How Chiropractic Care Alleviates Osteoarthritic Pain
Osteoarthritis is an incredibly common condition in society today. However, despite the prevalence of the condition, few people fully understand what osteoarthritis (also frequently referred to as simply “arthritis”) actually is. Furthermore, very few people know some of the simple treatments and options available to arthritis sufferers. One option is chiropractic care, which can often completely eliminate or drastically reduce arthritis symptoms.
In this article, we’ll provide an overview of arthritis and discuss how chiropractic care can help to improve the symptoms of this troublesome condition.
What is Osteoarthritis?
Osteoarthritis is a condition in which the space between bones is reduced due to “wear and tear” on the body. Therefore, many people who experience severe osteoarthritis develop the condition after misusing or overusing their joints for many years on end. For instance, professional athletes will often experience arthritis in higher numbers when compared to the average individual.
Osteoarthritis is usually officially diagnosed based on x-ray. However, there are a number of physical tests and questionnaires that can strongly point to arthritis being present in a patient.
What are the Common Osteoarthritis Symptoms?
Generally, osteoarthritis symptoms are fairly intuitive, based on the understanding that the condition causes a wearing down of the joints.
Arthritis symptoms can include any or all of the following:
- Joint pain.
- Weakness.
- Difficulty using the joint in question.
- Clicking, catching, and popping within the joint.
Sometimes, patients may exhibit other symptoms, such as inflammation in affected joints. However, the symptoms listed above account for the majority of arthritis cases.
What are the Best Osteoarthritis Treatments?
There are a number of treatments available for osteoarthritis. Some of them are effective, while others serve as little more than a temporary fix, analogous to a bandaid for a cut or scrape.
One treatment that is, unfortunately, often prescribed for arthritis is pain medication. Mild pain medications such as ibuprofen and others may provide some temporary relief, but they won’t address the root cause of the condition, and they will lose effectiveness over time. Opioids, and more “serious” pain medications, will often dull the pain for a time. However, these medications should never be used for arthritis, as they can lead to dependency and other problems.
Besides medication, some physicians may recommend that patients undergo joint replacement surgeries to “fix” the arthritic joint. This is not a decision to be taken lightly. Once you’ve undergone a joint replacement surgery, you can never go back. In other words, a surgery can never be undone. So, you need to be certain that you understand all of the risks involved with surgery and that you are comfortable with taking said risks.
The two treatment options listed above make up the usual medical treatment options for osteoarthritis. Luckily, there are other options, which often work much better than these often risky strategies.
Alternative Treatments for Osteoarthritis
In the past few years, a large body of research has emerged showing how effective non-surgical and non-medicinal treatments can be for osteoarthritis.
Specifically, exercise, stretching, and general movement tends to be very helpful for improving symptoms of osteoarthritis. Does exercise actually reverse osteoarthritis? No. But it does improve function and leads to improved quality of life.
Also, chiropractic care can work incredibly well for relieving pain and symptoms related to arthritis.
Chiropractors perform treatments known as adjustments to the spine. By placing a specific amount of force, in a specific direction, on a specific joint; chiropractors can often improve nerve conduction and healing to various parts of the body. Therefore, these treatments can lead to healing and decreased symptoms in arthritic joints.
Have you recently started to experience the effect of arthritis? If this sounds like you, you need to find relief! Your local Noblesville chiropractors at Anchor Health Chiropractic are ready to help you today. Book your appointment now!
