Arthritis is a condition of joint inflammation which can affect one or more joints throughout the body. The two most common types of arthritis are Rheumatoid arthritis and Osteoarthritis. This mostly affects the joints but if systemic, it can affect the skin and other body parts. Inflammation is on the rise nowadays with the rise in stress, unhealthy diet and bad lifestyle habits.
Osteoarthritis is a wear and tear joint disease where the changes in the joint can lead to pain, inflammation and malfunction. This most commonly develops in knees, hips, hands and spine. Osteoarthritis is more common in the elderly population, as well as sports players that overuse certain joints, depending on the type of sport.
While osteoarthritis is more of a ‘wear and tear’ situation and non systemic, Rheumatoid Arthritis is a systemic auto-immune condition. This occurs when the bodies immune system has a shift and attacks it’s own body cells. This is more common in women (75% of the diagnosis are in women). Rheumatoid arthritis can affect joints on both sides and systemically affect skin, eyes, lungs and other organs. This can start at any age but typically starts later in life.
While conventional treatment may ease the pain, it takes more than pain medications to address the inflammation aspect and autoimmunity. Luckily, naturopathic medicine is great at treating arthritis and autoimmunity using evidence based natural medicine approach.
Signs and symptoms of arthritis can be different depending on the joint and the type of arthritis, but here are some common ones:
Inflammation can migrate and move in the body, hence why it can affect different joints and organs (especially if it has an autoimmune component).
Dr. Tali does a comprehensive blood work in order to check the levels of all inflammatory markers as well as autoimmune factors. She will be communicating back and forth if you have a Rheumatologist working with you. Remember, just because inflammatory markers are ‘normal’ within range, doesn’t mean it’s optimal.
While arthritis doesn’t have one specific cause, it is associated with aging, joint overuse, genetics and in athletes.
Other risk factors include:
Your diet, stress levels, sleep and lifestyle have a direct impact on the inflammation levels in your body. That’s why it’s important to address lifestyle factors as such in order to target inflammation from all aspects. Inflammation levels may also influence the severity of the pain or progression.
Naturopathic medicine is great at helping managing arthritis pain and inflammation. Dr. Tali uses evidence based medicine to help with inflammation reduction and pain management. This will be done with the use of herbal medicine, acupuncture, Chinese medicine, supplements, nutraceuticals, diet, nutrition and lifestyle modifications. Treatment will be individualized to your body and needs, as no two bodies are the same. Treatment goals include pain management, inflammation reduction, improvement of joint mobility and range as well as improved quality of life.
If you are on medications, Dr. Tali will check for interactions and will communicate with your medical doctor if your goal is to remain on them, reduce dosage or come off of them.