Chronic Joint Pain
This literature review will be looking at an assortment of scholarly articles available online in order to investigate the effects of different kinds of chronic joint pain, their causes and different methods of treatment with varying levels of effectiveness and acceptance by the medical community.
Chronic joint pain is primarily caused by arthritis, the common name for over 200 diseases and conditions that cause swelling and inflammation of joints and surrounding tissues. The most common forms of arthritis, and the three that will be discussed in this review, are osteoarthritis, gout and rheumatoid arthritis. (Nichols, H, 2017)
Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis, known to affect over a third of American citizens over the age of 65. It is a degenerative condition that occurs in heavily used joints such as the knee and hip, generally later in life.Women …show more content…
Unlike most other kinds of arthritis it is more common in men, as they have a higher concentration of uric acid in their blood compared to pre-menopause women. After menopause, uric acid level are roughly equal. Hyperuricemia is caused by purine rich diets, alcohol consumption and/or chronic lead exposure. It has been noted that there are genetic factors to gout, people with a family history of gout are often more prone to it themselves. Gout is characterised by sudden and intense pain, swelling and redness in a joint, usually a smaller one such as the large joint of the big toe or the ankle. This subsides over 3-10 days. If one does not recieve treatment in about ten years, the gout may cause permanent damage to the joint and become chronic. This is referred to as tophaceous gout. Pseudogout is a similar disease with the same symptoms, but it is caused by calcium phosphate crystals rather than urate crystals and needs different treatment. (McIntosh, J,
Chronic joint pain is primarily caused by arthritis, the common name for over 200 diseases and conditions that cause swelling and inflammation of joints and surrounding tissues. The most common forms of arthritis, and the three that will be discussed in this review, are osteoarthritis, gout and rheumatoid arthritis. (Nichols, H, 2017)
Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis, known to affect over a third of American citizens over the age of 65. It is a degenerative condition that occurs in heavily used joints such as the knee and hip, generally later in life.Women …show more content…
Unlike most other kinds of arthritis it is more common in men, as they have a higher concentration of uric acid in their blood compared to pre-menopause women. After menopause, uric acid level are roughly equal. Hyperuricemia is caused by purine rich diets, alcohol consumption and/or chronic lead exposure. It has been noted that there are genetic factors to gout, people with a family history of gout are often more prone to it themselves. Gout is characterised by sudden and intense pain, swelling and redness in a joint, usually a smaller one such as the large joint of the big toe or the ankle. This subsides over 3-10 days. If one does not recieve treatment in about ten years, the gout may cause permanent damage to the joint and become chronic. This is referred to as tophaceous gout. Pseudogout is a similar disease with the same symptoms, but it is caused by calcium phosphate crystals rather than urate crystals and needs different treatment. (McIntosh, J,