Where Can You Get Arthritis

Do I Need To Watch My Sugar Intake

YES.

Its one of lifes little pleasures, but too much sugar is bad for your waistline and your arthritis.

Excess weight puts pressure on your joints, making pain and stiffness worse. Sugar may also increase inflammation in the body. In 2018, American researchers found that giving mice a high-sugar diet led to increased joint inflammation, even without obesity.

If you take sugar in tea or coffee, or add it to cereal, gradually reduce it until you can stop it altogether. Cut down on biscuits, cakes, sweets and chocolate.

Make sensible swaps: choose unsweetened breakfast cereals rather than frosted ones add fruit to fat-free plain yogurt rather than buying flavoured yogurt.

Replace fizzy drinks with fruit juice mixed with sparkling water. Cutting down on sugar should have the added advantage of improving your overall diet.

Dr Sarah Schenker, a dietitian and author of the British Dietetic Associations food fact sheet on arthritis, says: When you cut back on added sugar, you have to cut down on a lot of processed foods, so youre more likely to think about other, healthier things you can eat.

What Are The Risk Factors For Arthritis

Some factors make you more likely to develop arthritis, including:

• Age: The risk of arthritis increases as you get older.
• Lifestyle: Smoking or a lack of exercise can increase your risk of arthritis.
• Sex: Most types of arthritis are more common in women.
• Weight: Obesity puts extra strain on your joints, which can lead to arthritis.

How Does Shoulder Arthritis Develop

Shoulder arthritis usually results from gradual wear and tear of the cartilage. Cartilage is present in every joint in the body it covers the surface of the bones inside the joints similar to Teflon on a ball bearing. Cartilage is a living tissue 2 millimeters to 3 millimeters thick about the thickness of one or two layers of cardboard. This makes the contact between bones softer. If the cartilage is intact, it can take multiple rotations with no wear of the surface because its smooth.

Shoulder arthritis typically develops in stages. First the cartilage gets soft , then it develops cracks in the surface , then it begins to fibrillate , and finally it wears away to expose the surface of the bone . As a result, it loses its ability to act as a smooth, gliding surface.

The cartilage doesnt wear away all at once over the entire surface of the bone in a joint. Instead, it wears at different rates in different parts. So if you consider the surface of a ball bearing that was covered with Teflon, this type of wear would be as if the Teflon had pits and the surface would now be irregular .

Once the surface becomes irregular, the cartilage may undergo further damage. It may begin to thin out, eventually leading to the bones of the shoulder rubbing against each other . Many people think that arthritis is bone-on-bone traction in the joint, but in reality arthritis is the process that can lead to the bone-on-bone traction.

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What Are The Signs And Symptoms Of Shoulder Arthritis

Symptoms of shoulder arthritis vary from person to person. Signs and symptoms include:

• Pain in your shoulder joint: This is the most common symptom. At first, you may feel shoulder pain only during activity. Later in the disease process, you may feel pain at any time of the day, with or without arm movement. Your pain may worsen when you lift heavy objects or after exercise. The pain may spread down your arm and even to your elbow or wrist if your arthritis is severe.
• Stiffness and loss of range of motion: You may feel stiffness in your shoulder and lose range of motion. These symptoms may make everyday tasks such as dressing, bathing, driving or doing housework difficult.
• Grinding, clicking, popping or cracking in your shoulder joint: Loss of cartilage, which leaves an unsmooth surface, causes these noises. The noises occur with or without pain.
• Loss of sleep: Its difficult to find a comfortable sleeping position. Any shoulder movement may cause pain. If you sleep on your back, place a pillow under the elbow of your affected side. This helps keep your shoulder in a more supported position. It also takes the strain off of all supporting joint structures. For some people, sleeping in a recliner can provide pain relief at night.

Rheumatoid Arthritis In The Neck

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disease where the bodys immune system mistakenly attacks the lining of the joints. It often starts in the smaller joints of your hands and feet and can spread to other parts of the body like the neck as the disease progresses. This typically doesnt happen until years after the onset of arthritis symptoms.

Neck pain is the primary symptom of rheumatoid arthritis in the neck, with the severity varying from person to person. You may feel a dull or throbbing ache in the back of your neck around the base of the skull. Joint swelling and stiffness can make it hard to move from side to side.

The difference between rheumatoid arthritis neck pain and a neck injury is that stiffness and pain from an injury can gradually improve over days or weeks. Rheumatoid arthritis in the neck may not get better it can worsen if left untreated. Even if symptoms improve, inflammation, swelling, and stiffness can return with rheumatoid arthritis in the neck.

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Set A Weight Loss Goal

When it comes to arthritis, what your scale says really matters. People with a higher body weight are diagnosed with arthritis at an earlier age and have more severe arthritis. It makes sense: Feet are a weight-bearing joint, so obesity makes arthritis worse, says Dr. Domingues. Even one extra pound on your frame can equal about five extra pounds of force on your feet. Losing 20 pounds can mean sparing your feet from an extra 100 pounds of force with every stride.

Excess body weight also increases inflammation, which fuels the painful symptoms of inflammatory types of arthritis like rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis. Its not easy to lose weight when you have stiff or sore joints, but even a five- to 10-percent reduction in body weight has been shown to dramatically diminish joint pain and improve exercise tolerance. Check out these weight loss tips that are especially helpful when you have arthritis.

What Are Common Arthritis Treatments

There are many things that help reduce pain, relieve stiffness and keep you moving. Your care may involve more than one kind of treatment. Your doctor may recommend medications but there are many things you can do on your own to help manage pain and fatigue and move easier.

Finding the right treatment takes time. It can involve trial and error until you and your healthcare team or therapist find what works best. Be sure to let your doctor know if a treatment is not working. Your treatment may also change as your arthritis changes.

Treatments for arthritis can be divided into several categories: medication, exercise, heat/cold, pacing, joint protection, surgery and self-help skills. You can do things in each of these areas to help yourself feel better and move easier.

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What Are The Symptoms Of Spinal Arthritis

Symptoms of spinal arthritis may differ from person to person. In general, they may include:

• Back and neck pain, especially in the lower back

• Stiffness and loss of flexibility in the spine, such as being unable to straighten your back or turn your neck

• Swelling and tenderness over the affected vertebrae

• Feeling of grinding when moving the spine

• Pain, swelling and stiffness in other areas of the body

• Whole-body weakness and fatigue

• Pain and numbness in your arms or legs if the nerves are affected

• Headaches

Although back pain is a common symptom, not all people have it, even those with advanced spinal arthritis. On the other hand, some may experience pain even before arthritis can be seen on an X-ray.

In certain types of spondyloarthritis, eye inflammation may occur, causing pain, watery eyes and blurred vision.

Is It Possible To Have Arthritis In Your Collarbone

Arthritis is a kind of joint injury that can cause inflammation. AC arthritis is a condition that affects the acromioclavicular joint. This is the joint that connects the shoulder blade to the collarbone . The acromion and the end of the clavicle provide attachment for several muscles and tendons, including the trapezius muscle. Tightness of these muscles can contribute to pinching the acromioclavicular joint or causing damage to other tissues surrounding it.

The acromioclavicular joint is a ball-and-socket joint that allows movement in three directions: up and down, forward and back, and left and right. The joint is formed by the union of the rounded end of the acromion with the flat surface of the clavicle. It is surrounded by cartilage, which prevents bone from contacting bone, allowing the joint to move freely.

There are two types of arthritis: osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. With osteoarthritis, the bones become thin and weak, causing them to rub together. This can lead to pain, swelling, and loss of motion in the affected area. Rheumatoid arthritis causes the immune system to produce antibodies that attack the joints. These joints will eventually be destroyed, leading to disability.

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Can You Get Arthritis In Your Sternum

Causes of Costochondritis Arthritis Costochondritis can be a symptom of osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, or other cartilage-related disorders. Tumors. These can travel from your joints and other parts of your body to your chest. Most costochondritis results from trauma to the chest area. The injury causes small bones inside your chest to become inflamed or damaged.

Costochondritis is pain between your ribs that’s caused by damage to the cartilage that separates your ribs. This can happen when you lift heavy objects or fall down stairs. It may also occur without any apparent cause. There are two types of costochondritis: acute and chronic.

With acute costochondritis, you experience pain between your ribs after being hit in the chest area or lifting heavy objects. The injury will heal on its own, but medical attention should be sought if the pain lasts for more than two weeks or if you have any signs of internal organ damage or infection.

With chronic costochondritis, you continue to suffer from pain between your ribs every day for several months or longer. The cause of this type of costochondritis is not known but may be related to overuse of your muscles or poor posture. Like with acute costochondritis, treatment involves rest to allow your muscles time to repair themselves and avoid further damage.

What Are The Types Of Arthritis Of The Knee

There are around 100 types of arthritis. The most common types that might affect your knees include:

• Osteoarthritis is the most common of the types on this list. Osteoarthritis wears away your cartilage the cushioning between the three bones of your knee joint. Without that protection, your bones rub against each other. This can cause pain, stiffness and limited movement. It can also lead to the development of bone spurs. Osteoarthritis gets worse as time passes.
• Post-traumatic arthritis is a type of osteoarthritis. The cartilage starts thinning after trauma to your knee . Your bones rub together, and that causes the same symptoms as osteoarthritis: pain, stiffness and limited movement. Your knee arthritis symptoms might not start until years after the trauma.
• Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease. A healthy immune system causes inflammation when it’s trying to protect you from an infection, injury, toxin or another foreign invader. The inflammatory response is one way your body protects itself. If you have rheumatoid arthritis, you have an unhealthy immune system that triggers inflammation in your joints even though theres no foreign invader. The inflammation causes pain, stiffness and swelling of the synovial membrane, which can also wear away your cartilage.

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Medication Options For Neck Arthritis

Analgesic and NSAID pain medication

Over-the-counter medications can be used to help address pain, inflammation, and swelling. NSAIDs like aspirin, naproxen, and ibuprofen can help relieve pain and reduce inflammation. Analgesics can help with mild to moderate pain. Your doctor can prescribe a stronger anti-inflammatory if OTC medications dont provide relief.

Even though many commonly used NSAIDs are available over the counter, its important to talk to your doctor about side effects and drug interactions. NSAIDs can have significant side effects, including gastrointestinal complications, and are associated with an increased risk of heart disease.

Disease-modifying arthritis medication

Neck pain due to inflammatory arthritis is typically treated with a disease-modifying antirheumatic drug , such as methotrexate for RA. Other conventional DMARDs include leflunomide, hydroxychloroquine, and sulfasalazine. Biologics are a newer type of DMARD that target specific immune system pathways. DMARDs help to reduce the immune system activity that is triggering inflammation and pain.

Steroid injections and nerve blocks

An epidural steroid injection is where doctors inject medicine directly into the epidural space of the spinal canal surrounding the nerve roots. The medicine is a combination of corticosteroids and a local anesthetic, which together reduce inflammation and relieve pain.

The anesthesia offers temporary pain relief and the corticosteroids reduce inflammation in the joint.

What Is Shoulder Arthritis

Shoulder arthritis is inflammation in your shoulder joint. The inflammation causes pain and stiffness. It makes lifting your arm uncomfortable.

The main joint of your shoulder is a ball and socket joint. Its where the ball of your upper arm rests against the socket, or hollowed-out cup, on the edge of your shoulder blade . This joint is called the glenohumeral joint.

Shoulder arthritis can also happen at a second joint in your shoulder where your collarbone meets the acromion on your shoulder blade. This joint is called the acromioclavicular joint or AC joint.

Over time, arthritis leads to cartilage loss. Cartilage is the tissue that covers the humeral head and the socket of your shoulder joint. Cartilage allows the bone surfaces to glide within the joint. It also cushions your bones against impact.

In the end stage of shoulder arthritis, without protective cartilage, bones in the joint rub directly against each other.

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How Is Spinal Arthritis Diagnosed

Your doctor may use some or all of the following diagnostic methods to confirm spinal arthritis:

• Medical history and physical exam

• Blood tests for genetic markers and/or RA antibodies

• X-rays of the spine to locate the arthritic joint

• MRI, CT scan, myelography, bone scan and/or ultrasound to zero in on the damage, detect nerve and spinal cord involvement or rule out other causes

• Joint aspiration: testing of the synovial fluid inside a joint

To pinpoint the painful joint, your doctor may numb it with an injection and check whether the pain goes away.

Invest In Proper Footwear

When you have arthritis, your shoes are either going to help you or hurt you, says Jackie Sutera, DPM, a podiatric surgeon in New York City. Proper fit is a key factor in how foot-friendly shoes are. Besides having to accommodate an arthritic joint that may have stiffness, swelling, and contracture, shoes need to fit the hammertoes and bunions that often happen along with arthritis. Comfort brands like Vionic, Ecco, Clarks, and Mephisto are designed to be stylish and comfortable. They include arch support, heel cups, thick soles, cushioning, and shock absorption.

People with bad osteoarthritis in the feet may particularly benefit from shoes with rocker soles, which have a thicker-than-normal sole with a curved heel. A shoe with this type of sole reduces pressure under the big toe joint by 12 percent in people with OA, research shows. In a recent study the pain score in those who wore rocker sole shoes improved by 22 points.

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Can I Claim Benefits If I Have Arthritis

There are a number of benefits and grants you may be able to claim if you have arthritis.

Benefits for mobility problems

If you’re over State Pension age and you need help with your personal care, such as washing, dressing and going to the toilet, because of your symptoms of arthritis, you may be able to claim Attendance Allowance.

If youre under State Pension age, you may be able to claim Personal Independence Payment, and if your ability to work is limited due to your symptoms you could claim Employment and Support Allowance.

Disabled Facilities Grants

You may be eligible for financial support for home adaptations to help you manage better. This could include installing ramps and handrails, and getting specialist equipment to help you in the kitchen or bathroom.

Carer’s Allowance

If you have a friend or family member who looks after you for at least 35 hours a week, they may be able to claim Carers Allowance.

What Outcome Can I Expect If I Have Shoulder Arthritis

Your outcome depends on your age, your activity level and the types and range of movements you make with your arm and shoulder. Also, the location, size and the severity of your shoulder arthritis.

Because each person and shoulder situation is unique, ask your provider what outcome you can expect as you explore all treatment options.

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How Is Arthritis Of The Knee Treated

Healthcare providers can’t cure knee arthritis. But they have some tips that might reduce the severity of your symptoms and possibly stop the arthritis from getting worse, including:

• Maintain a healthy weight.
• Exercise using low-impact activities instead of high-impact activities . Aim for about 150 minutes of exercise per week.
• Wear shock-absorbing inserts in your shoes.
• Apply heat or ice to the area.
• Wear a knee sleeve or brace.
• Physical therapy exercises that help with flexibility, strength and motion.
• Use a cane.

Most people have stage 4 arthritis when they get surgery.