ARTHRITIS – An Overview

Many people may feel pain and stiffness in their lives one or the other time. The pain and stiffness are generally seen on their hands, knees and/or hips, as a result of such pains and inflammation, it becomes very difficult to move the joints and hence, our day-to-day activities are highly disturbed. Generally, such pains, stiffness and inflammation are referred to arthritis.

Arthritis is a condition in which, there is a pain and swelling in the joints. Joints are the place where two or more bones meet like elbows or knees. Arthritis can also affect the eyes, skin, other organs and muscles.

Joint contains cartilage in between two bones; it is smooth in nature and acts as cushion for the bones and prohibits the friction of the bones. In case of arthritis, this cartilage gets damaged or narrowed. If anything is wrong in the body, it is indicated by different symptoms and signs. Here it is indicated by inflammation i.e. pain associated with redness. The movement of the affected joint becomes limited and painful. Joint may be tender and warm to touch. Other sign is stiffness of joint wherein the person feels stiffness in morning as she or he wakes up from bed or gets up from the seat where she or he was sitting for long time. The condition becomes worse when there is cold outside. The other symptoms of arthritis are depression and fatigue.

Many of the people think that if they get arthritis then they will feel helpless and won’t be able to take care of their family. They won’t be able to do any work. However, it is not fully true since arthritis can be tackled very well if diagnosed and treated in early stages.

Arthritis are of different types but two most common types include; Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid arthritis. Among them; the commonest type is Osteoarthritis which is mainly caused due to ageing. The joints that are affected more are knees, hips and fingers. Osteoarthritis can also be as a result of some past injury. Many of the times it happens that the man in his young age had a fall and had an injury in hip joint and was cured for that, he may develop arthritis in his hip joint later.

Another type is Rheumatoid arthritis, which is generally caused due to low immunity. Here, not only joints are affected but organs, bones and extremities can also be caught by this autoimmune disease. In RA, a person becomes sick, gets easily tired. There might be repeatedly attacks by various infections because of a poor defense system of his body.

The treatment for arthritis is not available. However, pain and inflammation can be reduced with the help of analgesics and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs but they are not the treatment for arthritis condition. Ayurveda, on other hand, has various breakthroughs for the condition since therapies like ‘Panchkarma’ plays significant role in treating arthritis. Certain herbs such as Guggulu, Sallaki, Ginger, Turmeric, Black Pepper etc possess natural anti-arthritis properties and hence used in various herbal formulas.