Arthritis and Joint Pain
The term arthralgia means simply that there is pain in the joints. Arthritis refers to a condition marked by inflammation of the joints. There are a large number of specific types of joint inflammation with subtle differences that justify the medical specialty of rheumatology. As with other conditions the tendency to develop joint pain or arthritis is explained by energetic causes according to the principles of Chinese Medicine. Deficiency of kidney energy is a frequent factor cited in patients who complain of joint pain. Increasing the kidney energy can help the pain and function of the arthritic joint. Acupuncture is effective in alleviating the pain associated with joint inflammation or degeneration. Acupuncture promotes a natural anti-inflammatory effect that actually heals the arthritic joint rather than simply masking the pain with pain medication like opioids simply to allow short term function.
Patients can have joint pain that occurs not only after a life of using the body like performing manual labor but joint pain can also occur when someone starts being active after a time of sedentary lifestyle.
The acupuncture treatment must take into account not only the anatomy of the arthritic knee, for example, but the surrounding muscles, ligaments and fibrous tissue surrounding the joint. Those surrounding muscles are necessary for motion of the two limbs around the joint. Patients who come in with a complaint of joint pain will frequently have tight thigh or calf muscles which hurt because the muscles are in spasm. A muscle that is shortened by muscle spasm will not allow the coordinated movement around the joint because the tight muscle does not relax and this muscle spasm is resisting the motion that the muscles on the opposite side of the extremity joint is trying to produce. After treating the surrounding leg muscles patients who complain of knee pain will complain less and have less pain. Alejandro elorriaga Claraca, MD has vast experience treating track athletes. He has presented cases at his teaching sessions about world class athletes improving their performance with the help of acupuncture treatment. The runner cannot run rapidly or clear the hurdles with tight hamstring or adductor muscle groups.
There are many different types of arthritis that have their individual diagnostic characteristics but the two most common divisions of arthritis are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Osteoarthritis is the result of wear and tear on the joints and there is a component of degeneration of the joint cartilage and the surrounding soft tissues as well as inflammation as a part of the pain and dysfunction of degenerative arthritis.
Rheumatoid Arthritis
In rheumatoid arthritis it is the severe inflammation that causes swelling of the joint with fluid and the inflammatory response actually destroys the joint cartilage and the surrounding soft tissue. There seems to be an inherited tendency to develop some types of rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatic arthritis of the joints can occur in children long before they can put any wear and tear on the joints. There is usually a very small component of wear and tear and degeneration in the arthritis common to these children because the swollen joints are so painful and deformed by the inflammation that the joints function too poorly to wear out.
There are two major types of treatments that have improved the quality of life of arthritis patients. The basic science of inflammation has been studied for many years and pharmaceutical substances have been developed to therapeutically control the inflammatory process that destroys the joints. These new drugs have been beneficial for many arthritis sufferers. Use of these agents can be very complicated because weakening the immune system and the inflammatory process makes it very difficult for the patient’s body to fight infection.
Another boon to patients with arthritis is the continued progress in replacement of diseased joints by Orthopedic surgeons. Surgical techniques and post-operative rehabilitation have improved so much that hip and knee joints can be replaced safely in elderly patients with serious medical problems.
Arthritis can affect any joint in the body and artificial joints can replace nearly any of the extremity joints. The most commonly replaced joints are the hip and knee.
Brian Berman, MD reviewed acupuncture treatment of arthritis in an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association. When acupuncture treatment is compared to a control group who had sham acupuncture there is a subtle but not a very large advantage for the group treated with true acupuncture. When true acupuncture is compared to standard treatment the patients treated with acupuncture had better control of the pain and better function. As the acupuncture treatment relieves the pain and controls the inflammation the joint heals .
Patients can have joint pain that occurs not only after a life of using the body like performing manual labor but joint pain can also occur when someone starts being active after a time of sedentary lifestyle.
The acupuncture treatment must take into account not only the anatomy of the arthritic knee, for example, but the surrounding muscles, ligaments and fibrous tissue surrounding the joint. Those surrounding muscles are necessary for motion of the two limbs around the joint. Patients who come in with a complaint of joint pain will frequently have tight thigh or calf muscles which hurt because the muscles are in spasm. A muscle that is shortened by muscle spasm will not allow the coordinated movement around the joint because the tight muscle does not relax and this muscle spasm is resisting the motion that the muscles on the opposite side of the extremity joint is trying to produce. After treating the surrounding leg muscles patients who complain of knee pain will complain less and have less pain. Alejandro elorriaga Claraca, MD has vast experience treating track athletes. He has presented cases at his teaching sessions about world class athletes improving their performance with the help of acupuncture treatment. The runner cannot run rapidly or clear the hurdles with tight hamstring or adductor muscle groups.
There are many different types of arthritis that have their individual diagnostic characteristics but the two most common divisions of arthritis are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Osteoarthritis is the result of wear and tear on the joints and there is a component of degeneration of the joint cartilage and the surrounding soft tissues as well as inflammation as a part of the pain and dysfunction of degenerative arthritis.
Rheumatoid Arthritis
In rheumatoid arthritis it is the severe inflammation that causes swelling of the joint with fluid and the inflammatory response actually destroys the joint cartilage and the surrounding soft tissue. There seems to be an inherited tendency to develop some types of rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatic arthritis of the joints can occur in children long before they can put any wear and tear on the joints. There is usually a very small component of wear and tear and degeneration in the arthritis common to these children because the swollen joints are so painful and deformed by the inflammation that the joints function too poorly to wear out.
There are two major types of treatments that have improved the quality of life of arthritis patients. The basic science of inflammation has been studied for many years and pharmaceutical substances have been developed to therapeutically control the inflammatory process that destroys the joints. These new drugs have been beneficial for many arthritis sufferers. Use of these agents can be very complicated because weakening the immune system and the inflammatory process makes it very difficult for the patient’s body to fight infection.
Another boon to patients with arthritis is the continued progress in replacement of diseased joints by Orthopedic surgeons. Surgical techniques and post-operative rehabilitation have improved so much that hip and knee joints can be replaced safely in elderly patients with serious medical problems.
Arthritis can affect any joint in the body and artificial joints can replace nearly any of the extremity joints. The most commonly replaced joints are the hip and knee.
Brian Berman, MD reviewed acupuncture treatment of arthritis in an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association. When acupuncture treatment is compared to a control group who had sham acupuncture there is a subtle but not a very large advantage for the group treated with true acupuncture. When true acupuncture is compared to standard treatment the patients treated with acupuncture had better control of the pain and better function. As the acupuncture treatment relieves the pain and controls the inflammation the joint heals .
