Arthritis is a common condition that causes pain and inflammation in joints, but are there things we can do about it?
The two most common types of arthritis are osteoarthritis, which affects 8 million people in the UK, and rheumatoid arthritis, which is a problem for more than 400,000 adults and could be impacting as many as 300,000 more of us without us realising.
Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis (OA) is caused by basic wear and tear which damages the cartilage in joints, causing stiffness and pain.
We have a fluid in our joints called synovial fluid, and when our joints aren’t moving, this can leak out – it actually seems to be the action of moving a joint that helps pull it back in. Hence, not using a joint for long periods of time can make you more vulnerable to osteoarthritis. This is compounded by not exercising the muscles around the joint, which help strengthen it. Over time, without enough lubricating fluid, our cartilage can wear away causing bones in the joints to rub together.
To help avoid it – or make the pain of arthritis less bad – there are some simple, daily exercises you can try that might help. They’re all geared towards strengthening the muscles around the joint by getting it moving and can be done easily at home, even while relaxing or watching the TV.
Rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), has nothing to do with physical wear and tear. It’s a long-term auto immune condition in which the body’s immune system wrongly attacks its own healthy cells, causing pain and swelling in multiple joints.
RA can’t be cured but it can be slowed down and minimised if medication is started within three months of the first symptoms. This is why it’s important to identify rheumatoid arthritis as early as possible and to do this you need to look out for the ‘S Factor’:
- Stiffness – Do you have early morning stiffness that persists for more than 30 minutes and in some cases lasts into the day?
- Swollen – Do you have swelling around the joints and are they hot to touch?
- Squeeze – Is the affected joint painful when you squeeze it?
If the answer to all these questions is yes, visit your GP as soon as possible.
