Joint pain can be extremely painful and unsettling. It is a symptom of many health conditions ranging from mild to severe. Out of the bunch, arthritis is one of the most common causes of joint pain. Managing it at an early stage prevents the condition from getting worse and reaching the surgery stage.
What is joint pain? Here’s a quick overview!
A joint is a juncture where two ends of the bone meet. It’s similar to a bridge connecting two sides of the city. Some of the areas that are considered as joints are knees, shoulders, elbows, and hips. A joint gives you the freedom to move without any pain and move your body flexibly.
Now, when a joint gets damaged due to accidents or ageing, you’ll experience inflammation. This is the origin of joint pain. Some of the most common areas where you’ll evidently feel joint pain are -
- Knees
- Hips
- Hands and feet
- Spine
Joint pain can occur at one or many places across the body varying on the severity of an issue.
In this article, we’ll cover some of the leading reasons for joint pain.
Rheumatoid arthritis
When we talk about arthritis, Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic autoimmune disease where you might experience untimely intense pain in the joints. It is considered severe because your own immune system starts attacking the muscle tissues and causes inflammation & joint pain. You will experience pain in joints such as -
- Fingers
- Ankles
- Wrists
- Hands
- Knees
- Toes
- Feet
Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis. It occurs due to the degradation of cartilage tissues caused by general wear and tear or injuries. Obesity, High cholesterol (hyperlipidemia), and diabetes are also some of the leading causes of sore joints.
You’ll experience joint pain due to Osteoarthritis when the cartilage tissues between your bones start to degrade and your bones start rubbing against each other. Thus, making it difficult for you to walk, run, or do even the simplest of task. Osteoarthritis most commonly affects the following joints -
- Hands
- Neck (cervical spine)
- Hips
- Knees
- Lower back (lumbar spine)
Gout
Gout is another form of arthritis that develops primarily due to swelling and pain in the joints. The condition occurs due to the buildup of uric acid in your body, especially in the joints. Gout is an inflammatory condition where you’ll experience bouts of joint pain. It comes and goes at any given time.
The high levels of uric acid and sharp crystal clumps are bonded - causing intense pain in the joints. One point to note is that temporary high levels of uric acid in the body ideally don't cause gout. Here are some foods that are extremely high in uric acid and are at the source of this painful arthritis condition.
- Sugary drinks and sweets
- Alcohol
- Organ meats
- Certain seafood such as scallops, herring, mussels, tuna, codfish, trout and haddock
- Turkey
- High fructose corn syrup
- Gravy and meat sauces
Bursitis
Bursitis is a condition that occurs primarily because of swelling in a small, fluid-filled sac called a bursa. It is cushion space surrounded around bones and other tissue. In general terms, bursa is like a bubble wrap that is responsible to protect your precious cargo, bone structures in this case, safe and sound. Irritation and swelling in the bursa causes bursitis and it may develop suddenly or over time.
You’re most likely to develop Bursitis in these parts of your body -
- Shoulders
- Elbows
- Knees
- Feet
- Hips
Tendinitis
Whenever your tendons (strands of connective tissue found between muscles and bones that let you move) experience swelling or irritation, tendinitis is formed. It occurs primarily when your tendons have been injured. You’ll experience extreme soreness and pain in your affected joints. Tendinitis is either short-term (acute) or long-term (chronic).
Some of the most common types of tendonitis known to us are -
- Tennis elbow
- Swimmer’s shoulder
- Pitcher’s shoulder
- Golfer’s elbow
- Runner’s knee (jumper’s knee)
The most common areas where you’ll experience the symptoms of Tendinitis are -
- Base of your thumb
- Shoulder
- Hip
- Elbow
- Knee
- Achilles tendon
How to Manage Joint Pain
To prevent joint pain or at least manage it better, there are several ways that help you with the same. Some of the key ways to manage joint pain better are -
- Maintain a healthy weight by checking your body mass index (BMI). If you’re overweight or obese, shed those extra kilos because every 1 kg adds approximately 4 kgs worth of pressure on your knee joints.
- Indulge in physical activities like normal walking, low-intensity exercises (under trainer’s supervision), gymming, and cycling. However, do not strain your joints.
- Use ice packs to increase the blood flow in your joints. Apply them for 15 minutes at a time throughout the day.
- Use braces to provide support to your joints.
- Eat healthy foods that are anti-inflammatory in nature. This will help in easing out your joint pain.
These are some of the leading reasons for joint pain that everyone must know about. You can trust in three60 arthritis care combo that is curated to take care of your joint health. The more you become aware about how to take care of your joints, the better will be your well-being.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q) What deficiency causes joint pain?
A) Some of the most common deficiencies that sudden joint pain causes are lack of vitamin D, vitamin C, calcium, omega-3, and magnesium in the body.
Q) When should I worry about joint pain?
A) If you start experiencing symptoms such as persistent pain in the joint, stiffness, swelling, redness, tenderness, fatigue, and instability, then you might’ve joint pain.
Q) How can joint pain be cured?
A) Whether or not the joint pain can be cured, it’s dependent on the underlying root cause. Ideally, joint pain can be relieved or managed but it cannot be cured.
