When it comes to treating the symptoms of arthritis, there is nothing better than arthritis medication. Other products on the market, like creams, can only provide temporary relief, whereas arthritis medication can help to stop pain in the long run. Natural remedies are not consistently effective in treating arthritis pain, but arthritis medications are. There are many different kinds of arthritis medications to choose from, and which one you select depends on a wide range of factors.

Making The Key Decision

When selecting an arthritis medication, there are several questions to consider. First of all, what kind of arthritis is the medication needed for? Certain medications are better at addressing the symptoms of specific types of arthritis. Also, how long will the medication be used for? Some arthritis medications are only meant to be used short term.

While there are questions that the patient needs to ask themselves, there are also some questions that the patient needs to ask their doctor. Overall, it is important that a doctor recommends or approves of any arthritis medication before the patient begins to take it.

Choose Carefully!

The doctor may recommend one of several different arthritis medications. He or she may even request that the patient try one medication and then switch to another to determine which one works better.

Analgesics are perhaps the most common arthritis medication for mild pain. These are typical pain relievers, many of which can be purchased over the counter. One of the downfalls of these painkillers is that they can be addictive, especially in the case of narcotics.

A type of arthritis medication that is most commonly used for more severe types of arthritis that degenerate the joints is Disease Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs, also known as DMARDs. These are “second line” drugs, and can take as long as months to be effective. However, they are different from other drugs in that they not only relieve pain, but they can slow the progression of joint damage as well.

Another option for the treatment of arthritis symptoms is Biological Response Modifiers (BRMs). These alter the way in which the body responds to infection and disease. The downside to using thee drugs is that they produce a large amount of side effects; however, these are known to go away after a short period of time.

The Best We’ve Got

Because there is no known cure for arthritis, the best option at the current time is to treat the pain with arthritis medications. This has proven to be a fairly successful way of managing the condition.