INFLAMMATORY ARTHRITIS TREATMENT

They are potentially toxic and should not be relied on without nutritional, herbal and energy medicine support.

The inflammatory process in general

One type of inflammatory arthritis is gout. People who have this are painfully aware of these features. An attack of acute gout is so painful that a person sometimes cannot even stand the bedclothes touching the part.

The inflammation process is an essential part of fighting germs which manage to get past our first line of defense and invade our body. It is also involved in the healing of injuries.

In these circumstances, it is mostly short lived and should mostly be left alone and not treated.

You can rest or splint the inflamed part. Bacteria can be attacked with antibiotic.

The inflammation itself can also be treated, and this is very useful in some circumstances¹, but this needs careful consideration by your doctor.

Inflammation is always uncomfortable. It can be valuable or damaging.

Inflammation in your knee joint.

The swelling is above the knee cap.It may be caused by excess synovial fluid in the joint cavity, or by the swollen inflamed joint tissues themselves.

Just to complicate matters, this same process can cause increased fluid in your knee joint, but it is usually a very small effusion in this case.

An example of anti inflammatory treatment is the use of cortisone injection into an infected knee joint, at the same time as giving intravenous antibiotics. This reduces the damage to the joint caused by the germs, but mediated by the inflammation.

Inflammation is mediated by your immune system.

Rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s disease are two examples, involving joints and intestine respectively. The swelling and pain in these conditions appears to serve no useful purpose.

Benefits and limitations of modern drug treatment

bDMARDS are the ants pants, but horrendously expensive and only by injection. Methotrexate, leflunomide, salazopyrine, plaquenil and low dose prednisolone are often effective and much cheaper.

This is a link to a very good site by a specialist in the field of inflammatory arthritis. As a result of modern drug based treatment inflammatory arthritis should no longer cripple people.

As always, however, it is best to also work out what is causing the problem and deal with that as well.



The following analogy will show the deficiency of relying exclusively on the first mentioned approach.

You’re driving along in your car and a red light on the dashboard flashes. It’s the oil light. What do you do? You would probably stop at the next gas station.

Would you... buy a small spray can of paint, and carefully spray over the red light, then happily drive off down the highway?

I’m sure you wouldn’t. You would at least top up the oil, and as soon as possible find out if you are leaking and from where.

That is exactly what is being done, however, when the only treatment is aimed at reducing inflammation and not seeking the cause.

Rheumatoid arthritis needs early diagnosis, careful followup

Any persistently painful, swollen joint is a good reason for a checkup. The problem in the foot is that the swelling may not be very obvious.

Symmetrical joint involvement and prolongued morning stiffness are good indicators.

X-rays of both hands and feet may show early bone erosion of the metatarsal heads (ball of foot) especially. Blood tests may show inflammation or positive "specific" tests² for rheumatoid. None of these is likely to make the diagnosis, or make it early enough.

It is a clinical diagnosis, based on your story and the clinicians examination of your joints.

Assessment of the disease activity on follow up, needs to include your opinion, blood test results and the doctors findings - all three together.

When anti inflammatory treatment is often not needed

Simple analgesics, temporary rest, muscle stretching and strengthening exercises will often suffice here.

Notes and references

2. The RA test is positive in 10% of the healthy population, so a positive result is more likely to be from a healthy person than a person with rheumatiod (which is less common, even if the test is positive more often in them.)

Dealing with possible causes of your inflammatory arthritis

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