Docyard | Don’t delay and inhibit movement

Dr Biren Nadkarni is a Sr Consultant Orthopedic and Joint Replacement Surgeon at Sitaram Bhartia Institute and Holy Family Hospital, New Delhi

Every year World Arthritis Day falls on October 12, this year’s theme is Don’t Delay, Connect Today. It is observed to raise awareness about this condition, an inflammatory condition that causes pain and stiffness in joints that can worsen with age. It can affect one joint or multiple joints. Arthritis affects millions across the world. It is a debilitating condition that restricts your range of movement and affects your functional life. If left untreated, it may inhibit your movement altogether.

Symptoms

• Joint pain
•  Stiffness and swelling in joints
•  Your range of motion may also decrease
•  Redness of the skin around the joint.
•  Unexplained joint pain usually accompanied by fever
• Difficulty in carrying out daily chores due to joint pain
• Pain killers also cannot cure joint pains

Common type

There are more than 100 different types of arthritis, with different causes and treatment methods. Two of the most common types are osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Osteoarthritis affects older people especially after the age of 50 years. It is a degenerative joint disease in which the pain or swelling occurs due to the progressive loss of cartilage in the joints.

Rheumatoid arthritis can occur at any age, it can occur in younger people also as young as 30 years and mostly found in between 30-50 years of age.

People prone to it

• People who are overweight or obese are more likely to develop arthritis. The more weight you put on, the more is the amount of burden you give to your hips, back, and feet.
• Consumption of over processed foods like Sugar and white flour and the o can lead to weight gain, which is hard on sore joints. Replace them with fruits, nuts, and whole grains.
• Texting frequently and holding your phone in the exact same position can cause smartphone thumb. Texting stresses joints in your hands, especially your thumbs. So, if you want to keep arthritis at bay — minimise thumb texting or use the voice function to keep texting hands-free. Texting can be bad for your shoulders and neck, too.
• Wearing high heels all the time places your feet in an awkward position that stresses joints, strains muscles, and can throw your back out of alignment. So, women who wear heels daily must keep this point in their minds that this habit may increase their risk of developing osteoarthritis and foot pain.
• Injuries also act as risk factors.  People who injured a knee in adolescence or young adulthood were three times more likely to develop osteoarthritis in that knee, compared to those who had not suffered an injury.

Treatment

Arthritis can be treated through occupational or physical therapy, exercise, and over-the-counter pain relieving medication. Alternate medicine like Ayurveda, massages with medicinal oils and homeopathy also offer relief to some people in the early stages of arthritis.

Surgical options for the treatment of arthritis include arthroscopy, synovectomy, osteotomy, and total joint replacement. While the first three offer relief from pain, they cannot cure the condition. The only cure for arthritis is joint replacement surgery.

Lifestyle changes

• Maintain a healthy body weight
• Keep injuries at bay
• Pay attention to your posture, avoid high heels
• Keep a regular tab on your vitamin B 12 and vitamin D 3 levels, the latter being slightly more important in case of arthritis
• Eat a good diet, include nuts and seeds like walnuts, cashew nuts, and pistachios in your diet. Also include more vegetables such as garlic and onions into your diet
• When it comes to your rotis, try those made of jowar, nachani, raagi and bajra. These are great for your arthritis-ridden joints because they contain nutrients that help ease your pain.