DR. SYLVESTER IKHISEMOJIE FROM PUNCH
We saw last week how arthritis started, what factors might make you likely to develop the problem and the various types of arthritis that have been diagnosed in human beings.
However, that is not the only extent of the scale of the problem; it is an incomplete picture without the necessary discussion about the various treatment options available for dealing with the various types of arthritis and how the diagnosis is made.
The focus of treatment in this debilitating condition lies with relieving symptoms and improving joint function. Most of the time, it is important to try out various modes of treatment or combinations of treatments before a determination can be made about the best option for each person. Therefore, it is important to understand that treatment for this condition is very much individualistic.
There is no single formula that works for everyone and for every case. Exercising is an important addition to treatment due to its ability to increase the range of motion across an affected joint, strengthening the surrounding muscles and improving blood flow to the joint and the drainage effected by the veins. Furthermore, the use of braces and splints may also be warranted while in those people at an advanced age, it may be wise to confine them to a wheelchair so that mobility can be safely maintained.
Specifically, some of the treatments include the use of medications, physiotherapy which could easily become a vital part of recommended exercises as well as surgery which must be seen as a last resort to be employed when every other option has failed. Some of these options employed in the treatment for a variety of arthritis include the following:
1) Medications in use for the management of arthritis are of different types which have been proven to help reduce pain, inflammation, and joint damage. Some examples are analgesics which include medications such as paracetamol, indomethacine and acetaminophen. Indomethacine is popular in much of the country as “ogun ekute” or rat medicine due to its potential to kill rats by inducing troublesome bleeding in them. The next group of medications are the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which include ibuprofen and naproxen. There are some much stronger NSAIDs, of course, which include medications like meloxicam, diclofenac and celecoxib. However, these latter medications are notorious for causing epigastric pain and heart attack in addition to their potential to induce intestinal bleeding. As a result, they are not suitable for long-term usage. Then, there are the corticosteroids, which include drugs such as prednisolone that act to reduce inflammation in the affected joint and slow the pace of joint damage. This class of drugs may be administered as a tablet or an injection into the joint. The use of this group of medications is not without its problems for they can cause weight gain, thinning of the bones and diabetes.2) There are disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), which can slow the progressive nature of arthritis and save the joints and other tissues involved from permanent damage. It is warned that in addition to the medications that belong to this group, there are others classified as biologic agents that are also known to positively affect the traumatic effects of arthritis. There are also targeted DMARDs which are synthetic preparations for injection into the joints. The uniform drawback of these injections is that they increase the likelihood of the patient coming down with a joint infection. As we discussed last week, a joint infection is called septic arthritis, and its effects can be truly damaging. To be sure, in the treatment of septic arthritis, there is often no alternative to operating on the affected joint in order to get rid of the infected fluid within it. In these cases, therefore, an operation comes even before the drug treatment once the proper diagnosis has been made.
