Rheumatoid Arthritis Treatment in Mooresville, NC
What is Rheumatoid Arthritis?
Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is an inflammatory disease that typically affects people’s joints, but can affect other areas as well. If the condition goes untreated, some people may experience issues connected to their skin, eyesight, heart, and blood vessels. RA affects the outer lining of your joints, which can cause your joints to swell up and cause damage to your bones or even deformities if left untreated. Carolina Pain and Weight Loss offers pain management services for patients experiencing pain from rheumatoid arthritis. They will fully evaluate your symptoms to develop a pain management program that is right for you. Contact our pain management office in Salisbury at (704) 637-5767 or our office in Mooresville at (704) 360-4564 for an appointment today!
What Are the Symptoms?
Center for Disease Control and Prevention listed out symptoms of RA that are generally easy to identify and should be treated quickly if the pain persists or worsens. Here are some signs and symptoms of RA:
Joints that feel tender, swollen, or warm to the touch.
Joint stiffness that is at its worst in the mornings or after exercise.
Fever, loss of appetite, fatigue.
Most people with early signs of RA experience pain or stiffness in their smaller joints such as the bones in your fingers and toes. As the disease goes untreated, however, it can spread to your wrists, neck, knees, ankles, elbows, and hip.
There are also some people (less than half of those with RA) who experience symptoms on non-joint related parts of the body, including:
- Skin
- Eyes
- Lungs
- Heart
- Kidneys
- Nerve Tissue
- Bone Marrow
What Causes Rheumatoid Arthritis?
The complicated inflammatory disease known as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterized by inflammation and damage to the joints, as well as possible consequences that may impact the heart, lungs, nerves, eyes, and skin. The immune system’s misguided attack on healthy tissue inside the joints is the fundamental cause of RA.
While the precise cause of this inflammatory reaction is still unknown, scientists think that a mix of environmental and genetic variables contribute significantly to the development of RA. Although certain genes may put people at risk for developing RA, they do not cause the illness directly. Rather, these genetic variables heighten vulnerability to outside factors, such infections from certain viruses and bacteria, which might function as catalysts for the autoimmune reaction.
What Are My Treatment Options in Mooresville?
Currently, there is no cure for RA, but science has come a long way to develop a group of medications known as disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) which are designed to help with remission as long as it’s treated early.
Here are other medication treatment plans your doctor may recommend:
- Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
- Steroids
- Biologic agents
Another treatment option is therapy. One of the providers at Carolina Pain and Weight Loss may recommend that you see a physical therapist who can teach you exercises to keep your joints flexible. The therapist may suggest new ways to do your daily tasks using special tools designed for patients with arthritis. The therapist may also suggest new natural ways to do daily tasks, which will be easier on your joints. For example, you may want to pick up an object using your forearms.
The third treatment option is surgery. Surgery for the treatment of RA may involve one or multiple procedures, such as:
- Synovectomy- the doctor removes the inflamed lining in the joint.
- Tendon repair- the doctor repairs the inflamed tendons causing your joint pain.
- Joint Fusion- surgical fusing together of two joints to stabilize a joint.
- Total Joint replacement- the doctor removes the damaged parts of the joint and replaces it with a metal or plastic prosthesis.
Schedule a Rheumatoid Arthritis Consultation
If you are looking for relief from your rheumatoid arthritis near the Salisbury or Mooresville area, please contact Carolina Pain and Weight Loss today!