In your youth, you never thought about how much you relied on your joints for mobility, flexibility, and completing day-to-day tasks. One of the primary ways people notice their body is aging is joint pain and stiffness, often caused by arthritis. At Palm Tree Interventional Pain Management in St. Cloud, and Kissimmee, Florida, Jason Song, MD, PhD, provides effective solutions for arthritis. To learn more, including your treatment options, call the office today or book an appointment online.
Arthritis is a term that encompasses hundreds of joint conditions. Each of these conditions centers on joint inflammation.
This swelling results in joint tenderness and stiffness, which typically increases over time. Untreated arthritis can damage your joints, and the resulting pain can be debilitating.
The two primary types of arthritis are rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. They each affect your joints in different ways.
An improper immune response in your body causes rheumatoid arthritis. Your immune system attacks the synovial membrane, a connective tissue that lines the surface of your joints.
This attack causes the synovial membrane to become inflamed. Eventually, rheumatoid arthritis can advance to causing the cartilage and bone of your joint to break down.
Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis. It results from the breakdown of cartilage, the coating at the end of your bones where they meet to form joints. Cartilage allows your bones to glide against one another as your joint moves, but it wears down over time.
As wear and tear damages cartilage, your bone loses its cushion. Without sufficient cartilage, bone grinds directly against other bone. This is painful and can damage your bones and connective tissue.
There isn’t a cure for arthritis, but Dr. Song can work with you to alleviate your joint pain and restore your quality of life. He tailors your arthritis treatment to you, your specific type of arthritis, and your lifestyle goals.
Dr. Song typically starts arthritis care with conservative options, such as:
If your arthritis symptoms don’t respond to conservative treatments or your pain is disabling, Dr. Song might recommend surgery. Common surgical procedures for arthritis include synovectomy, arthroplasty, or arthrodesis. These therapies often involve removing a portion or all of your affected joint and, sometimes, fusing bones together with metal wires or screws.
To get started on arthritis treatment, call or schedule your appointment online.
