By Dr. G Mohan, Sr. consultant – Orthopedics & Joint Specialist, Fortis Hospital, Vadapalani
There is no shortage of diseases in today’s hectic lifestyle. With aging the ailments increases. One such issue is knee pain. People suffer from arthritis irrespective of age. The joint is where the bones meet in our body. The six most important joints are the shoulder, elbow joint, wrist, knee joint, hip joint, and foot.
Why joint pain?
‘Joint pain’ refers to all the sensations such as discomfort, pain, fatigue, and swelling that occur at the above-mentioned joints. Most people think that arthritis is normal and do not take it seriously. But any pain that is unnatural should not be ignored.
We all think that “joint pain” only affects the elderly people. But it is not the disease of old age. As age grows, the severity of joint pain increases together with the other disorders. People with problems such as obesity, heredity, sedentary lifestyle, hormonal changes in women beyond the menopausal period, tuberculosis, diabetes, and weakened immune system will have joint pain. Its vulnerability may increase over time if not treated properly. Pain can occur in the knee joint, hip, spine, neck, shoulder, and wrist. The most common of these are hip pain, neck pain, knee joint pain and shoulder pain.
In chronic arthritis the pain sensation will gradually increase over a period of time. Therefore, diagnosing the problem at initial stage and treating accordingly will reduce the severity in the future. For example, you need to exercise daily and keep your weight under control for better bone health. At the same time, you need to be aware that which bodily movements increase the pain and reduce stress on joints. We need to reduce activities like frequent sitting and getting up and climbing stairs if those increases the pain.
What are the symptoms?
- Warm, swollen, and tender joints
- Joint stiffness that lasts long after you are inactive for some time
- Fever, excessive sweating, weight loss
- Spasms, redness of the eyes
- Severe joint pain for more than a week
- Fatigue, finding difficult to climb stairs
When you face these issues or symptoms, it is advisable to meet a doctor for appropriate treatment to get better.
How is it diagnosed?
The doctor will look the patient’s ‘medical history’ to confirm for any other physical ailments other than joint pain. Accordingly, physical examinations may be recommended. In addition, an X-ray will show if there are any abnormalities in the bone; and a blood test will look for infections.
Why women affected the most?
The hormone ‘estrogen’ helps in the formation of ‘cartilage’ which act as lubricant between the joints. When hormone secretion is reduced, it will reflect on the joints. The secretion of estrogen reduces every month due to the menstrual cycle in women. Women who attained menopause stage will have less secretion of estrogen. Therefore, the risk of developing joint pain is high. Women are more likely to be obese due to hormonal changes with age and arthritis is normal among the obese women.
Therefore, women need to be very careful about their health. Importantly, body weight should always be kept under control. Should engage themselves daily in physical activities like walking, cycling, or swimming.
What is the solution?
Necessary rest is more enough to cure any minor joint pains that can be cured in a day or two. For pain that is not subsided within couple of days then medical examination and consultation are required.
Joint pain can also be the side effects of tuberculosis and diabetes. If so, they will be treated to control respective illness or disorder. Excessive pain in the spine and hips may be because of the problem called ‘ankylosing spondylitis’. Medications and surgery are the cure for this. Joint replacement surgery will be prescribed to those who are at the last stage of hip and knee arthritis .
The latest solution for severe joint arthritis is kinematic knee replacement. In this, it is customized to position knee with an aim of fixing pre-arthritic joint lines and axes of the patient’s knee. The anatomic, kinematic alignment technique have a consistent advantage over the mechanically inclined total or partial replacement alignments. Each patient has a specific set of rotational axes. Kinematic alignment approach provides better functional outcome by adjusting to the specificity of the rotational axes compared with mechanical alignment.
