All about arthritis

All About Arthritis

What is arthritis?

The word arthritis is used to describe pain, swelling and stiffness in a joint or joints. Arthritis isn’t a single condition and there are several different types¹.

Types of arthritis

The two most common types of arthritis are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

Osteoarthritis is the most common type. It most often develops in the over 40’s and is more common in women. First it affects the cartilage that lines the joint. This makes movement more difficult causing pain and stiffness. Once the cartilage lining starts to roughen and thin out, the tendons and ligaments have to work harder. This can cause swelling and the formation of bony spurs called osteophytes. When there is a high level of cartilage loss this can lead to bone rubbing on bone which can change the shape of the joint forcing the bones out of their normal position².

Rheumatoid arthritis is an auto-immune condition. An auto-immune condition is where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks the body’s healthy tissues, such as the joints, causing inflammation. Inflammation is a normal part of the bodies immune response to fight infection. However, in rheumatoid arthritis the inflammation and extra fluid in a joint can cause the following problems

Symptoms of Arthritis³

The most common symptoms of arthritis involve the joints. Depending on the type of arthritis, signs and symptoms may include:

Pain
Stiffness
Swelling
Redness
Decreased range of motion

How might arthritis affect my life?

If you have arthritis, you may notice that every day activities are harder for you due to pain or inflammation. It’s important to know what changes you can make to make your day to day life easier and more manageable.

What changes can I make?

There are simple changes you can make throughout your home, garden and work life to make living easier.

Start by making small changes. For example, to avoid bending down too much, move sockets higher up, use a reaching stick and attach a basket to the back of your letter box.

Make gripping things easier by swapping to pull cords rather than switches, invest in contour grips and plug grips to make removing them easier.

If you need more tips for adapting your home, Versus Arthritis have a great list of suggestions to make your home more accessible if you suffer from joint pain or arthritis.

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/living-with-arthritis/your-home/

How can I ease my joint pain?

Exercise

If osteoarthritis causes you pain and stiffness, you may think exercise will make your symptoms worse.

However, regular exercise that keeps you active, builds up muscle and strengthens the joints usually helps to improve symptoms⁴.

Losing weight

Your weight has a big impact on your joints. Extra weight increases the pressure put on your joints, especially your knees, hips and feet. Reducing the amount of pressure on your joints can improve your mobility, decrease pain and prevent future damage⁵

Pain relief medication

Paracetamol can be used for pain relief while ibuprofen is used to reduce both pain and inflammation.

When joint or muscular pain flares, choose Flarin

Flarin 200mg Soft Capsules are indicated for the relief of rheumatic or muscular pain, joint pain, back pain and for the pain relief of non-serious arthritic conditions, caused by swelling, stiffness and inflammation of joints. It can also be used for the relief of neuralgia (sharp pain along nerves), dental pain, period pain, feverishness and cold or flu symptoms.

Flarin’s complex manufacturing process heats lipids, ibuprofen and other excipients together to create a unique patented formulation. Lipids are used to aid absorption. They are known to pass from the stomach into the small intestine where they are absorbed through the lymphatic system.

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It was very effective and calmed the inflammation down”

Sharon

Flarin Patient Information Leaflets