Homeopathy Treatment For Arthritis

What is Arthritis?

Skeletal system including bones and joints are very important for our movement. When these joints are inflamed the condition is known as “Arthritis”. Arthritis is not a single disorder, in fact there are more than 100 types of arthritis but the most common are

Osteoarthritis or degenerative arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis

Other types can include gouty arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and inflammatory or infectious arthritis

Causes

The causes vary depending on the type of arthritis.

Osteoarthritis– It is believed that more than 3% of world’s population is affected by osteoarthritis. As it usually occurs in older ages due to degeneration of joints it is also known as degenerative arthritis. All major joints are protected by a cartilaginous capsule within which there is a fluid called synovial fluid which prevents friction between the bones. When this cartilage degenerates due to old age or other reasons the bones can rub against each other causing friction. It primarily affects the large weight bearing joints like knee, hip etc and as it progresses other joints can also get involved.

The major risk factors for Osteoarthritis are:

Gender-women are prone to get osteoarthritis than men
Age- as the age increases the risk of arthritis also increases
Occupation-involving strenuous physical stress, carrying heavy loads, excessive walking or running can lead to early degeneration
Overweight or obese persons have more risk of developing arthritis
Metabolic disorders like gout, diabetes, thyroid
Positive family history
Injuries to joints

Symptoms:

Osteoarthritis is a slow, chronic and progressive disease. The symptoms include:

Pain and Stiffness of joints
First movement aggravation- it becomes increasingly painful for rising from sitting position or after rest
There may be bony outgrowths called osteophytes. These bony outgrowths may be visible at finger joints
Crackling sound from the joints
Alteration in gait
Restriction in movement of joints

Rheumatoid arthritis– It is an auto immune condition primarily affecting small joints like wrist, finger joints and can later affect all major joints of the body. Being auto immune in nature what triggers such abnormal immune response is not completely understood but it is believed that genetic factors is one of the primary reason for the disorder. Besides genetics environmental factors like stress, smoking and infections are considered as risk factors for Rheumatoid Arthritis. Women are more prone to get this disorder as compared to men, hence certain woman hormones are also suspected to be the cause for higher incidence in females.

Symptoms:

The symptoms include:

Painful, swollen, stiff joints especially early morning and winters
Weakness and malaise
Low grade fever
Red and tender joints
Progressive stiffness of joints
Deformities of joints in progressive cases
Rheumatoid nodules under the skin in some.

If left untreated Rheumatoid arthritis can lead to other complications like inflammation of heart and its membranes, anemia, fibrosis of lungs, neurological complications like carpal tunnel syndrome, peripheral neuropathy etc.