Living with Arthritis

A whopping 54 million people in the United States have doctor-diagnosed arthritis, a number experts predict will rise to 78 million by 2040 as the population ages. Of these numbers, the majority (31 million) grapple with osteoarthritis, a degenerative disease that slowly robs your joints of the ability to move easily and without pain.

Here at Advanced Spine Care and Pain Management, our team of experts, under the direction of Dr. Shailesh (Shay) Pathare and Dr. Sathish Modugu, has extensive experience helping our patients regain pain-free movement in the face of arthritis. From tips for living with arthritis to effective pain management tools, we can help you lead a healthy and active life, free from the bonds that arthritis can place on you.

Here’s a quick look at just some of the techniques that can ease the limitations and discomfort that joint disease presents, no matter what form it comes in.

Your joints are made for moving

The articulating joints in your body are designed to move, and they function best when they’re fulfilling that role. We know that the pain and stiffness that comes with arthritis make exercise seem out of the question, but we urge you to push past these constraints. Moving your body keeps the necessary resources flowing freely through your joints, ensuring that they receive the proper nourishment and care from within.

Exercise also strengthens the support tissue that surrounds your joint, helping to take the pressure off the joint. For example, strong quads and calf muscles can shoulder some of the burden on your knees, spreading the workload out more evenly and taking the stress off of your beleaguered knee joint.

Lastly, remaining in one position for too long allows the inflammation (and stiffness) to take hold. So we urge you not to stay in any position for too long, but get up and move in order to fight inflammation.

On the home front

If you’re dealing with arthritis that’s hindering even the smallest of tasks, like opening a jar of pickles, be kind to your joints by making life a little easier for them. In the kitchen, use automatic can openers rather than handheld openers and try rubber mats or other helpful gadgets to help you open jars.

Take a look around the house and see if there are other ways you can make your life a little better. If your knees object every time you get in or out of your chair, try a chair that’s a little higher up. If getting in and out of the bathtub is tricky, install hand bars that help you ease in and out without relying solely on sore joints. You may even try a stool in your shower to better access the different parts of your body for washing up.

To determine which steps are best for you, note when something around the house causes you pain or discomfort and investigate whether there’s an easy workaround solution.

Stay ahead of your pain

One of the biggest hurdles to living with arthritis is dealing with the pain in your joints. Here at our practice, as our name implies, we have many pain management solutions that restore your quality of life. From prescription medications and anti-inflammatories to joint injections, we can relieve the pain to help you remain active.

And we urge you to seek our help during the earliest stages of arthritis so that we can come up with a plan of action that slows the progression of the disease and keeps you active. But even if your arthritis is advanced, there’s still much we can do to gain the upper hand and help you live better with arthritis.

To learn more, please call one of our offices in Staten Island or Hartsdale, New York. Or use the online scheduling tool to set up an appointment.