Joint Pain or Bone Pain.
Researchers tell that nearly one-third of the adult population experiences pain in their joints or their bones. The frequency varies depending on your lifestyle, weight, and ailments. Areas that suffer this kind of pain are the weight bearing regions and the regions that face repetitive motion. Lower back, knees, shoulders, neck, hips, and ankles are the chief sufferers.
What is a Joint?
Joint is a link or connection made between bones to provide functionality to the skeletal system on the whole. There are movable and immovable joints. Movable joints are knee, jaw, neck, hip, elbow, wrist, etc. They are frictionless joints and bear the load of the body and its movements. The joints between the skull bones are immovable joints.
Areas likely to suffer joint pain
– Neck or the top of the neck.
-Jaw it is called TMJ
-Knees. A significant number of adults complain about this pain.
-Hip
-Lower back- the pain is associated with the sacroiliac joint. About seventy-seven percent of adults suffer from persistent back pain.
-Elbows, wrist, fingers- Caused sometimes by diseases like Carpel tunnel syndrome.
-The shoulders.
-The ankle and feet.
Reasons for Pain
- Posture- Our faulty posture causes duress to out backbone, neck, and shoulders. This single cause can induce pain in the neck, shoulder, and back.
- Old age- With advancing age the production of collagen that cushions the joints and keeps it oiled or frictionless decreases. It causes deterioration in the joints and thus the pain.
- Arthritis or osteoarthritis- A condition in which inflammation of joints occurs due to complex neurophysiological processes. This inflammation cause pain in the joints.
- Insomnia- Sleep helps the body do its repairs. Lack of sleep causes extra wear and tear that leads to pains.
- Injury- Accidents and Injuries also add to the joint pain.
- Viral infections and autoimmune disorders- Viruses like dengue cause joint pain. Autoimmune disorders like rheumatoid arthritis hurts the joint tremendously.
How to cure Joint pain?
Now that we know what a joint is and why the joints experience pain, it is time to figure out how to cure joint pain. Honestly speaking joint pain is more of a chronic issue and we have to work to keep the joint damage to the minimum. It will also help in keeping the pain in check
NSAIDs and topical ointments and analgesic sprays help release the joint pain symptoms to a great extent, but the effect is temporary. Sometimes steroid injections also help but again they are taken under a doctor’s guidance.
There are some natural remedies that we can follow to help relieve joint pain.
Epsom salt bath– Epsom salt is rich in magnesium and sulfates. They get absorbed into the skin right away and reduce the inflammation. Epsom salt compresses can be made by dissolving it in water and then soaking a towel in this water. Using this as a compress also reduces joint pain considerably.
Hot and cold packs– Alternate between hot and cold pack on the site of the pain helps reduce swelling and relieve joint pain.
Getting enough movement and exercise– Our posture and our sedentary lifestyle is also responsible for joint pains. To keep the muscles and joints strong you need to put them to work. The stronger they, less prone to the pain they will be.
Disorders like osteoporosis make the bones brittle and joints tender. In such cases, calcium and vitamin supplement can be of help. Collagen supplements and vitamin supplements also maintain the health of your joints and bones.
Reduce weight if needed. It will automatically help the back pain shoulder, neck and knees. The lesser weight the body has to carry, lesser will be the stress that it will encounter.
Final thoughts on Joint Pain
Joint pain is a widespread problem among adults and is mostly resultant of some underlying issue. It is essential to look into those issues than treating the symptoms. Reducing weight, increasing calcium, vitamin, and collagen intake, doing joint exercises can help your cure the joint pain. Always be careful to take your doctor’s opinion before starting anything new. Joints need extra care so giving them that and they will keep you moving longer.