Arthritis is generally thought of as wear and tear on bone joints, the hinges that allow our body to bend and move, which break down during the aging process. However, arthritis can strike anyone at any age. The underlying cause of this phenomenon seems to be inflammation. Inflammation according to Webster’s Dictionary means, “To set afire; cause redness and swelling.” When a bone swells it makes it stiff and hard to move sort of like when a wooden door swells in heat. The door gets stuck and is hard to open or close even when it seems to be loosened up.
There are two types of arthritis divided into categories of Acute and Chronic. Acute is experienced as piercing sharp pain lasting for a few seconds to a few minutes repeating until it finally subsides by itself or through pain relievers. It doesn’t take place everyday, but every now and then it acts up. It can be set off by weather changes etc. For Chronic sufferers the pain is part of their daily life. It happens on a frequent basis and isn’t so readily eased by pain pills. Sometimes nothing helps sufferers.
Arthritis that is acute happens because of contracting an infection such as Rheumatic Fever, Gonorrhea, Typhoid Fever, Serum Sickness, Cerebrospinal Fever, and many others. Blood itself will carry infections into the bones. A trauma in which a bone has been cracked or broken also allows infections in. Once inside, germs can cause pus to form. If the pus isn’t drained out it can harden, calcify, and then the calcified pus will have to be cut out. The worse off a person is from acute arthritis depends on what type of infectious germ was at fault. Treatments for this kind of arthritis involve applying cold or hot packs, or taking sulfonamides, streptomycin or penicillin to kill out all infections and then taking pain pills whenever the acute arthritis acts up.
Arthritis that is chronic also occurs because of infections such as Tuberculosis or Syphilis. The two most common forms of chronic arthritis are Rheumatoid Arthritis and Hypertrophic Arthritis.
1. Rheumatoid Arthritis affects the joints and surrounding tissue. Fibrous tissue will latch on to joint surfaces and restrict movement. The fingers are usually the first to cripple up followed by the knees. A person may appear disfigured and they quite often look sick; this could be due to anemia or loss of weight with muscle wasting. Treatment includes resting, eating high caloric foods and foods with high vitamin content, heat pack, and exercise when possible.
2. Hypertrophic Arthritis affects joints that bear the brunt of weight, knees, the back, and hips. Fingers can also hurt. Tissue in-between joints shrink away and a rubbing of the bone joints can produce spurs that limit movement. Losing weight, pain pills plus cold and hot packs, back supports, and exercise to help with stiff joint work in easing pain.
Antioxidants are said to bring relief. They can combat infections and slow down the body’s natural wear and tear when taken daily. Taking Vitamin D and Calcium helps build up bones and fight bone loss. Taking Glucosamine will help build up tissue supporting the bones. Arthritis rubs work for some and shots work for others.
Infections leave bones in a weakened state and arthritis happens to be a painful side effect. Wear and tear of supporting tissue around bones can lead to spurs and bone rubbing bone. Any way you look at arthritis it is ruthless and has many victims. Unfortunately, there are no cures when it comes to arthritis, but I’m confidant one day there will be.
