What are the care measures for arthritis?

For arthritis patients, the core nursing logic can be summarized as reducing the burden on joints, stabilizing physical condition, and preventing symptoms from worsening. There are no fancy operations, it is all about small details in daily life. If you stick to it, you can significantly relieve discomfort.

I met 62-year-old Aunt Zhang when I was doing rehabilitation missionary work in the community. She was diagnosed with knee arthritis three years ago. At first, I heard people say, "the more it hurts, the more you need to practice." She had to climb 20 floors and walk 10,000 steps every day. Within half a month, the pain was so severe that she had to struggle to buy groceries. When she went to the outpatient clinic, she already had mild synovitis. In fact, in the acute stage of arthritis, when the joints are red, swollen and hot, the most important thing to do is to work less. Don’t carry it to do housework or walk long distances. Try to hold on to the handrails when going up and down stairs to share the pressure. For overweight people, even if they only lose 3-5 kilograms, the pressure on their knees will be reduced by 20 or 30 kilograms. It is equivalent to walking with half a bag of noodles, and suddenly taking off the noodles, the burden on the joints will be relieved.

Of course, it does not mean that you have to lie down completely to recuperate if you have arthritis. This is also a misunderstanding of many people. They think that moving will wear down the joints, so they simply sit at home every day without moving. As time goes by, the muscles atrophy, but they cannot help the joints share the pressure, and the pain becomes worse after taking two steps. When there is no obvious pain during the remission period, you can do some low-load exercises, such as swimming, squatting against the wall, sitting on a chair and stretching your legs. To strengthen the muscles around the joints, it is equivalent to putting a layer of elastic pads on the joints. Most of the impact of daily walking, going up and down stairs can be removed by the muscles, and the effect is longer than wearing hard knee pads.

When changing seasons to cool down or use air conditioning, remember to put a thin jacket or knee pads on your joints. Don't face the cold wind. The joints themselves are afraid of cold. When the blood vessels are frozen, the wastes of inflammatory metabolism cannot be discharged, which can easily induce pain. There are currently different research conclusions on diet. Some scholars believe that high-sugar, high-purine, and high-fat foods will aggravate the body's inflammatory response, and ordinary people should eat less. Others believe that unless it is gouty arthritis, ordinary degenerative osteoarthritis does not require strict dietary restrictions. In fact, it does not need to be too extreme. Drink less iced milk tea, less heavy drinks, and eat more foods rich in protein and vitamins. There is no harm in it.

Don’t believe those folk medicinal wines that claim to be able to “cure arthritis”. I treated a patient last year and heard from a neighbor that a folk medicinal wine could cure arthritis after applying it for more than three months. However, the pain in the joints was not relieved. Instead, a large rash developed due to allergies, which delayed the opportunity for formal intervention. If the pain becomes more and more frequent, or the joints have become deformed or limited in movement, don't hold on to it. See a doctor in time to adjust medication or perform rehabilitation intervention. It is much more reliable than trying random methods at home.

Oh, by the way, there are still many people who are confused about the timing of hot and cold compresses. If the joint has just been sprained, or is red, swollen and hot in the acute stage, just wrap an ice pack in a towel and apply it for 10 minutes, which can quickly relieve the swelling and pain.； If you are just sore and stiff at ordinary times, use a hot water bottle or warm compress for 15 minutes. Don't make it too hot, it will loosen it up a lot. If you do it the other way around, it will easily aggravate the discomfort.

In fact, arthritis is a typical chronic disease, and there is no one-size-fits-all approach to care. All you need to do is pay more attention every day, and you will be able to stabilize your condition over time, and it will basically not affect your normal work and life.