Joint pains can be acute or chronic. It can be due to a relative benign condition such as a muscle sprain or ligament stretching which is usually an acute form of joint pain, and subsides after simple treatment. Chronic joint pain can be due to more serious condition such as arthritis and gout.
Often chronic joint pain becomes a debilitating condition, person who suffers from it feels weak and depressed in a long run. Chronic joint pain can be moderate or severe; sometimes there is flare up of pain after a period of remission as is seen in rheumatic arthritis.
There are several reasons for chronic joint pain, in order to determine the right cause, a proper history and evaluation is necessary.
Causes Of Chronic Joint Pain
Chronic joint pain can involve any body joint. Knee joint, hip joint, spinal bones, elbow and finger joint are some of the joints which can produce chronic pain.
- Arthritis: it is one of the common causes for chronic joint pain. There are two types of arthritis, osteoarthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis.
- Osteoarthritis is a degenerative bone disease which usually involves large joints such as knee joint and hip joint. Osteoarthritis is an aging process, and it usually sets in after 40 years.Women and men are equally affected. Obesity increases the risk of osteoarthritis.
- Rheumatoid arthritis is an immunological condition common in women as compared to men. There is inflammation, redness and pain in the affected joint. Any joint can get affected in rheumatism, finger joints, knee joints, hip joint are the common joints to get affected.
- Obesity: it adds extra pressure on the weight bearing joints leading to strain and stress to the muscles and ligaments of those joints. Knee, hip and spine are generally vulnerable to chronic pain due to extra burden of a person’s weight.
- Doing high impact exercise before warm up exercise can result into lasting joint pain.
- Osteoporosis: makes the bones brittle. Joint pain and bone pain are common in osteoporosis.
- Other medical condition such as fibromyalgia and lupus disease can cause chronic joint pain.
Natural Remedies For Joint Pain And Stiffness
There are various modes of treatment, modern day medications, alternate therapies such as aromatherapy, massage; homeopathy, yoga and meditation etc.
- Natural supplements and dietary changes are also effective in relieving the pain in chronic joint problem.
- Many times braces and supports are helpful in relieving neck and back chronic pain.
- Rest and dietary changes are useful in rheumatoid arthritis.
- Physiotherapy is useful to strengthen the ligaments and muscles supporting the joints.
- Warm water baths, massage with essential oil is an effective home remedy for chronic joint pain and stiffness.
- A cup of papaya seed tea three times in a day is useful remedy for getting relief in arthritis and chronic joint pain.