What precautions to take if you have arthritis?

Arthritis is a condition when joints lose its flexibility, with pain, swelling, and becomes stiff. It can affect more than one joint. Cartilage provides a cushion on your joints protecting it from wear and tear. When this tissue gets reduced from its normal mass it results in arthritis. In the beginning, you can not find any serious symptoms and can be understood while it starts its effect on the body. Good food and regular exercise can protect the tissue. 

Types of Arthritis

There are hundreds of arthritis but two of them are most common among people. These are –

1. Osteoarthritis – It may result due to weight, age, or an injury. The cartilage tissues wear off thus the joint is no more being cushioned resulting in pain and stiffness. The symptoms are –

• Swollen joints
• Resting results in stiffness
• Limited motion ranges
• Cannot grip things, or climbing stairs.
• Pain in the joints.

2. Rheumatoid arthritis – It is an autoimmune disorder that causes severe joint damage. It generally occurs in more than one joint and keeps spreading throughout the body. The symptoms are –

• Fatigue
• Loss of weight
• Swelling affects all other physical activities
• It maintains a symmetrical pattern. Like if the left wrist gets affected so will be the right wrist.
• Multiple joints feel the pain, become stiff and swell up.

Whenever you start to face any of these symptoms, rush immediately to a doctor for a thorough check-up. Finding a health issue in the early stages always leaves a chance of getting better with time. 

How to treat arthritis?

To treat arthritis, some drugs reduce pain, inflammation and suppress the immune system. Several topical creams and ointments are also available. The best way of treating arthritis is physiotherapy. If your condition worsens, or you have undergone some surgeries, you can ask for home care nursing and a physiotherapist in Delhi, if you are residing here. Physical therapies can reduce your pain naturally with certain exercises, manual techniques, and acupuncture. Why look for home care nursing? Well, this is cheaper than hospital stays. You can stay at your convenience and enjoy all the professional help at home. They keep a daily record of your improvement, checks your vitals, provides proper medicine timely, and performs tests whenever required.

Precautions to take if you have arthritis:

1. Start eating healthy foods. Healthy foods maintain an ideal weight and in case of arthritis you cannot put on extra pounds.
2. Don’t stop exercising. If you remain inactive for longer periods then the pains of arthritis increases. But don’t look for hard exercises.
3. Avoid any sort of joint injury. Your joint may start to wear off but an injury will result in faster wearing off the tissues protecting the joints.
4. Don’t forget to protect your joints. For this, you need to follow the right gesture and technique to perform daily activities.
5. Don’t put on extra pounds. Overweight results in extra pressure on the lower parts and therefore resulting in knee osteoarthritis.