Arthritis is a common condition that causes pain and inflammation in a join.

Arthritis is of many different types, but the most common type of arthritis is Osteoarthritis, it affects mostly after the age of 40 and women are more prone to it. This is caused by wear and tear of the joints.

Common symptoms of Osteoarthritis include joint pain, tenderness and stiffness, restricted movement of the joints, warm and red skin over the affected joint.

Risk factors are excessive weight, previous injury to the joint.

Now let’s talk about managing your arthritis pain, there are number of ways through which you can reduce your pain:

1) Hot Pack / Cold pack, you can buy this from any medical shop.
2) Reduce weight/Eat Healthy, consult a Nutritionist for the same.
3) Learn Strengthening exercises for the muscles surrounding affecting joints. Your Physiotherapist can help you learn these exercises which you can adapt in your daily routine.
4) Learn range of motion exercises from your Physiotherapist, this will help in keeping your muscles and ligaments flexible.
5) Using joint support such as braces, splints, show inserts for the affected joint. Consult your Orthotics regarding joint support, they may be able to advise you the best support as per your individual need.
6) Do not sit/stand in one posture for long duration, try to balance activity with rest
7) Swimming/Aquatic exercises are another best exercise for arthritic knee and hip joints.

Exercise is the best non-drug treatment for reducing pain and maintaining joint stability for patients suffering with Osteoarthritis, all you need to do is learn the correct set of exercises to be followed at home.

If arthritis is in sever stage and has affected the day to day activities of patients then the last option to treat arthritis is the Joint replacement surgery (when affected joints are hip, knee or shoulder) to allow better quality of life. MeraPhysio has a network of world renowned surgeons who can provide a video call consultation to you.