Arthritis can cause life-altering pain. It makes it hard to do your day-to-day activities, like going to work or cooking. It takes a toll on your ability to pursue the interests you enjoy, like golfing or going or walking the dog. And it affects your mood. For the 58.5 million people in the United States living with arthritis pain, this is a daily reality. Learn more about arthritis and what you can do to treat the pain without surgery.
Common types of arthritis pain:
According to Arthritis.org, there are more than 100 different forms of arthritis and related diseases. While there are other types of arthritis and arthritis-related diseases, including fibromyalgia and gout, these three types of arthritis make up the majority of cases.
- Osteoarthritis: Causes cartilage, the tissue that covers the ends of bones where they form a joint, to break down.
- Rheumatoid arthritis: Also known as RA, causes the body’s immune system to attack the tissues of the body’s own joints and other organs.
- Psoriatic arthritis is also an autoimmune inflammatory disease like RA, but in this case, the immune system attacks the body causing skin rashes and pain.
Signs and symptoms of arthritis:
The main symptoms of arthritis include: pain, stiffness, swelling, redness, and decreased range of motion. But how do you know that joint pain is arthritis and not an acute problem? Always consult a medical professional for diagnosis, but some signs the pain could be caused by arthritis include:
- Lingering joint pain or swelling that lasts six weeks or longer.
- Stiffness in the morning that lasts 30 minutes or longer.
- Pain in more than one joint is affected, especially small joints in your hands, wrists, and feet.
- Pain that radiates from the same joints on both sides of the body.
How to treat arthritis
Treating arthritis focuses on relieving pain symptoms and improving joint function. Some of the common treatment options include:
- Pain medication: Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are usually the first line of defense to relieve pain and reduce inflammation. This includes over-the-counter medications like Advil or Aleve. While these medications can give temporary relief, they don’t treat the root cause of arthritis and typically won’t help long-term.
- Steroids: Corticosteroid medications, such as prednisone, can be given as a pill or as an injection into the painful joint. Unfortunately, side effects may include thinning of bones, weight gain, and diabetes.
- Physical therapy: Physical therapy can improve your range of motion and strengthen the muscles surrounding joints.
If these measures don’t help, doctors may suggest surgery, such as joint repair, joint replacement, or joint fusion. Surgery is always a risk. Not only is it expensive, but there also is a long recovery time. Surgery also comes with the risk of complications and can leave you with limited range of motion. Often, surgery can change the joint’s normal mechanics, which ends up putting stress on surrounding joints and can lead to arthritis in other areas.
There is a better way: regenerative medicine.
The benefits of using regenerative medicine to treat arthritis
Regenerative medicine taps into your body’s ability to heal itself to ease inflammation and encourage the development of new, healthy cells. All three of the major types of arthritis can benefit from regenerative medicine. Best of all, regenerative medicine offers long-term pain relief and faster healing and recovery when compared to surgical interventions.
At Maragal Medical, we use Wharton’s Jelly Allografts, a type of regenerative medicine that is highly effective for treating a variety of painful joint conditions, including arthritis.
Watch this video to learn more about our approach:
Get safe and effective arthritis relief
Don’t live with arthritis pain. Don’t be one of the 1 in 10 people with arthritis who limit daily activities because of pain. Men and women of all ages who have found little relief from traditional treatments or want to avoid dangerous surgeries depend on Maragal Medical for regenerative medicine injections so they can live more pain-free lives. You can too. Contact the team at Maragal Medical today, and let’s get you the relief you deserve.