Essay On Arthritis
Definition/Description of the injury
Arthritis is joint pain or joint disease that results in pain, stiffness, and loss of range of motion. Not only does it affect joints, it also affects the areas around joints such as the muscles and tendons. Certain types of arthritis can affect the skin and internal organs. Arthritis can arise from multiple things such as genetics, age, injury, stress, obesity, infection, developmental disorders, calcium deposits and inflammation. Arthritis is not one disease, it is a generic term used for more than one hundred different types of arthritis and similar conditions. Anyone you see could have arthritis, no matter their age, race or sex. Arthritis is the leading cause of disability in America. Over fifty million adults and three hundred thousand children have arthritis. Arthritis tends to be more common with females over 45, men younger than 45, and people of older age. The three most common types of arthritis are osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriatic arthritis. Arthritis can be local or general. General arthritis means you have arthritis in three or more joints, local arthritis is found in one joint. …show more content…
Joint Anatomy
In a joint, the place where bones touch each other is protected by a soft, smooth covering of articular cartilage. The joint capsule covers the joint and the cartilage. This capsule has a thin membrane lining its inner surface, called the synovium. This membrane secretes synovial fluid. The capsule and the synovial fluid protect the close by muscles and connective tissues. The fluid lubricates the joint and cartilage reducing friction and helps the joint to move easily without pain. The knee joint is formed between the bones of the lower leg (the tibia and the fibula) and the thighbone (the femur). The hip joint is where the top of the thighbone (femoral head) meets a concave portion of the pelvis (the acetabulum). When dealing with osteoarthritis of the hand the distal interphalangeal joints are most often affected. Proximal interphalangeal joints and the joints at the base of the thumb are also typically involved.
Mechanism of Injury
Scientists are not %100 sure of how arthritis forms since there are tons of different types, and tons of different possibilities, but we do know some factors that play a key role.
Genetics that are inherited from parents play a role into the formation of arthritis. The lifestyle of a person plays a role. Lifestyle plays a role in arthritis because not maintaining a healthy body weight applies extra stress on joints which tears them down. Excessive repetitive movements play a role because it eventually deteriorates the bones as they rub against each other. Age plays a role in arthritis, because throughout your life your joints will do a ton of rubbing together and eventually will start deteriorating. Inflammation as a reaction to disease plays a role in arthritis because it causes joints to be stiff, swollen, and
painful.
Injured Anatomy
Osteoarthritis- Osteoarthritis is a noninflammatory chronic disorder that deteriorates the cartilage of a joint. Osteoarthritis is commonly found in the knees, hips, spine, and the hands and fingers. Wrists, elbows, shoulders, and ankles can also be found affected by osteoarthritis, but it is less common. Usually when those areas are diagnosed with osteoarthritis it is the result of an injury or stress on that joint. Healthy cartilage is smooth and prevents friction when joints rub on each other, but with osteoarthritis the articular cartilage wears off and the bones become rough. Pieces of bone or cartilage can break off and float in the joint space. Osteophytes or bone spurs appear on the edge of the joint. Synovial fluid increases.
Rheumatoid Arthritis- Rheumatoid arthritis is what happens when the body's immune system, which normally protects the body, begins to produce substances that attack the body. In rheumatoid arthritis, the joint lining swells, invading surrounding tissues. Chemical substances are produced that attack and destroy the joint surface.
Rheumatoid arthritis may affect both large and small joints in the body and also the spine. Swelling, pain, and stiffness usually develop, even when the joint is not used.
Signs and Symptoms
Generic symptoms for any type of arthritis include swelling, pain, tenderness, rashes, stiffness, and decreased motion within a joint. Severe cases of arthritis may affect internal organs. Symptoms can range from mild, moderate, and severe. Severe arthritis can lead to chronic pain, which makes it close to impossible to do daily activities. Arthritis can cause permanent joint changes. Changes may be superficial, such as knobby finger joints, but mainly the damage is deep and can only be seen on X-ray. Finding daily tasks such as walking, climbing stairs, cleaning, and opening jars difficult may mean you have a type of arthritis. Red and hot skin can be a warning sign of arthritis. Fatigue is common with multiple types of arthritis too. Several visits to the doctor may be necessary because arthritis in its early stages is hard to catch, and it may look similar to multiple types of arthritis. Weakness in muscles, signs that other joints are painful, and a grating sound or feeling with movement are all common with arthritis, specifically rheumatoid arthritis.
Treatment of Injury
The treatment of arthritis includes four goals which are to reduce pain, improve joint function and ability to move, maintaining a healthy weight, avoiding repetitive movements and having a healthy lifestyle. Achieving these goals can be done by exercising, weight loss (if necessary), rest and sleep, hot and cold packs, massages, medication, and in severe cases, surgery. Exercise is seen as the best treatment for arthritis because it reduces pain, increases mobility within the joint, helps maintain weight, and improves blood flow throughout the body. Walking, swimming and water aerobics are good forms of exercise for people with arthritis. Exercising the muscles around the joint affected is a good idea, it helps make the joint stronger so that it can handle pressure being put on it. Arthritis affects people who are overweight because the strain from the extra weight of the body causes harm on the joints. Weight loss is good because it reduces stress on joints, increases mobility, and also reduces pain. Resting joints affected by arthritis is important, because it reduces your risk of gaining another disease, worsening your condition, and helps reduce pain. With a brace, crutches, splint, or cane you are able to do most of your daily activities without having to go through pain or make your joints condition worse. Hot and cold packs are good for people with arthritis because hot packs increase blood flow and decrease pain and stiffness while cold packs reduce inflammation and soreness. Massages are good on the joints and surrounding muscles because they increase blood flow and release tension. There is no medication that can cure osteoarthritis, but there is medication to help ease the pain. Surgery is extreme for people with osteoarthritis, but a doctor may recommend it when loose pieces of bone or cartilage need to be removed, if bones need to be repositioned, and if bones need to be resurfaced or smoothed down. In extremely rare cases of osteoarthritis joints in the hip, shoulder and knee may need to be replaced with artificial joints. These are all the usual treatments of osteoarthritis, but when these fail for people suffering with osteoarthritis they may try acupuncture, nutritional supplements, and home remedies. None of these alternative methods have been medically proven to work for people suffering with the condition. Patients play an important role in the treatment of arthritis, and to do this they need to learn about their condition, follow through with treatment, report progress and failures to doctors, keep a positive attitude, and develop relationships with the people helping them overcome the condition they have. Activities to avoid when suffering with arthritis are running, jumping, tennis, high-impact aerobics, and any other sports with repetitive movements. Over-treatment, under-treatment, and focusing only on your pain is something you should avoid. Psychologists can help with any psychological damage you may receive when fighting against arthritis. Cognitive-behavioural therapy and relaxation therapy are proven to work for arthritis.
Prevention
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is the best way to prevent any type of arthritis, since in most cases it is caused by putting excessive strain on joints. Exercise is key. If you already have arthritis and it is severe, you may want to seek professional help with exercises so that you do not put any more excessive pressure on the joint than it can handle. If you do decide to workout by yourself, make sure you are doing the exercise properly because you do not want to do more damage than good. Aerobic, muscle strengthening, and balance exercises are recommended to not only help, but prevent arthritis from happening in the first place. Adjusting your position frequently, tilting your neck from side to side, changing the position of your hands, bending and stretching your legs, pacing yourself, and standing up and walking every half hour are all simple ways to prevent joints from forming arthritis. Quitting smoking is also helpful to do to prevent arthritis because smoking causes stress on connective tissues. Damaging connective tissues can lead to conditions such as arthritis. Keeping your organs healthy by giving them the nutrition they need from healthy foods is another good thing that you can do. Avoiding repetitive motions is a good way to prevent arthritis from happening. Sleeping for proper amounts of time helps keep brain tissue healthy, and keeps the rest of the body awake and alert.
Sports Common or Athletes who’ve have this injury
Arthritis does not have a general trend to determine a specific sport common to it. Athletes are required to have healthy bodies, which is a good way to prevent having arthritis. Athletes who get diagnosed with the condition most likely have it in their genes, get it from repetitive movements, or get it from being injured.
Shaquille O’Neal- Shaquille is a professional basketball player from the NBA who suffers from having arthritis in his big toe. He says his arthritis is caused by running, jumping and dunking with a large body. He lead his team to championship victory in 1992 despite having arthritis.
Kristin Armstrong- Kristin is an olympian with a gold medal in cycling. She was diagnosed with osteoarthritis in her hips in 2001. She says that along with cycling, a stretching and yoga routine helps keep her osteoarthritis at bay.
Kristine Holzer- Kristine is an olympic speed skater who started when she was twenty-four. Although she was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis as a child, she still works hard at maintaining her health and skill.
Arthritis is joint pain or joint disease that results in pain, stiffness, and loss of range of motion. Not only does it affect joints, it also affects the areas around joints such as the muscles and tendons. Certain types of arthritis can affect the skin and internal organs. Arthritis can arise from multiple things such as genetics, age, injury, stress, obesity, infection, developmental disorders, calcium deposits and inflammation. Arthritis is not one disease, it is a generic term used for more than one hundred different types of arthritis and similar conditions. Anyone you see could have arthritis, no matter their age, race or sex. Arthritis is the leading cause of disability in America. Over fifty million adults and three hundred thousand children have arthritis. Arthritis tends to be more common with females over 45, men younger than 45, and people of older age. The three most common types of arthritis are osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriatic arthritis. Arthritis can be local or general. General arthritis means you have arthritis in three or more joints, local arthritis is found in one joint. …show more content…
Joint Anatomy
In a joint, the place where bones touch each other is protected by a soft, smooth covering of articular cartilage. The joint capsule covers the joint and the cartilage. This capsule has a thin membrane lining its inner surface, called the synovium. This membrane secretes synovial fluid. The capsule and the synovial fluid protect the close by muscles and connective tissues. The fluid lubricates the joint and cartilage reducing friction and helps the joint to move easily without pain. The knee joint is formed between the bones of the lower leg (the tibia and the fibula) and the thighbone (the femur). The hip joint is where the top of the thighbone (femoral head) meets a concave portion of the pelvis (the acetabulum). When dealing with osteoarthritis of the hand the distal interphalangeal joints are most often affected. Proximal interphalangeal joints and the joints at the base of the thumb are also typically involved.
Mechanism of Injury
Scientists are not %100 sure of how arthritis forms since there are tons of different types, and tons of different possibilities, but we do know some factors that play a key role.
Genetics that are inherited from parents play a role into the formation of arthritis. The lifestyle of a person plays a role. Lifestyle plays a role in arthritis because not maintaining a healthy body weight applies extra stress on joints which tears them down. Excessive repetitive movements play a role because it eventually deteriorates the bones as they rub against each other. Age plays a role in arthritis, because throughout your life your joints will do a ton of rubbing together and eventually will start deteriorating. Inflammation as a reaction to disease plays a role in arthritis because it causes joints to be stiff, swollen, and
painful.
Injured Anatomy
Osteoarthritis- Osteoarthritis is a noninflammatory chronic disorder that deteriorates the cartilage of a joint. Osteoarthritis is commonly found in the knees, hips, spine, and the hands and fingers. Wrists, elbows, shoulders, and ankles can also be found affected by osteoarthritis, but it is less common. Usually when those areas are diagnosed with osteoarthritis it is the result of an injury or stress on that joint. Healthy cartilage is smooth and prevents friction when joints rub on each other, but with osteoarthritis the articular cartilage wears off and the bones become rough. Pieces of bone or cartilage can break off and float in the joint space. Osteophytes or bone spurs appear on the edge of the joint. Synovial fluid increases.
Rheumatoid Arthritis- Rheumatoid arthritis is what happens when the body's immune system, which normally protects the body, begins to produce substances that attack the body. In rheumatoid arthritis, the joint lining swells, invading surrounding tissues. Chemical substances are produced that attack and destroy the joint surface.
Rheumatoid arthritis may affect both large and small joints in the body and also the spine. Swelling, pain, and stiffness usually develop, even when the joint is not used.
Signs and Symptoms
Generic symptoms for any type of arthritis include swelling, pain, tenderness, rashes, stiffness, and decreased motion within a joint. Severe cases of arthritis may affect internal organs. Symptoms can range from mild, moderate, and severe. Severe arthritis can lead to chronic pain, which makes it close to impossible to do daily activities. Arthritis can cause permanent joint changes. Changes may be superficial, such as knobby finger joints, but mainly the damage is deep and can only be seen on X-ray. Finding daily tasks such as walking, climbing stairs, cleaning, and opening jars difficult may mean you have a type of arthritis. Red and hot skin can be a warning sign of arthritis. Fatigue is common with multiple types of arthritis too. Several visits to the doctor may be necessary because arthritis in its early stages is hard to catch, and it may look similar to multiple types of arthritis. Weakness in muscles, signs that other joints are painful, and a grating sound or feeling with movement are all common with arthritis, specifically rheumatoid arthritis.
Treatment of Injury
The treatment of arthritis includes four goals which are to reduce pain, improve joint function and ability to move, maintaining a healthy weight, avoiding repetitive movements and having a healthy lifestyle. Achieving these goals can be done by exercising, weight loss (if necessary), rest and sleep, hot and cold packs, massages, medication, and in severe cases, surgery. Exercise is seen as the best treatment for arthritis because it reduces pain, increases mobility within the joint, helps maintain weight, and improves blood flow throughout the body. Walking, swimming and water aerobics are good forms of exercise for people with arthritis. Exercising the muscles around the joint affected is a good idea, it helps make the joint stronger so that it can handle pressure being put on it. Arthritis affects people who are overweight because the strain from the extra weight of the body causes harm on the joints. Weight loss is good because it reduces stress on joints, increases mobility, and also reduces pain. Resting joints affected by arthritis is important, because it reduces your risk of gaining another disease, worsening your condition, and helps reduce pain. With a brace, crutches, splint, or cane you are able to do most of your daily activities without having to go through pain or make your joints condition worse. Hot and cold packs are good for people with arthritis because hot packs increase blood flow and decrease pain and stiffness while cold packs reduce inflammation and soreness. Massages are good on the joints and surrounding muscles because they increase blood flow and release tension. There is no medication that can cure osteoarthritis, but there is medication to help ease the pain. Surgery is extreme for people with osteoarthritis, but a doctor may recommend it when loose pieces of bone or cartilage need to be removed, if bones need to be repositioned, and if bones need to be resurfaced or smoothed down. In extremely rare cases of osteoarthritis joints in the hip, shoulder and knee may need to be replaced with artificial joints. These are all the usual treatments of osteoarthritis, but when these fail for people suffering with osteoarthritis they may try acupuncture, nutritional supplements, and home remedies. None of these alternative methods have been medically proven to work for people suffering with the condition. Patients play an important role in the treatment of arthritis, and to do this they need to learn about their condition, follow through with treatment, report progress and failures to doctors, keep a positive attitude, and develop relationships with the people helping them overcome the condition they have. Activities to avoid when suffering with arthritis are running, jumping, tennis, high-impact aerobics, and any other sports with repetitive movements. Over-treatment, under-treatment, and focusing only on your pain is something you should avoid. Psychologists can help with any psychological damage you may receive when fighting against arthritis. Cognitive-behavioural therapy and relaxation therapy are proven to work for arthritis.
Prevention
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is the best way to prevent any type of arthritis, since in most cases it is caused by putting excessive strain on joints. Exercise is key. If you already have arthritis and it is severe, you may want to seek professional help with exercises so that you do not put any more excessive pressure on the joint than it can handle. If you do decide to workout by yourself, make sure you are doing the exercise properly because you do not want to do more damage than good. Aerobic, muscle strengthening, and balance exercises are recommended to not only help, but prevent arthritis from happening in the first place. Adjusting your position frequently, tilting your neck from side to side, changing the position of your hands, bending and stretching your legs, pacing yourself, and standing up and walking every half hour are all simple ways to prevent joints from forming arthritis. Quitting smoking is also helpful to do to prevent arthritis because smoking causes stress on connective tissues. Damaging connective tissues can lead to conditions such as arthritis. Keeping your organs healthy by giving them the nutrition they need from healthy foods is another good thing that you can do. Avoiding repetitive motions is a good way to prevent arthritis from happening. Sleeping for proper amounts of time helps keep brain tissue healthy, and keeps the rest of the body awake and alert.
Sports Common or Athletes who’ve have this injury
Arthritis does not have a general trend to determine a specific sport common to it. Athletes are required to have healthy bodies, which is a good way to prevent having arthritis. Athletes who get diagnosed with the condition most likely have it in their genes, get it from repetitive movements, or get it from being injured.
Shaquille O’Neal- Shaquille is a professional basketball player from the NBA who suffers from having arthritis in his big toe. He says his arthritis is caused by running, jumping and dunking with a large body. He lead his team to championship victory in 1992 despite having arthritis.
Kristin Armstrong- Kristin is an olympian with a gold medal in cycling. She was diagnosed with osteoarthritis in her hips in 2001. She says that along with cycling, a stretching and yoga routine helps keep her osteoarthritis at bay.
Kristine Holzer- Kristine is an olympic speed skater who started when she was twenty-four. Although she was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis as a child, she still works hard at maintaining her health and skill.