What are the arthritis care issues?

At present, in clinical and daily home settings, the most prominent problems in arthritis care are mostly misunderstandings caused by cognitive biases, rather than difficult problems at the operational level.

Last week, I picked up a 62-year-old Aunt Zhang at the rehabilitation clinic. She was diagnosed with degenerative knee arthritis three years ago. I heard from the "health guru" in the community that the joints became more flexible with wear and tear. She climbed 20 floors every morning and evening to "exercise" for more than three months. Finally, she was helped in by her daughter. Her knees were swollen like steamed buns. The MRI showed that the cartilage wear was a full degree heavier than half a year ago. In fact, there are many people like Aunt Zhang who fall into the trap of sports care. Some people think that if they have arthritis, they have to stay completely still and lie in bed every day to rest. Eventually, the muscles atrophy while lying down, the stability of the joints becomes worse, and it hurts even if they move a little. At present, there is no absolutely unified standard for exercise recommendations for patients with arthritis in the academic community. It depends on the degree of joint wear and tear. For patients with mild to moderate arthritis, they can do more strength training that does not wear the joints, such as swimming and squatting against the wall. For patients with severe arthritis, it is necessary to reduce weight-bearing exercises and do not hold on to exercises.

Many people rush to take supplements as soon as they get arthritis, stuffing bone broth, ammonia sugar, and chondroitin into their stomachs. There is also a lot of controversy here: for patients with mild to moderate degenerative arthritis, supplementing with medical-grade ammonia sugar does have a certain effect in relieving symptoms. However, if it is gouty arthritis, drinking bone soup every day will increase uric acid and induce acute attacks.； If you have reached severe arthritis where the entire thickness of the cartilage is worn away, no matter how much amino sugar you eat, it will not make the cartilage grow back. It is a waste of money.

There are also many people who believe that arthritis requires "covering up tightly". They dare not turn on the air conditioner in the summer and wear thick knee braces all year round. There was a 28-year-old young man who sprained his knee while playing basketball and developed traumatic arthritis. He wore thick pressurized knee braces year-round for fear of catching cold. After half a year, the quadriceps on the affected side became two centimeters thinner than the unaffected side. The muscles were weak and could not support the joints, so they would get stuck and hurt from time to time when walking. Being cold will indeed stimulate synovial contraction and edema, aggravating the pain. However, wearing knee pads that are too tight for a long time will limit muscle strength, which is not worth the gain. Just don’t blow cold wind directly on the joints in daily life. It is also best to only wear knee pads when going out and walking, and take them off when sitting or lying down at home to allow the muscles to move normally.

There are two common extremes when it comes to medication: either you are in pain and refuse to take painkillers for fear of dependence and hurting your stomach, or you take them when it hurts, regardless of dosage and frequency. Both of these have problems. Non-steroidal analgesics do have a certain risk of gastrointestinal irritation, but if you are in so much pain that you can't sleep or walk normally, and you still insist on not eating, it will lead to muscle atrophy and decreased joint mobility because you are afraid to move, entering a vicious cycle of "the more it hurts, the more you move, and the more you move, the more it hurts." If you follow your doctor's advice and take it as needed, the risk is actually very low.

All in all, arthritis care is really not that fancy. The most important thing is not to blindly copy other people's care methods. After all, everyone's arthritis type and severity are different. When you are not sure, ask an orthopedic or rehabilitation doctor, which is much more reliable than passing home remedies or neighbors' experience.