Joint pain, its medical term is arthralgia, affects everyone at some time or another. They can be caused by many things and according to a recent survey as many as 1 in 3 Americans are suffering from joint pain at any one time. Joint pains can occur in one or more joints at the same time and is generally due to injury or a mild infection. Unfortunately, joint pain can be very disabling and distressing.
Besides the obvious pain there are other symptoms. These include swelling, stiffness and hot joints around the area. These symptoms are usually related to an injury or may suggest the onset of arthritis. However, it can also mean an infection on the joint or joints. You may find the joints are red and painful to touch and sometimes it's difficult to actually locate the exact area where the pain is coming from. If you get these symptoms and they don't disappear in a few days, then it always best to seek medical advice.
It's common for many people to consider that joint pain develops due to aging; to some extent this is of course true as joints do wear out over time. However, while the majority of short term joint pain is caused by an injury or an accident it can be a sign of more serious conditions. Rheumatoid Arthritis is one example which is caused by an auto-immune problem. It makes the joints stiff and very painful. Osteoarthritis is also common for people older than 45 and involves a general degeneration of the cartilage. The fluid effectively leaks out and therefore there is no lubrication so pain and swelling occur. There is no known cure from arthritis, but there are ways that you can help the symptoms and so relieve pain and swelling and make life more manageable. More seriously, joint pain can mean there is a metabolic disorder and in very rare cases indicate a tumour.
The method used to relieve joint pain is down to each individual. Conventional medicine tends to head toward the use of drugs, such as regular painkillers, steroids and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Sometimes people choose to use a mixture of conventional treatment and complementary treatment as they can work side by side. Simple exercise routines are considered a good form of complementary treatment. Try something like Tai Chi which is a very artistic method of exercising your body without putting stress on painful joints. Not only does it help relax your body, but it also relaxes your mind.
It's a fact that a lot of people are concerned about taking pharmaceutical drugs. You only have to open the box and read the instructions and you find a myriad of potential side-effects, when to take them, when not to take them and so on.
Alternative medicine, as the name implies, offers an alternative to taking drugs. Chinese herbal medicines are claimed to work as well as any pharmaceutical drug, but they are considered safe and importantly don't have any side effects.
