As I previously discussed in another post, there are a variety of arthridities and each have various effects on different joints of the body. Arguably, the most common arthritis seen in medical clinics is osteoarthritis.
In non-medical jargon, osteoarthritis is best described as wear-and-tear damage to the joints and is sometimes known as degenerative joint disease. Unlike other arthridities, osteoarthritis is not systemic, and is usually seen in weight bearing joints. There is no specific cause for osteoarthritis but a few factors that can lead to the development of osteoarthritis are injury, overuse, excess weight and aberrant joint motion. What happens in the joint is that the cartilage overlying the bones wears down and degenerates which causes the body to have an inflammatory response to attempt to repair the damaged cartilage. As the wear and tear progresses, the bones themselves start to change and osteophytes can form, which tend to contribute to the pain. To attempt to decrease the inflammation and pain, people use NSAID’s such as Tylenol and aspirin, but what people should be utilizing is chiropractic.
A chiropractic manipulation has multiple beneficial effects to an osteoarthridic joint. First off, it increase the motion of the joint, but more importantly it increases the blood flow and nutrition to the cartilage of the joint. This in turn helps the cartilage regenerate/heal but also decreases the pain that the body perceives. For more information about arthritis and what chiropractic can do for your pain, book an appointment with a chiropractor.