Arthritis is a stiffness in the joints and inflammation that can cause terrible pain, leaving suffers searching for ways to prevent the disease from getting worse.
Mayo Clinic doctors point to uric acid crystals, infections or other diseases that can cause arthritis and its difficult symptoms. The symptoms can get worse as a patient gets older.
About 20 percent of the adult population has some form of arthritis, and about one in 250 children is born with a rheumatic condition including arthritis. It can be cause serious disability and affect quality of life.
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While the Arthritis Foundation reports there are no know ways to prevent the disease, there are steps patients can take to help make sure their condition does not get any worse. Here are five suggestions from the experts to help prevent arthritis pain.
1. Early Diagnosis Equals Better Prognosis
Patients are going to have a better chance of getting a good treatment program if they begin treatment early in the progression of the problem. A rheumatologist is a specialist who deals in the kinds of muscle and joint problems associated with arthritis.
The Arthritis Foundation says early treatment can lead to remission of symptoms. The first two years is the most important window of time in which to begin treatment.
2. Keep Your Weight Down
The symptoms for osteoarthritis can increase significantly in overweight patients. That extra weight puts extra pressure on the already strained joints and muscles. Doctor Geoffrey Westrich, an orthopedic surgeon and director of joint replacement research at the
Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, explained to WebMD, “Weightloss can be tremendously helpful in alleviating pain, allowing greater function, and prolonging the period of time before someone needs joint replacement surgery.” WebMD noted that the extra weight may even make patients more apt to develop arthritis. Losing weight can lessen pain.
3. No Smoking
Smoking is an environmental risk researchers think may play a role in the development of rheumatoid arthritis.
Mayo Clinic doctors explain the reason for this connection is not yet clear, but smoking may exacerbate the risk for people who are already genetically predisposed to the disease and can decrease the effectiveness of arthritis medication.
4. Eat Right
The Arthritis Foundation encourages an anti-inflammatory diet to help keep arthritis symptoms at bay. Among the best foods for sufferers include those high in fish oil, apples and cherries. Other good food choices include broccoli, green tea leaf powder (also known as matcha) and ginger.
5. Avoid Injury
While some people are at higher risk for developing arthritis as they age, certain injuries make the likelihood greater that it will happen.
The Cleveland Clinic defines post-traumatic arthritis as the wearing out of a joint caused by some kind of physical injury. These injuries damage cartilage of the joint and cause swelling and pain. Surgical treatment to injured joints can possibly help prevent the pains associated with this kind of arthritis.
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