Tuesday, November 17, 2009

"What Kind of Arthritis Do I Have?"


When degeneration is found in the spine or other joints, we often simply are told it’s arthritis. When we are a little more stiff in the morning, we call that arthritis. When we have back pain from years of wear and tear on our body, we refer to it as arthritis.

To many, a surprise is that this may be true, but we can get much more specific; there are many types of “arthritis.” Based on our examination, patient history, and radiological findings we can determine which type of arthritis an individual with joint pain may have.

There are three basic type: degenerative arthritis, inflammatory arthritis, and metabolic arthritis. Degenerative arthritis is often called DJD (Degenerative Joint Disease) or Osteoarthritis. Patient's with DJD often present with joint stiffness with reduced range of motion particularly in the morning.

Inflammatory arthritis includes rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, lupus, and scleroderma. Symptoms include inflammation of the joints as well as bilateral presentation (both sides of the body similar). For example: both SI joints vs. DJD which is often a unilateral presentation (one side more than the other).

Metabolic disorders are a third type of arthritis, and one that people commonly hear about is gout. This can have common features of both degenerative and inflammatory arthritis, but will often have positive blood work or laboratory findings. For example, with gout we often find an increase of uric acid in the bloodstream.

Over time arthritis will work its way into the spine and that means breakdown of the discs in the back. Talk to chiropractors Dr. Bellinger or Dr. Gill to find out if chiropractic treatment or spinal decompression may help you get pain relief in your back.



CT Spine and Disc Center is located in central Connecticut- Specializing in patients who suffer from sciatica, disc degeneration, bulging disc or herniated disc in the lumbar spine. Call us at 860-633-8756 to see if you are a candidate for non surgical spinal decompression

Additional Reading Resources:

7 comments:

Chiropractors in Charleston said...

Wow... great post. I agree that seeing a chiropractor to help with you pain is very important... and the benefits are flat out obvious. But I also think that more people need to team up the chiropractor visits with regular exercising too... mainly some weight training.

Aditya Deadpan said...

Nice information. I am not a medical student but still liked the info and understood somewhat . Thanks for the post

Anonymous said...

This topic of arthritis is one that I try to tackle in full detail with my patients. I love how you have presented your information on your blog. Keep up the great work and please visit my health blog sometime. I would really appreciate it. The url is http://healthy-nutrition-facts.blogspot.com/

beckham said...

In a recent survey on pain conducted by the Stanford University Medical Center, arthritis pain was cited as the chief complaint among America’s seniors, with thirty-two percent of the senior population listing arthritis as the specific cause of their suffering. Arthritis does strike children and young adults as well, although it afflicts the mature segment of the population more frequently. It is estimated that 15% of the American adult population suffer from arthritis, and this number is rising, increasing the demand for arthritis pain relief.

Vicman Calara said...

You have done a great post that will help everyone to know about chiropractor and its kind. Me too also know it was chiropractor when i heard the word, i never thought it has a different kind thanks for a helpful post.

boise chiropractor

John said...

TMJ jaw pain can be a frustrating and aggravating thing to deal with,
because the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is used all day long. Luckily,
there is some help for TMJ pain, and some of the treatment options can be
done at home. You can get good remedies for tmj
by using tmj-relief.

Unknown said...

Arthritis is a common problem that can be healed naturally with chiropractic treatments. This article provides great information. Thanks for posting!

LinkWithin

Blog Widget by LinkWithin