Common Symptoms And Treatment For Arthritis
Understanding the symptoms and treatment for arthritis can be the key to caring for your adult parent in your household. More than forty million Americans suffer from this crippling disease. With the trend toward caring for adult parents in your own home, it can be important to understand symptoms and treatment for arthritis.
The Symptoms
The two most common types of arthritis are rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. As a result of that fact, it is likely that if your parent suffers from arthritis, chances are good they suffer from one of those two forms. The primary symptom in both of these types is joint pain. It can however, cause weight loss, fatigue, and anemia in some older adults. If they have a more severe form of arthritis, you may notice other symptoms.
The Treatments
There are a variety of treatment methods for arthritis. Treating this condition, though, is done on an individual basis, so just because you may have heard about breakthrough treatments on the news, your parent may not be eligible for them. Talk to your parent's doctor about the best way to treat his or her pain. The doctor will most likely recommend nonsteriodal anti-inflammatory drugs as a first defense against arthritis. The severity of your parent's condition will determine whether you get the over the counter version of this medication or the prescription version. One of the most common forms of this type of medication is ibuprofen. If these don't work, you will have to move toward other treatment methods.
Read more about symptoms and treatment for arthritis throughout the other articles on our site. In several articles, we detail both standard arthritis therapies and alternative therapies to help you and your aging parent deal with the effects of arthritis. More reading will only help you to understand the progression of the disease.
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