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September 7, 2008 |
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Articles
updated bi-weekly. |
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| Osteoarthritis |
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| December 21, 2004 |
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Article
Osteoarthritis Category: Symptoms
Question: Dear Dr. Rachel,
I have been diagnosed with osteoarthritis with deteriorating discs. I have been prescribed muscle relaxers, flexeril and Ultracet. How does my health future look? Will my discs deteriorate fast or slowly? Does exercise help? Thank you.
Answer: Osteoarthritis is a degenerative disease of the joints. ?Degenerative? means that the cause is believed to be the wear and tear on the joints through daily activity and/or through mechanical imbalance (a chronic limp, scoliosis, or other trouble that causes the joints to be out of alignment). Overall, your health future looks good if this is the only disease you face ? most people do not die of osteoarthritis, although they may require surgery as a result (especially with knee or hip arthritis), and in severe situations they may have trouble with chronic pain. It is unknown how fast each person?s disease will progress, but certain things (see below) are known to aggravate the condition.
Although the medicines you?ve been prescribed help, the cornerstone of treatment is to get regular exercise to strengthen the muscles around the affected joints and help maintain proper alignment. Movement may cause pain but it does not make the condition worse. Avoid being overweight ? excess weight causes increased stress on the joints and does cause further deterioration. If your arthritis can be linked to a certain activity ? heavy manual labor, for instance ? you can slow the progression of the disease by stopping that activity.
The take home message about osteoarthritis is this: maintain a healthy weight and stay active as long as possible. Try putting an ice pack on the affected areas for 10-20 minutes a day to relieve pain, and consider asking your doctor about exercises you can do for your particular situation. Good luck!
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