The joint pain produces from any joint, the area where two or more bones meet. It is also called arthritis or arthralgia. Joint pain can become more severe, when you move your joint, or it may worsen more to use your joint. Many cases of joint pain can be handled accurately at home.
Diagnosis
- History: you will be asked questions for reducing the number of potential causes.
- Physical Exam: It helps in finding, if the pain produces from the joint itself or associated with nerve root impingement in the spine and nerve entrapment in the limb. Below are few tests, your doctor may ask you for
- Erythrocyte sedimentation Rate (ESR or sed rate)
- C-reactive protein (CRP)
- Complete blood count
- Uric acid level
Causes
Inflammation because of arthritis is the reason of joint pain. Below are the examples of arthritic causes of arthralgia
- Gout (Type of arthritis occurred by a buildup of uric acid in the joints)
- Osteoarthritis
- Reiter’s syndrome
- Rheumatoid arthritis (chronic autoimmune disease specified by joint inflammation
- Septic arthritis (infectious arthritis)
Traumatic Causes of Arthralgia
- Broken bones
- Abnormal location of bones
- Herniated disc
- Injury occurred because of extra use of joint
- Weakened fragments of bone or cartilage in the joint space
- Nerve entrapment or pinched nerve
- Repetitive motion disorders
- Stress fractures
- Sprains and strains
- Tendon rupture
Symptoms of Joint Pain
Most common symptoms of joint pain are:
- Confined mobility of the joints
- Feeling of burning
- Feeling of itching
- Numbness
- Pain or tenderness
- Stiffness of body
- Swelling or Redness
- Unusual sensations
Symptoms that signal hazardous conditions:
- Acute joint pain
- Bone protruding from the skin
- Development of joint deformity
- Fever which is not associated with flu symptoms
- Infections and vaccinations can also be the reason of joint pain
- Severe bleeding
Treatments
For mild nature joint pain there are treatments
- Heat and ice
- Rest
- Stretching exercises
- Medication, which cope with inflammatory
For acute nature of joint pain these treatments are helpful
- Physical therapy
- Steroid injections
- Joint aspiration
- surgery
For more information regarding Joint Pain and how it should be treated, feel free to call our office at (815) 464-6166.