Suffering From Osteoarthritis?

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative condition and while it can occur in anyone, it has been found to affect about 50% of people over the age of 65. With so many people suffering in Baxter from this condition, it has put an economic strain on our health care system costing over $10,000,000 per year. In addition to the massive amount of money spent on osteoarthritis, the disease has been cited as the number one cause of disability in older adults.

Understanding Osteoarthritis in Baxter MN

As mentioned above, osteoarthritis is a degenerative condition that typically results from excessive wear and tear on certain joints. The degeneration associated with this disease primarily affects the cartilage that covers the bones in the joints throughout our bodies. Osteoarthritis decreases the cartilages ability to absorb stress causing it to degenerate faster. As the cartilage degenerates, surrounding stabilizing and supporting structures such as ligaments, tendons, and muscles are overworked often times resulting pain. In the late stages of osteoarthritis, bones may even began to push against each other causing more pain and degeneration. While this disease process can sound frightening and unavoidable, it is important to understand that you can prevent its development and Axness Integrative Medicine has the most up-to-date treatment and preventive measures available.

Osteoarthritis has a predisposition to effect joints that are commonly overworked and overused. These are typically weight bearing joints in the body that have sustained repeated amounts of heavy stress. Therefore, the knees, hips, neck, lower back, big toes, and hands are most commonly affected. However, it should be understood that osteoarthritis can affect any joint in the body. Joints that have had serious trauma or repeated micro-stress due to repetitive labor and movement are more prone to the development of osteoarthritis.

Symptoms Associated with Osteoarthritis

Our doctors at Axness Integrative Medicine have observed a wide range of symptoms in their patients with osteoarthritis, but some have been more common than others. Commonly observed symptoms have included:

• Varying degrees of joint pain that are worse with movement
• Pain with joint movement that is worse after rest
• Swelling and joint enlargement in the joints

As mentioned previously, the hips and knees are a common location for the development of osteoarthritis. Axness Integrative Medicine has observed the following symptoms directly related to knee and hip osteoarthritis:

• Pain that travels from the hip to the groin
• Pain that travels down the thighs
• Aching or stabbing pain in the knees
• Pain in these joints that is worse with cold weather
• Pain in these joints during jogging or running

Osteoarthritis Treatments at Axness Integrative Medicine

Our primary focus of care will be to restore the normal alignment of joints throughout the body. It has been demonstrated through animal and human studies that bones that are not in their proper positions are more likely to degenerate faster and therefore are more prone to the development of osteoarthritis. Since our office looks at all aspects of health, our treatment programs will include various forms of physical therapy, nutritional, and supplemental advice. These forms have treatment have been shown in various studies to prevent and slow the development of osteoarthritis.

Arthritis Q & A