Arthritis is a disease that causes damage to joints, most commonly found in hands, knees, hips, shoulders, or low back. Arthritis can be caused by normal wear and tear on the body that manifests with age or can be the result of previous trauma to a joint.
Around 50% of people over the age of 65 have a diagnosis of arthritis, but only 10% of those patients have pain in the joint at the time they were diagnosed. Patients who have pain with arthritis would be symptomatic, and patients diagnosed who do not have pain would be asymptomatic.
Arthritis causes an increase of inflammation in the joint, leading to pain or swelling of the area. Inflammation is one of your body’s main defense mechanisms, telling the rest of your body there is something wrong in the area, which can be good in the short term (After a sprained ankle, or breaking a bone). If inflammation is in an area for an extended period, we can start seeing problems with prolonged pain in the area, and degeneration of the joint.
To significantly decrease your risk of having symptomatic (painful) arthritis it is found to keep your weight in a healthy range will decrease joint inflammation and degeneration of joints. It is also important to stay physically active. Patients who had symptomatic arthritis and were put on a strength program had an average 4.5 point reduction in pain scores vs those who were given no treatment. There are some vitamins and supplements to decrease systemic inflammation and pain, feel free to reach out to your primary doctor, pharmacist, APEX physical therapist, or dietician with questions or recommendations.
Although arthritis is present, it does not always have symptoms of pain, and can be managed or improved with conservative treatment such as physical therapy with success in the early stages. It is important to consider your body’s inflammation to improve symptoms of arthritis and slow the progression of the disease.