7 Methods of Treatment for Arthritis Patients

Wunian Chen, MD, LAc, May 15, 2016

Unless you or someone you love has arthritis, chances are you won’t know the exact causes, signs and definition of arthritis. If you or someone close to you has just been diagnosed with this condition, you may not be sure about the arthritis treatments out there.

What Is Arthritis?

The first question you probably have about this disease is what the actual arthritis definition is, and this is where things start to get complicated. That’s because there’s no single cause of arthritis.

The cause of your arthritis will depend on what type you have: osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis or some other form. It may be caused by mechanical wear and tear on the joints, issues with bone density or autoimmune conditions. Your doctor may need to run extensive tests to determine the cause of your symptoms.

While there are multiple causes of arthritis, the symptoms of most forms of this disease are relatively similar, and everyone with the condition will experience some or all of these signs of arthritis to some degree at some point:

• Joint swelling and pain.
• Reduced mobility in joints.
• Stiffness, particularly first thing in the morning.
• Redness or warmth around a joint.

Diagnosing your exact type of arthritis will require a medical history, X-rays and tests, and it may be a little while before you have a precise diagnosis. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, arthritis is close to a BI syndrome, which commonly caused by COLD, WIND, HEAT or DAMP invasion, or KIDNEY deficiency. You can read more about this here.

Treatment for Arthritis

Once you have experienced signs of arthritis and been diagnosed with one of the many forms of the disease, it’s important to realize that all of your arthritis treatments will be geared toward treating the symptoms of the disease rather than curing the underlying cause.

Thus far, there is no known cure for arthritis, and there are no known methods for repairing the damage that may already be done by the wear and tear on your joints that this disease causes.

Once your doctor has diagnosed the type of arthritic pain you are dealing with, they will work with you to create a comprehensive treatment plan that may include many different parts, including the following seven methods of treatment for arthritis patients:

1. Dietary changes.
2. Customized exercise programs (usually low-impact exercises and strength training).
3. Lifestyle changes, including weight loss for overweight patients and sleep pattern changes for patients with poor sleep patterns.
4. Physical therapy or massage.
5. Pain management treatments, including acupuncture.
6. Heat or ice treatments.
7. Medications, including pain relievers, autoimmune medications and steroids. Drugs will be prescribed based on the type of arthritis you have been diagnosed with.

Arthritis is a chronic disease, and the primary goals of treatment are to slow the progress of your symptoms and to manage the pain associated with this disorder. BI syndrome in Chinese Medicine means stagnation or blockage of something in joints or damage in joints. Acupuncture is one of effective tools to relieved the pain by unblock the stagnation. Be sure to consult your doctor and explore both complementary and traditional treatments, which have been known to help provide significant relief for sufferers. It may take some time to find the right balance for you, but once you do, you can certainly minimize the effects of the condition.