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Definition of Arthritis
Arthritis means the inflammation of joints. In fact, the Greek translation is literally joint inflammation. In almost all cases of arthritis, there is no cure. Due to the fact that there is no cure, pain management and therapy is important to find relief and reduce your symptoms.
The body’s natural reaction to injury is inflammation. Different analogies have been used, but it is most notably the swelling, heat, pain and redness to an area of the body that indicates it has suffered from injury or illness and causes attention or focus that acts as a warning or signals that there is something wrong.
A misconception is that arthritis is a disease or condition of the old. This is not true and in fact, there are some forms or types of arthritis that affect babies and young children.
Common Types of Arthritis
There are well over 100 forms or types of arthritis. One of the most common types of arthritis is “osteoarthritis”. This type of arthritis typically affects the weight bearing joints. When the weight bearing joints such as the spine, hips, and knees and feet have an abnormal amount of weight placed on these joints, the result is the wearing or breaking down of cartilage. The cartilage is found between two bones. As the cartilage breaks down, the bones rub or grind against one another and the outcome of this is pain and/or stiffness and inflammation or tenderness in the joint(s). One effective remedy or treatment for this is weight control and exercise to build and retain muscle mass.
Osteoarthritis is also known as degenerative arthritis. In most cases, those suffering from this type of arthritis are between the ages of 40 and 60. This is not a condition that affects people due to age, but rather the term degenerative arthritis is due to the wear and tear of cartilage that occurs over an extended period of time.
There are some who develop early degenerative arthritis because they are born with abnormalities such as an abnormally formed joint. For those who suffer from osteoarthritis in the hip joint, it is most likely related to abnormal formation of the joint since birth.
Inflammatory arthritis affects the joints involving the immune system and inflammation. It has been noted that many types of arthritis are autoimmune disorders and include rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, ankylosing spondylitis, Reiter’s Syndrom, psoriatic arthritis as well as, but not limited to inflammatory bowel syndrome or disease.
With inflammatory arthritis, stiffness and pain often are present after prolonged bed rest/sleep or after remaining in a seated position for an extended period of time. The difference between inflammatory arthritis and osteoarthritis is with the latter, the pain and/or stiffness occurs near the end of the day or after a sport or activity.