such as ultrasound, heat or cold therapy, electrical nerve stimulation, and manipulation are used in physical therapy.

Injections

For people who don't find joint pain relief from other joints pain treatment like oral or topical medications, the doctor can inject a steroid medication which may be combined with a local anesthetic directly into the joint after every three to four months.