Arthritis/Osteoarthritis
Get Arthritis Relief
Do you suffer from arthritis? Does it hurt to walk? Do you have difficulty opening jars or doing things with your hands? We understand how debilitating it can be. But you don’t have to live in pain, and you can get your range of motion back. You can also prevent arthritis pain from recurring. We believe one of the first steps in finding arthritis pain relief is understanding your pain, what’s causing it, and how you can lower your risk factors for it.
What Is Arthritis?
Arthritis is an umbrella term covering a number of conditions that revolve around joint pain or joint disease.
Types of Arthritis
The Arthritis Foundation has a good breakdown of the types of arthritis, as follows:
- Osteoarthritis (OA) (degenerative)
- Autoimmune Inflammatory Arthritis
- Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)
- Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA)
- Juvenile Arthritis
- Metabolic Arthritis (Gout)
This page will focus on the most common form of arthritis, which is osteoarthritis. It’s a disease of the entire joint, including bone, cartilage, ligaments, fat, and the tissues that line the joint (the synovium). Osteoarthritis can degrade the cartilage and change bone shape.
You can find out more information about rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, and juvenile arthritis on our autoimmune disorders page.
Osteoarthritis Symptoms
Osteoarthritis symptoms include one or all of the following:
- Joint pan or aching
- Joint stiffness (especially in the morning or after activity)
- Decreased range of motion
- Swelling and tenderness
- Grinding feeling in the knees
- Bony enlargements of the finger joints
What Causes Osteoarthritis?
Osteoarthritis doesn’t have one cause, but there are certain risk factors that make you more likely to develop it. These include:
- Aging (your risk increases as you get older).
- Gender (women are more likely to get OA)
- Obesity or being overweight (stress on the weight-bearing joints increases your risk).
- Previous injury or surgery to a joint (previous damage to a joint increases your risk).
- Overuse from repetitive motions (due to work, hobby, or sport).
- Family history (you’re more likely to develop OA if a parent has it).
The key to preventing osteoarthritis is reducing as many risk factors as you can.
Osteoarthritis FAQs
Q: How common is osteoarthritis?
A: It’s very common. Nearly 33 million US adults have OA. Before age 50, men and women are equally affected by osteoarthritis, but after age 50, women are affected more than men.
Q: How is osteoarthritis diagnosed?
A:There isn’t just one test to diagnose osteoarthritis. Your doctor will conduct a physical exam and look for changes in your mobility, ask about joint pain, order blood tests to rule out other conditions, order x-rays to see what, if any joint damage you have, and more.
Q: Does cracking knuckles cause arthritis?
A: No. This is a myth. There is no scientific evidence that says cracking your knuckles causes arthritis. However, chronic cracking of your knuckles could lead to decreased grip strength.
Q: Do certain types of weather make arthritis worse?
A: Yes. It’s not just an old wives’ tale. While the science isn’t clear, may people with osteoarthritis experience flareups when the barometric pressure changes, and also with colder temperatures.
Q: Will I need surgery for arthritis?
A: If conservative treatment isn’t working and the joint damage is extensive, your doctor might recommend joint replacement surgery. But there are many ways to avoid surgery.
Q: Can arthritis be cured?
A: There is no cure for arthritis. But treatment can relieve pain and stiffness, as well as give you increased mobility and flexibility.
How Cima Health Can Help
Cima Health provides restorative, lifelong solutions that target the root cause of your osteoarthritis. Your care will start out with a comprehensive evaluation to assess your pain. We will also ask questions about your work and home life, lifestyle, and habits before making recommendations for an integrative plan of care. Together, we come up with non-invasive and alternative treatments that can help you achieve whole-body wellness and live pain-free for life.
Treating and preventing osteoarthritis involves several treatment modalities, all of which you can receive in one location. They include:
Let’s take a look at how each of these areas works together to provide you with natural pain relief and inspires you to make lifestyle changes to prevent back pain in the future.
Chiropractic Care
More and more people choose to see a chiropractor for osteoarthritis pain and inflammation. It’s an alternative medicine that works for many people, and helps to reduce the amount of pain medications you take. Chiropractic care may include manual therapy, active exercises, traction and other modalities to decrease your pain and increase your range of motion. Spinal adjustments, extremity manipulation, manual therapy, dry needling, and Class IV laser therapy can all help relieve your pain.
Our Palm Beach Gardens chiropractors are all highly trained and include:
Joint Injections
Our medical care team offers cortisone injections to help relieve the pain associated with arthritis joint pain. A steroid injection into the hip, knee, ankle, hands, lower back, and neck reduces the inflammation and provides pain relief and better range of movement.
Visco Supplementation/ Hyaluronic Acid Injections
We may recommend hyaluronic acid (HA) injections if you don’t respond to corticosteroid injections. They are usually approved only for use in the knee. HA is also a better treatment if you have diabetes, because steroid injections can raise your blood sugar levels.
Platelet-Rich Plasma Injections
Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) therapy is another treatment where we help your body heal itself. Using your own plasma shows promising results in reducing pain and increasing function.
Physical Therapy (PT)
Physical therapy, when combined with other treatments can also help with your osteoarthritis pain. Your physical therapist will work with you to design a specific treatment program that will reduce your pain while increasing your mobility and flexibility. This can include stretching and exercises, Class IV laser therapy, dry needling, and more.
Massage Therapy
Massage therapy is another modality we offer that can reduce osteoarthritis pain and increase mobility. Regular massage using moderate pressure can ease pain, stiffness, and anxiety, as well as promote relaxation. While massage can’t cure your arthritis, it can help you feel better and increase your quality of life. Massage therapy can be an integral part of your care. If you have arthritis in your hands, the massage therapist may also be able to show you some self-massage techniques you can use at home.
Functional Medicine
Did you know what you eat (or don’t eat) can positively or negatively affect your osteoarthritis symptoms? Our functional medicine team does. We’ll develop a nutrition plan for you that helps reduce OA inflammation, reduces fracture risk, and prevent weight gain. Eating the right foods can also help slow the progression of osteoarthritis.
Physical Fitness
The last component of learning how to prevent arthritis flare-ups is getting regular exercise and losing weight if you are overweight or obese. If you’re even slightly overweight, those excess pounds can cause strain on your joints. Losing weight can reduce arthritis pain, increase mobility, and prevent injury.
Our physical fitness team of personal trainers can help develop a safe and gentle low impact exercise routine to reduce joint pain and stiffness while increasing muscle strength, endurance, and flexibility. We’ll help you feel more energized and help you feel better for life.
The entire team at Cima Health works together to provide you with restorative, lifelong solutions.
Read What Our Patients Are Saying
Book an Appointment
Arthritis that’s causing joint pain can make it hard to enjoy life, let alone play with your grandkids or play a round of golf. If you’re looking for a holistic treatment plan for your osteoarthritis, book an appointment today. One of our chiropractors will do a comprehensive examination to get to the root cause of your pain and develop an integrative plan of care to relieve your pain and inspire you to achieve whole-body wellness.
