Things to Know About Arthritis Care (Part 6)
The typical situation of a patient with knee osteoarthritis would show the following: elderly female, often overweight, with some form of deformity.
Moreover, the patient usually suffers from a “mechanical” knee pain, characteristically felt on initial standing from a prolonged sitting position.
Unlike rheumatoid arthritis, the patient does not have any systemic manifestations.
Osteoarthritis of the hands typically appears as Heberden’s and Bouchard’s nodes.
These are more likely to cause cosmetic impairment.
MANAGEMENT OF OSTEOARTHRITIS
Non-Pharmacologic interventions include of osteoarthritis include the following:
-Heat and cold treatments
-Joint protection
-Exercise
-Analgesics
-Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
-Intra-articular steroid
-Intra-articular hyaluronate -Disease-modifying drugs
MANAGEMENT OF KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS would include the following: >Nonpharmacologic methods
>Pee joint & intraarticular steroids
>Acetaminophen
>Use of low-dose ibuprofen or non-acetylated salicylates
>If inadequate, use of full-dose non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs with gastric protectants
>If inadequate, joint lavage
>Surgery
(More of this in our next issue of the paper).