Simple Ways to Manage Arthritis

About 50 million adults in the United States have been diagnosed with some form of arthritis. This means one in five Americans live with chronic inflammation around one or more joints — most often in the hands, hips, knees, feet, or spine — that can cause:

• Joint pain flare-ups
• Stiff, achy joints
• Less range of motion
• Reduced strength
• Restricted mobility 
• Diminished energy
• Trouble sleeping
• Lower quality of life

If you’re living with arthritis pain, you want long-lasting relief that enables you to be your active self once again. Board-certified pain management expert Dr. Okezie N. Okezie and our team at Interventional Sports and Pain Management Associates are here to help.

Here, we offer a few simple ways to manage arthritis — so it doesn’t stop you in your tracks. 

1. Understand your diagnosis 

The term arthritis covers over 100 different rheumatic conditions that cause chronic joint inflammation and pain. Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common diagnosis, followed by rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and gout. Learning as much as you can about your specific joint condition is the first step in successful arthritis management. 

2. Keep your joints moving

Prolonged inactivity only serves to worsen arthritis pain, leading to stiffer, achier joints. Avoid this pitfall by staying active. You can encourage flexible, well-lubricated joints by engaging in some form of non-impact aerobic exercise like walking, swimming, or cycling most days, and performing gentle daily stretches that move your joints through their full range of motion.   

3. Strengthen your muscles

You can reduce stress and increase stability within an arthritic joint by strengthening the muscles around it. Simple exercises — like doing straight leg raises from a seated position to strengthen the muscles around the knee — can work wonders for improved joint stability and function. Dr. Okezie can teach you easy strengthening exercises for any joint.      

4. Shed some excess weight

Losing weight eases joint pain in two ways: First, it eases systemic inflammation, helping to dial down inflammation in your joints, too; and second, it takes pressure, stress, and strain off your load-bearing joints (lower back, hips, knees, ankles, feet). The bottom line? Every pound of lost weight helps improve arthritis symptoms. 

5. Get to know your limits

Keeping your joints moving is a fundamental tenet of arthritis management, but there are times — specifically, during a joint pain flare-up — when rest is best. Get to know your physical limits, and learn how to strike the right balance of activity and rest. Anytime you overdo it, you run the risk of making your joints feel worse.  

6. Take OTC pain medicine

When prolonged sitting, too much activity, or changing weather triggers a joint pain flare, OTC pain medication can provide fast relief. Taking a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) like ibuprofen (i.e., Advil) can temporarily alleviate your discomfort; try adding a topical cream containing capsaicin when arthritis pain is especially bothersome. 

7. Try cold and heat therapy

Depending on the nature of your joint pain flare, you may also benefit from moist heat, cold therapy (icing), or a combination of the two. Moist heat is a good choice if you need to relax tight muscles around a painful joint; icing helps alleviate inflammation when a joint is red, hot, and stiff. To avoid an ice burn on your skin, be sure to wrap your cold pack in a cloth.  

8. Aid mobility with bracing 

Joint bracing — or in some cases, the use of a mobility aid — is a simple way to support arthritic joints and reduce arthritis pain flares. You can use bracing (i.e., knee, elbow, or wrist brace) or a mobility aid (i.e., cane, crutches) as a preventive measure, to protect a joint when you’re active; these tools can also help take stress off a painfully inflamed joint when rest isn’t an option.

9. Know when to seek care

If you’re struggling with severe or persistent arthritis symptoms that aren’t getting better with pain relievers, bracing, heat or cold therapy, stretching, or other front-line strategies, it may be time for next-level care. You may benefit from a pain relief procedure like:

• Steroidal joint injections
• Gel injections for knee OA
• Nerve block injections
• Facet joint nerve blocks
• Epidural steroid injections
• Radiofrequency rhizotomy 

The main advantage of these interventions is that they deliver a longer period of effective pain relief, giving you time to actively improve joint health, range of motion, and strength with daily exercise along with physical therapy or occupational therapy.  

Ready to gain control of your arthritis? Interventional Sports and Pain Management Associates is here to help. Call or click online to schedule an appointment at your nearest office in Humble or Baytown, Texas, today.