Arthritis pain can obliterate life as you knew it, limiting your movement, robbing you of beloved hobbies, and even causing clinical  depression and anxiety. What’s worse — it can’t be cured.

The good news is it can be treated, and if you partner with the right medical team, you can regain your ability to enjoy life on your own terms. At Elite Physical Medicine in Mason, Ohio, Lawrenceburg, Indiana, Hebron, Kentucky, and Batesville, Indiana, we take a holistic approach to your arthritis and design treatment plans tailored to your unique symptoms. We draw from several different medical disciplines to make sure you have comprehensive care and the best chance at pain relief and overall wellness. 

The most important person on our team is you. We believe you play an integral role in your own treatment, so we do our best to keep you fully informed every step of the way. To that end, we want to take a deep dive into osteoarthritis — its causes, its symptoms, and the most effective treatments.

Understanding osteoarthritis

It surprises many people to learn that there are more than 100 different types of arthritis. Although they all affect the joints, they stem from different sources and have different ways of attacking. 

Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis, with more than 32.5 million Americans suffering from it. Its nickname — wear-and-tear arthritis — describes exactly how you get it. Over time, the cartilage in your joints simply begins to break down and wear away, leaving your bones to rub against one another painfully.

This degenerative condition can affect any joint in your body but appears most frequently in hips, hands, and knees. The classic symptoms include pain, stiffness, inflammation, and loss of flexibility.

Although aging is the primary driver of osteoarthritis, and genetics and gender (women get it more often than men) also factor in, you may be putting yourself at greater risk by being overweight and/or overusing certain joints.

How to relieve osteoarthritis pain

Since there’s no cure for osteoarthritis, the best you can do is manage your symptoms. Fortunately, there are several things you and we can do to reduce your pain and increase your mobility.

Move more

Although it seems counterintuitive to move a body part that’s in pain, if the pain is caused by osteoarthritis, movement is the best medicine. Of course, if you’re having a severe flare-up of pain and stiffness, wait until it passes before engaging in physical activity.

When you do exercise, choose low-impact movements that protect your joints while still increasing your heart rate and circulation — think swimming, cycling, and yoga.

Our physical therapists come alongside you and design daily exercises meant to help you strengthen the supporting muscles around your joints.

Chiropractic care

Our expert chiropractors know your joint anatomy intimately and understand how to manipulate sore, stiff knees, wrists, and other joints to free them from pain and immobility.  

Injections

There are two main culprits causing the pain and stiffness in your osteoarthritis joints: inflammation and loss of lubrication. We can address both of those problems with injectable solutions.

To reduce joint swelling, we use corticosteroid injections. We often combine the steroid with some lidocaine so you get immediate pain relief from the anesthetic while you wait for the anti-inflammatory effects of the steroid to kick in.

To lubricate your joint, we use hyaluronic acid injections, which deliver a viscous substance to the inside of your joint, allowing your bone to move more easily.

Innovative Treatment

An emerging field called Innovative Treatment is producing great success in the treatment of many orthopedic injuries as well as arthritic joints. Based on the premise that your body has the ability to heal itself, but it may need a boost, innovative treatment uses your own resources to jump-start the process. 

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy uses a small sample of your own blood drawn from your arm, spins it at high speed to isolate the platelets, and injects it into your joint where it accelerates cell growth, tissue repair, and healing.

In some cases, the regeneration that takes place is so dramatic that some damaged joints once destined for replacement surgery heal enough to avoid such a drastic measure.

If you’ve been suffering from osteoarthritis and didn’t know there were effective treatments available, come see us find out which treatment will stop your pain. To schedule an appointment, book one online or call one of our four locations today.