Bones pain occurs when a person starts to experience tenderness, aching and discomfort in one or more of their bones. Bone pain is less common compared to muscle and joint pains. Some bone pains can be the result of fractures stemming from various traumas, such as sports or car accidents, others may be caused by diseases such as cancer that may metastasize or spread to a person’s bones. Whatever the case, bone pain is a cause for alarm and requires immediate medical attention.

CAUSES OF BONES PAIN

LEUKEMIA

There are many factors from which bone pain stems from. One of these is Leukemia. Normally, the body’s cells grow and give birth to new cells as often as the body requires. These cells grow old and die, and the new cells replace them. When this process of cell regeneration goes awry, cells start to form even when the body does not need them. These new cells continue to form despite the presence of older cells that have not yet died. When this happens in the case of blood cells, a cancer known as Leukemia begins.

The bone marrow, the soft and spongy material found in the centers of the bones is where blood cells first form. As the blood cells form, they are known as blasts. As soon as the blasts fully mature, they travel into to the blood stream and move towards the heart via the blood vessels. People with leukemia produce an abnormal amount of white blood cells. These white blood cells soon start to outnumber the normal white blood cells, the red blood cells, and the number of platelets. This prevents the blood from doing its normal work and causes bone pain stemming from the bones’ marrow.

SEPSIS

Sepsis, also known as Bacteraemia, is an infection that starts in the blood stream. Bacteria and other organisms that cause toxins to form in the blood cause this. The result is septicemia or blood poisoning, and it can also affect other tissues in the body. Sepsis symptoms include fever and chills, low blood pressure, malaise, and bone pain. It is a serious ailment that requires immediate medical intervention.
Image: Bones pain

BONE TRAUMA

One cause of bone pain is attributed to trauma on the bones caused by falls, sports accidents, or vehicular accidents. These kinds of traumas may cause breakage, fractures, sprains and strains, which results in the inevitable bone pain.

ARTHRITIS

A kind of joint disorder that is accompanied by inflammation, Arthritis occurs in the joints, the junction where two bones meet. These joints function by enabling different body parts to move in various directions, and when these joints become inflamed, the result is known as Arthritis.

There are more than a hundred types of Arthritis, which range from pain due to osteoarthritis, which results from the cartilage wear and tear, to osteoarthritis, which is joint inflammation caused by super active immune system. Arthritis is considered one of the most chronic ailments in the United States today.

Bone pain from arthritis may be caused by injury, abnormalities in a person’s metabolism, various hereditary illnesses, as well as unexplained causes such as systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis.

Arthritis is a rheumatic disease, and it affects a person’s muscles, joints, cartilage, ligaments, and tendons. Due to the swelling and inflammation, the pain that results severely limits the functions of a person’s joints. Other symptoms of arthritis include stiffness, redness, warmth and tenderness in the affected area.

FIBROMYALGIA

This condition is characterized by a wide area of pain accompanied by tenderness in the bones. Fibromyalgia is a chronic illness that causes sufferers to experience pain and stiffness in their joints, tendons and muscles. People with Fibromyalgia are frequently fatigued, anxious, depressed, have difficulty moving their bowels, and are unable to sleep soundly because of their condition.

Fibromyalgia affects more women than men, and in severe cases can cause disabling bone pain in patients suffering from it.

NEOPLASM OR BONE CANCER

Another cause for bone pain, Neoplasm is the primary result of bone tumors that may metastasize or spread to other sites.

PAGET'S DISEASE

Paget’s Disease is characterized by a type of bone disorder that results in the untimely breakdown and abnormal formation of the bone’s tissues. It is known in medical circles as osteitis deformans and its actual cause is still unknown. Sufferers of Paget’s Disease have bones that expand irregularly and weaken, and this causes symptoms of Arthritis, headaches, fractures, nerve pressure, cartilage and joint damage, bone disorders, bowing of limbs or curvature of the spine, and bone pain.

OSTEOPOROSIS

“porous” bones characterize this disease. Resulting from decrease in bone density and a reduction in the amount of bone mass or tissue, Osteoporosis causes a person to have fragile bones and a weak bone structure. This condition leaves the sufferer susceptible to bone pain, curvature of the spine, and fractures of the wrist, spine or hip.

Osteoporosis is one of the most common types of bone ailments that afflict about 10 million people in the United States each year, with more women than men affected.

Other diseases that affect the bones and cause bone pain include viral illnesses which spread to the bones and joints; chicken pox; encephalitis; hepatitis; measles; erythema infectiosum; infectious mononucleosis; scarlet fever, and shingles.

Bone pain is a condition that should be taken seriously, particularly if it is accompanied by tenderness and swelling. The doctor will take down a patient’s medical history and perform a thorough physical examination that includes determining the location of the pain, the time and pattern of each onset of pain, and the different symptoms that accompany it.

The various causes of bone pain can be diagnosed through a series of tests that include a complete blood count, bone x-rays and bone scans, hormone level tests, urine tests, CT and MRI scans, and pituitary and adrenal gland testing.

BONES PAIN TREATMENT

Treatment for the causes of bone pain may vary depending on the diagnosis. In most cases, bone pain itself may be treated with antibiotics in cases of infection, anti-inflammatory medication to relieve tenderness and swelling, hormone therapy, and pain relievers.