Most of the time your GP will notice that you’re having issues if you’re honest about your symptoms each time you visit your doctor. They may send you to an orthopaedic doctor if they feel they can’t treat you without a specialist. Some doctors might send you to a rheumatologist even though you don’t have rheumatoid arthritis.
If you’re experiencing pain, stiffness, tenderness, and swelling, you really should seek medical care before trying home remedies so that you have an accurate diagnosis. To properly diagnose arthrosis, your doctors will decide on the type of tests they conduct but in general, they may do the following.
Gather Your Medical History
Your doctor will look at your medical history. If you’ve had many complaints about your joints such as stiffness, tenderness, swelling and pain, your doctor can be pretty sure about whether you may have some type of arthritis.
Ask for Your Parental History
Your doctor may also want to know your parents’ medical histories. The reason is that arthrosis is often genetic. If both your parents have it, you’re very likely to have it too. Knowing your parents’ history is another way to eliminate other issues.
Conduct a Physical Exam
Most doctors will conduct a physical exam, paying close attention to your joints and looking for signs of tenderness, redness, pain, and swelling. It’s important to tell your doctor anytime you feel pain when they’re touching you. That way they know what is happening to your body. Don’t try to be strong.
Order Blood Tests
Blood tests can rule out other types of arthritis such as testing for the rheumatoid factor, cyclic citrullinated peptide, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and others. This will help to rule out other issues.
Conduct Joint Aspirations
If you have swelling, your doctor may numb the affected area and (using a needle) withdraw fluid from the joint that is causing the pain. They examine the fluid looking for crystals that show joint deterioration.
Order X-Rays
Often, X-rays can show damage and changes to your bones and cartilage. Electromagnetic waves of high energy are passed through materials to show certain parts of your body inside of you.
Order an MRI
Magnetic resonance imaging is also a great way to view the cartilage and other structures in your joints to help determine whether you have abnormalities consistent with arthrosis. This test uses a magnetic field and radio waves to make pictures of your organs and other structures of your body.
Your doctor will look at your family history, medical history, and perform a physical examination and order diagnostic tests depending on what they think you have. You may get lab work consisting of blood tests as well as imaging tests to help come up with a proper diagnosis. You may have to see multiple specialists to rule out other problems, but in general, arthrosis is not hard to diagnose.
What To Do and NOT Do When You Suffer from Arthrosis
If you’ve discovered that you suffer from arthrosis, then you are not alone. About 350 million people are affected by some form of arthritis. Arthrosis is a form of arthritis often called OA or osteoarthritis, characterized by wear and tear on the cartilage that protects the joints.
Do Know Your Genetics
OA is a genetic condition that can be passed down. If your parents have it, chances are that you’ll get it too. If you know this from day one, you can work harder to maintain good posture, a healthy weight, and good nutrition that is healthy for your joints.
Don’t Assume You’re Doomed
Just because you know that you have a genetic component, doesn’t mean you’re helpless. You can choose to eat right, exercise, and take care of yourself. This may help you avoid the worst of the condition.
Do Eat a Healthy Diet
There are a lot of confusing messages out there about which diet to use. Adding more sulfur-containing foods can help because they have a reparative effect on your bones, cartilage, and connective tissue. Not only that, they also aid in absorption.
Foods that have more sulfur are foods like arugula, coconut milk, cruciferous vegetables, dried fruits, garlic, and legumes. Stay away from processed foods and add more plants to your diet, such as vitamin K-rich leafy greens.
Another food type that is good to add to your daily regimen is bromelain-rich foods like fresh pineapple. You can eat it or juice it, but it should be eaten fresh and raw – not canned, frozen, or cooked.
Don’t Eat Processed Food or Certain Compounds in Otherwise Healthy Food
Avoid food that contains solanine such as eggplants, white potatoes, and tomatoes. Solanine interferes with certain enzymes, causing pain and discomfort. Don’t eat any food with nitrates in it. Often this is found in foods like lunch meat. Read your labels. But also avoid processed food, too much fat, and sugar so that you can maintain a healthy weight which will help you fight the condition better.
Do Exercise
The type of exercise you should do depends on where you are with the condition. But most of the time low-impact exercise such as water aerobics, swimming, cycling, or elliptical training will be okay. The best exercise for anyone with pain is anything you can do in a pool.
Don’t Do High Impact Exercise
Don’t run at all. Don’t do anything that requires jumping and landing on your feet. Even rebounding might not be a good exercise for you. Walking on hard surfaces can be difficult too. Try to get some good shoes such as Crocs or Skechers that are made to help with impact. Anything that pounds on your joints can be dangerous. Stationary bikes are probably better than riding outside on a regular bike too, just because you won’t hit potholes or otherwise impact your joints.
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