Joint Pain

The joints are the parts of your body where the bones meet. The joints allow the bones of your skeleton to move. The joints form the connections between the bones. They provide support and help you move. Any joint damage caused by illness or injury can interfere with movement and cause a lot of pain.

Examples of joints include:

• Shoulders
• Hips
• Elbows
• Knee

Joint pain refers to discomfort, pain and pain in any of the joints of the body. Joint pain is a common complaint. It does not usually require a hospital visit. Sometimes, joint pain occurs due to an illness or injury. However, it could be due to other conditions or factors.

Symptoms of Joint Pain

In some cases, joint pain will require consulting a doctor. You should make an appointment if you don't know the cause of the joint pain and are experiencing other unexplained symptoms.

 You should also consult a doctor if:

• The area around the joint is swollen, red, fragile or warm to the touch
• The pain persists for three days or more
• You have a fever, but no other sign of flu 

Go to the emergency room if one of the following conditions occurs:

• You have been seriously injured.
• The joint appears deformed.
• The swelling of the joint occurs suddenly.
• The joint is completely immobile.
• You have severe joint pain.

Causes of Joint Pain

Joint pain can be caused by:

• Bursitis or inflammation of the swab around the joints
• Lupus
• Gout
• Some infectious diseases, such as mumps, flu and hepatitis
• Chondromalacia of the patella or cartilage breakage at the knee
• An injury
• Tendonitis or tendon inflammation
• An infection of the bone or joint
• Excessive use of a joint
• Cancer
• Fibromyalgia
• Osteoporosis
• Sarcoidosis
• Rickets

How Joint Pain is Diagnosed?

Your doctor will probably perform a physical exam. They will also ask you a series of questions about joint pain. This can help reduce potential causes.

• An X-ray may be needed to identify arthritis-related joint injuries.
• If your doctor suspects that there is another cause, you can order a blood test to detect certain autoimmune conditions. They may also require a sedimentation rate test to measure the level of inflammation in the body or a complete blood count.

Treatment of Joint Pain

Currently, no treatment is available that will completely eliminate the joint pain associated with arthritis or prevent it from returning. However, there are ways to manage pain:

Home Treatment

• It can help in the use of painkillers or can take non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs to reduce pain, swelling and inflammation.
• Stay physically active and follow a fitness program focused on moderate exercise.
• Stretch before making efforts to maintain a good range of motion in the joints.
• Keep your body weight in a healthy range. This will reduce stress on the joints.
• If your pain is not due to arthritis, you can try taking an unacceptable anti-inflammatory drug, massage, take a warm bath, stretch yourself frequently and rest properly.

Medical Treatment

Treatment options are depended on the cause of the pain. In some cases, the doctor will have to extract the fluid accumulated in the joint area to check for infection or gout or other causes of joint pain. He could also recommend surgery to replace the joint.

Other methods of non-surgical treatment may include lifestyle changes or drugs that can cause remission of RA. In the case of RA, the doctor will deal with the inflammation first. Once the RA is released, medical treatment will focus on maintaining the conditions constantly so as to avoid any epidemic.