The pain associated with Arthritis can be excruciating and debilitating, it can affect males and females, young and old. That is right, arthritis is no respecter of persons, it can affect anybody and with over 100 different forms of arthritis we all know somebody suffering from it.
What is arthritis? Arthritis is a condition that causes pain, swelling, stiffness and inflammation of a joint, however, generally affects more than one joint. Current statistics demonstrate that about one in every five people suffer from some sort of arthritis, the two most common forms being Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid arthritis. As there is no cure for arthritis, sufferers rely on various forms of treatment to relieve their symptoms, this is where Chiropractor Adam Meredith comes in, Adam says he has had great results in arthritic pain treatment in North Sydney at his Spine and Health Centre .
The symptoms of arthritis vary in severity from patient to patient, but generally the common complaints include continual, persistent pain in the joint every time they move; stiffness in the joint; inflammation of the joint which creates swelling which can be quite hot too touch and can become very red in color. Very severe cases can result in loss of flexibility and movement; cracking of the joints as you move (crepitus); deformity and even fatigue and fever. It is certainly worth your while to discuss arthritic pain treatment in North Sydney with Chiropractor Adam Meredith and his team as they are having great outcomes with their clients.
Early signs of arthritis are stiffness particularly in the morning and a constant feeling of wanting to stretch the area. Arthritic pain treatment in North Sydney is focused heavily on Posture.
Poor posture has a big affect on arthritis. Generally the first thing to happen with poor posture is that the head goes forward (usually due to long hours sitting in front of the computer). For every inch the head moves forward the effective weight of the head doubles and the muscles in the neck have to work 10 times harder. This increases the load through the neck joints, creates increased strain and accelerates arthritis.
The problem is further complicated as the rest of the spine compensates for the forward head posture. These compensations (ie other joints in the back bone, and the hips , knees, ankle and feet ) are no longer in the right place, and under go more stress and strain. This then promotes arthritis in these joints. So you can see that the forward head posture can affect arthritis in the feet!
Did you know that if you got a finger joint without any signs of arthritis and then bent it forward and sticky taped it so it could not move for 2 weeks and then x-rayed it you would already see arthritis in those finger joints!
Apart from direct trauma, arthritis occurs when the joints don’t move fully! Having a spine and hips, knees and feet that move properly is a great way to prevent arthritis or slow its progression.
How do our joints work? As we can see arthritis affects the joints, the joint is where the bones in our body meet e.g. knee and elbow and Back bones. As well as the bones, the joint consists of five main parts to help it work and they are the muscles; the tendons; the ligaments; the cartilage and finally the synovial membrane. The joint moves around with the help of muscles, these muscles surround the joint and move in different direction so that the joint can move. A tendon is like a tough piece of cord that joins this muscle to the bone; a ligament is like a large elastic band that bind the bones of the joint together; the cartilage is a smooth material that stops the bones from grating against each other and finally the synovial membrane contains fluid to keep the joint moving smoothly.
If you suffer from arthritis or any of these symptom, once you have received arthritic pain treatment in North Sydney or even pinched nerve treatment in North Sydney by Chiropractor Adam Meredith and his team, they will work very closely with you to develop some life-style changes to assist you manage this condition.