If the joints of the arms and legs hurt, what should a person do in such a situation? Of course, the very first thing that comes to mind is to contact your local therapist at the clinic, and he will figure out what's what: he will prescribe tests or refer you to some specialist. However, many of us know how difficult it can be to make time to go to a medical facility, because for this you have to take time off from work, then, most likely, sit in line there or prepare a certain amount of money for a visit to a paid medical center.
In general, people have a lot of arguments in favor of self-treatment at home. And it is not so rare that it really helps. Well, in our article you will find several folk recipes that help with joint pain of a different nature, as well as a list of pharmacologicaldrugs specifically designed to solve these problems. But first, we advise you to take the next chapter of our story seriously.
Importance of correct diagnosis
Asking everyone they meet: "If the joints of the arms and legs hurt, what should I do?", people often do not understand that the pain that worries them can be the initial stage of a serious illness, the development of which can be stopped or slowed down at the initial stage, when the destructive processes in the joints have not yet gone too far.
Carrying out self-treatment with the help of lotions, rubbing, poultices, etc., a sick person puts his he alth at considerable risk. After all, home remedies are not at all that safe and may be contraindicated in some diseases.
For example, there is an opinion that there is nothing better than warming up to quickly solve joint problems. But that's not the case at all! If the disease is accompanied by edema, acute inflammatory processes occur in diseased joints, a local increase in temperature is observed, then exposure to heat on the problem area can only aggravate the situation. If the joints of the arms and legs hurt, the causes, symptoms, treatment regimens should first be discussed with specialists (rheumatologist, orthopedist or traumatologist).
We are not going to blame folk remedies here: they can be a great help in the fight against various diseases, but only after the doctor putsthe correct diagnosis and will give recommendations on what can benefit the joints and what will harm.
Various causes of joint pain
Why joints hurt and what to do in these cases, it will be much easier to understand if you know about the causes of aching, cramps in the limbs and limitation of their motor functions. Here are some of the most common joint diseases:
1. Rheumatoid arthritis. A chronic disease in which inflammatory processes in the connective tissues are observed. Typical symptoms accompanying arthritis:
- Pain in one or more joints increases gradually, within one to two weeks, or may occur suddenly. At rest, the pain intensifies, especially in the morning.
- Rheumatoid arthritis can affect both large joints of the arms and legs (wrist, ankle, elbow, knee), and small joints of the feet and hands. Inflammation of one joint is called monoarthritis, several - polyarthritis.
- One of the symptoms of the disease in question is the limitation of the mobility of diseased limbs during the first hours after waking up in the morning.
- The disease is accompanied by a noticeable increase in joints, reddening of the skin in the problem area and increased sensitivity.
2. Rheumatism. With this chronic disease, all organs (heart, kidneys, lymphatic system, etc.), including the joints, are gradually affected. The process can take many years. It is very important to start treatment as early as possible. Oneone of the most characteristic signs of incipient rheumatism is just joint pains that occur periodically, sometimes accompanied by fever and swelling.
3. Arthrosis. A disease associated with dystrophic-degenerative changes occurring in cartilage, with a gradual involvement of bone, ligamentous, synovial tissues in the pathological process. The most common arthrosis of the knee, hip and elbow joints. Main symptoms:
- the main symptom is pain that occurs when moving or putting pressure on the diseased joint;
- gradual limitation of mobility. If the disease is not treated in time, the process can progress rapidly, which will eventually lead to disability.
4. Injuries, bruises, physical overload of the joints.
5. Gout is a type of arthritis.
The joints of the arms and legs hurt: what to do?
Let's outline the main steps to take consistently in case of joint pain:
1. Before finding out the causes of pain, one should try to provide rest to the joints.
2. Take some non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (a list of such drugs is published in our article below).
3. Contact a medical institution to find out the causes of pain.
4. Get detailed recommendations from the doctor regarding the treatment regimen and drugs to be taken, as well as consult about alternative methods of treatment, ifyou are going to use them.
Arthritis treatment
Arthritis is most often severe pain in the joints of the hands. What to do in this situation? The patient must understand that treatment will require a number of complex measures. After all, it is necessary not only to relieve symptomatic pain, but also to slow down the inflammatory process, restore normal blood flow in the affected tissues and cartilage, etc. For this, the doctor may prescribe, in addition to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, also taking antibiotics. We, within the framework of this article, can give one excellent recipe from traditional medicine.
With arthritis, a honey-cabbage compress helps very well. You need to do it before bed. It is necessary to take a fresh cabbage leaf, heat it, grease it with a thin layer of honey and apply it to the sore spot with the smeared side. The compress is covered with cellophane on top, bandaged and wrapped in a warm wool scarf. In the morning, the patient will certainly feel relief.
The role of proper nutrition
The joints of the legs and arms often hurt due to metabolic disorders in the body. Gout disease is one of the varieties of arthritis, a frequent companion of modern people, especially it torments the stronger sex. Probably, everyone has heard such a term: "deposition of s alts in the joints." Some people read that it's all about ordinary table s alt, but it's not.
With gout, uric acid s alts are deposited in the joints, and this is due toconstant consumption of meat, fatty fish and alcohol. Smoking also contributes to the development of the pathological process. If the joints of the fingers and toes are very swollen and sore, then perhaps the discomfort indicates the presence of gout.
This disease is easier to prevent than to cure. The main recommendation for disease prevention is proper nutrition. Nothing complicated: you need to introduce more vegetables, cereals from whole grains, fruits, cottage cheese into your diet and give up tobacco and alcohol libations.
Osteoarthritis. Treatment
Today quite a lot of people complain that they have pain in the joints of their arms and legs. What to do if the pain is caused by arthrosis? Here, too, most likely, you can not do without NSAIDs: they will help to quickly alleviate the pain. A consultation with a doctor is required. You will need to take an X-ray - it will help the doctor determine the degree of destruction of the joints.
In the treatment of arthrosis, along with anti-inflammatory drugs, an important role is played by the intake of chondroprotectors (substances that restore articular cartilage). Can be prescribed drugs "Artra", "Chondroitin sulfate", "Chondrolon", "Teraflex", "Struktum", etc.
A good alternative natural chondroprotector is ordinary gelatin, which can be purchased in stores. This product should be diluted in warm water and drunk several times a day. And for the fastest restoration of cartilage, it is recommended to cook homemade jelly or aspic more often, it also containslarge quantities contain natural substances from which cartilage tissue is built.
Pharmaceuticals
Several times when we mentioned the question "what to do if the joints of the arms and legs hurt" in our article, we wrote that pain and inflammation are well relieved by anti-inflammatory nonsteroidal drugs, abbreviated as NSAIDs. In the treatment of joints, ointments from this group are very effective. Here is a small list of such medicines:
- "Nise";
- "Movalis";
- "Nurofen";
- "Indomethacin";
- "Quickgel";
- "Ibuprofen";
- "Finalgel";
- "Diclofenac";
- "Voltaren gel", etc.
For severe pain, go beyond topical ointments and take highly effective NSAIDs in tablet or powder form:
- "Nimesil";
- "Piroxicam";
- "Ketorol";
- "Upsarin UPSA", etc.
Physiotherapy
With persistent excruciating joint pain, the doctor may consider it necessary for the patient to undergo any physiotherapy:
- UHF;
- phonophoresis or electrophoresis;
- UV irradiation;
- magnetotherapy;
- transcutaneous electrical stimulation;
- paraffin baths and applications, etc.
Treatment of joints with ointments prepared according to folk recipes
Continuefurther consider the main topic of the article: "What to do if the joints hurt?" Self-prepared ointment treatments can be a great addition to treatments prescribed by your doctor. What are these remedies and how to make them?
1. Ointment for rheumatism. To prepare it, you will need 100 g of mustard powder and 200 g of table s alt, which must be mixed with each other, and then add so much kerosene to the resulting mustard-s alt mixture to get a mass similar in density to rustic sour cream. The medicine is rubbed at night into sore spots.
2. Ointment for arthritis from honey and egg yolks. An egg yolk is taken, a bar of beeswax (small) and 1 tbsp. l. honey. First, the yolk is heated in a water bath, into which the wax is then crumbled and honey is poured. Everything is mixed to make a homogeneous ointment. For application, a piece of gauze folded in several layers is taken, a hot mass is laid out on it, and in this form the drug is applied to the joint and well fixed with a bandage.
3. Ointment for the treatment of joints with arthrosis. Nettle leaves, juniper berries (green) and sheep's butter are taken in equal proportions. Berries and leaves are finely crushed in a mortar and then combined with oil. The finished ointment should be rubbed into the joints in the mornings and evenings.
Activated charcoal treatment
There is a simple but effective way to treat joints with gout. This requires activated charcoal. From this tool it will be necessarycook pasta. This is done as follows: tablets from several packs of coal are ground into powder, to which a little water and 1 tbsp. a spoonful of crushed flaxseed. After thorough mixing, the sore joint is smeared with paste for the night, after which it is bandaged and wrapped warmer until the morning.
Clay treatment
Here is another great folk method of healing if the joints of the legs and arms hurt. We have already discussed the causes and treatment of many diseases and found out that different diseases should be treated differently. But there is an almost universal recipe - these are compresses, baths, clay wraps, which can be used for arthrosis, arthritis, and rheumatic pains. Clay perfectly soothes pain, relieves inflammation and swelling, sucks out toxins from the body, etc.
Physical education and sports: good or bad for joints
Those who are too keen on sports loads often have joint pain. What to do if your knees and ankles hurt after long exhausting runs that seem to be done in the name of he alth? Start by rethinking your lifestyle. Any excess is harmful - this statement can be attributed to sports.
In order to save oneself from the feeling of constant discomfort in the area of the joints of the legs, sometimes it is enough for a person to just reduce physical activity. Jogging or walking (for older people), morning exercises, yoga, and swimming are well suited to improve he alth. From everythinglisted joints are unlikely to hurt. On the contrary, such physical education will fill them with strength and endurance.
Closing word
We hope that the information in this article will help those who have pain in the joints of their arms and legs. Diseases and methods of treatment, folk recipes and a list of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs - all these materials were carefully studied by us beforehand and only then posted for public viewing. Use this information for your he alth, and may your joints always be in good shape!
