"Doctor Dai, the medicine you gave me last time, are anti-inflammatory painkillers, I don't dare to eat. Nothing else?"

In fact, anti-inflammatory painkillers are an important weapon in the treatment of degenerative arthritis. Most people think that anti-inflammatory painkillers can only treat symptoms. In fact, anti-inflammatory painkillers are helpful in delaying the deterioration of arthritis.

Patients with degenerative knee arthritis. When the pain occurs, the knee is usually in an inflamed state. These inflammatory reactions will bring more inflammatory factors, make the inflammation more serious, and further damage the articular cartilage, forming a vicious circle. The use of anti-inflammatory drugs is to cut off this vicious circle.

In fact, the moderate use of anti-inflammatory painkillers is a safe treatment.

Treatment for degenerative arthritis, there are four common forms of anti-inflammatory painkillers:

External anti-inflammatory painkiller
External medicines such as sore patches, sore creams, and chili creams fall into this category. If the pain is relatively mild, you can stick it or rub it in an uncomfortable place. This type of dosage form is directly absorbed into the affected part through the skin to achieve anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects. Although the effect of absorbing drugs on the skin is limited, the analgesic effect is not as good as the oral dosage form, but it can reduce systemic side effects (such as the effect on the stomach).

When using a topical patch or ointment, pay attention to whether the skin has an allergic reaction. If itching or redness, stop using it immediately. If it is serious, go to the dermatology clinic.

Acetaminophen and traditional anti-inflammatory painkillers
Acetaminophen is a commonly used "Pu Na pain", which is a fairly safe analgesic. There are not many side effects, it will not cause stomach discomfort, and it will not affect kidney function. Even pregnant women and children can use it safely and do not need a doctor's prescription.

Acetamine can relieve mild to moderate pain. The same ingredients in the market are 500 mg each. For healthy people, the safe dose is 6 to 8, but if you use it within a day, use 3~ 4 painkillers are not good enough, you need to consider other drugs.

Inflammatory and analgesic drugs (NSAIDs) such as Ibuprofen, Naproxen, Diclofenic, Voren are long-established old drugs. It blocks the inflammatory response in the body and reduces joint swelling and pain. Proper use can control arthritis and prevent inflammation from causing further damage to the joints. A common side effect is gastritis, so consider using a combination of stomach medicines. Excessive or excessive use may cause stomach ulcers or affect kidney function. Patients with a history of gastric ulcer or poor renal function need to be "very cautious" to use such drugs.

When using these drugs, you should also pay attention to allergic reactions. If you are allergic to one of the anti-inflammatory analgesics, the possibility of allergies to other anti-inflammatory painkillers is high.

COX-2 specific inhibitor
COX-2 specific inhibitor is a new generation of anti-inflammatory analgesic, which has good anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects, and has fewer adverse reactions such as gastric ulcer and upper gastrointestinal bleeding induced by traditional anti-inflammatory analgesics. COX-2 specific inhibitors are mostly long-acting and need only be eaten once a day.

The advent of these drugs is really a good news for patients with sensitive stomach, which greatly reduces the incidence of gastric ulcer, stomach bleeding, and perforation. Patients with degenerative arthritis are large and chronic, and the use of these drugs is safer than traditional anti-inflammatory analgesics. Celecoxib (Celebrex), Etoricoxib (Arcoxia) belong to this category. Due to the high price of medicines, health insurance is only conditional.

It should be noted that long-term use still affects kidney function.

Intra-articular injection of steroids
This treatment is suitable for patients with "acute pain episodes." Intra-articular injection of steroids has been shown to be effective in relieving short-term joint pain.

Some people will be scared when they hear "steroids" because they have heard many terrible side effects, such as the moon face, buffalo shoulders, etc. In fact, the side effects of these steroids are mostly caused by long-term use of "oral or intravenous" steroids. This type of steroid, which is applied to the joints, does not affect other parts of the body and is a safe treatment.

The course of degenerative arthritis is good or bad. Sometimes there is a "acute pain episode". If you take a lot of medicine, you still can't control the pain. "Intra-articular injection of steroids" can effectively inhibit the inflammatory reaction in the joints, reduce the use of oral anti-inflammatory analgesics, and reduce the side effects caused by a large number of medications.

This treatment is only for "acute pain episodes" and is not suitable for frequent application. Excessive use of steroids can have adverse effects on cartilage and ligaments in local joints. In addition, if there is a bacterial infection in the joint, the use of steroids may make the infection worse.

Anti-inflammatory painkillers are a powerful tool against degenerative arthritis. When using these medicines, they must be evaluated by a professional physician to measure the pros and cons.

The author of this article is: Da Dawei, Department of Orthopaedics, Chengda Hospital (Orthopaedic specialist, bone Obsessive specialist, medical engineering doctor, CrossFit 1 sports coach, expertise: degenerative arthritis, osteoporosis, minimally invasive artificial joint surgery. The relevant content is for reference only and does not constitute a therapeutic recommendation.
This article is from: https://bonedavid.com/1902/