What are the care measures for arthritis?

The core of arthritis care is actually to focus on reducing joint wear, alleviating inflammatory reactions, and maintaining joint function. There is no universal solution. It must be flexibly adjusted based on your arthritis type, onset site, and course of the disease. If you rely on folk remedies, it will easily aggravate your symptoms.

Last week, I met a 52-year-old Aunt Wang in the rehabilitation clinic. She has knee osteoarthritis for three years. She heard from a neighbor in the community that "climbing more stairs can wear off the bone spurs." She insisted on climbing 20 floors a day. After half a month, the pain was so painful that she even had to go downstairs to buy groceries. When she came, her knees were swollen like swollen white bread. It took nearly 20 ml of fluid to recover. This is a typical pitfall of care.

Many people go to extremes as soon as they are diagnosed with arthritis. They either think they need to completely rest and lie down without moving, or they force themselves to practice "grinding the joints" vigorously. In fact, both of these methods depend on the situation. If you are in the acute stage and your joints are red, swollen, hot, and painful even if you don't move, you must try to rest the affected joints as much as possible. If you have knee arthritis, don't stand or walk for a long time or carry heavy objects. Wear a supportive knee pad every day to share some pressure on the joints. If you have arthritis in your fingers, don't wring out towels or open cans tightly to give the inflammation enough time to subside. After the acute stage, when the redness and swelling subside and only hurt when you move, you have to start moving slowly. Don’t choose activities that have a strong impact on the joints such as running, jumping, climbing, or climbing stairs. Swimming, slow walking on flat roads, and sitting on a chair to repeatedly straighten your legs to practice quadriceps are all suitable. If you think about it, the joints are like old bearings that have been used all year round. They will rust faster if they are not used for a long time. Appropriate gentle exercise is equivalent to lubricating the bearings, which can delay aging. I once had a 70-year-old patient who had knee arthritis for almost 12 years. He walked slowly for 20 minutes and squatted against the wall for 1 minute every day. Now he does not need to hold the railing when going up and down the third floor. He is in much better condition than his neighbor who was diagnosed at the same time.

Many people also ask whether they should pay attention to their diet. This actually depends on the situation. The advice on the Internet about avoiding seafood, beer, and high-purine foods is only for patients with gouty arthritis. For ordinary osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, there is no need to avoid dietary restrictions. Instead, you should supplement more protein and calcium to enhance muscle and bone density. There is also the highly controversial ammonia sugar, which is not useful for everyone. Mild to moderate osteoarthritis, or arthritis caused by sports injuries, may be able to relieve discomfort. If it is severe and the joint spaces are so narrow that they are close to each other, it will be useless no matter how much you take. Don’t waste your money.

You should also pay attention to small details in daily life. For example, when wiping the floor at home, don’t squat down. Use a small stool to sit on and do it. If the toilet at home is too short, you can add a booster pad. You don’t need to squat too hard when going to the toilet, which can reduce the pressure on your knees by half. When it's cold, don't expose your knees or ankles just to look good. It's really not the feudal concept of the elders that the pain will be aggravated by the cold. Low temperature will constrict the blood vessels around the joints, and inflammatory metabolites cannot be discharged, so the pain will naturally be severe. Keeping warm properly can really save you a lot of suffering.

If the pain suddenly worsens one day, or the joints become swollen and feel hot to the touch, don’t just apply plasters or take extra painkillers, and quickly find a doctor to adjust the plan. Nursing is originally a means of auxiliary treatment, but don’t treat it as a treatment method. If it delays the condition, it will become more troublesome.