Joint pain

Joint pain

Pain in joints and muscles are common ailments that can be caused by both injury or underlying disorders such as rheumatic diseases. Joint pain can be alleviated with painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs.

What is joint pain?

Joint pain can appear in many different places on the body, and can affect several joints at the same time. Typical areas for joint pain are in the knees, hips, finger joints and back. The pain usually occurs when the joint is strained or moved.

The pain can be transient or chronic. In the case of chronic joint pain, there is a high probability that there is an underlying rheumatic disease. Joint problems can affect all age groups, but the elderly make up the largest patient group. More women than men are affected by the most common rheumatic diseases.

Causes of joint pain

There are several causes of joint pain. In most cases, the pain in the joints is caused by injury or an underlying rheumatic disease. Rheumatic disease is used as a collective term for various musculoskeletal diseases that affect bones, joints, tendons and muscles, and which are not caused by an external injury. Rheumatic diseases can have different symptoms and vary from patient to patient, and there are over 200 rheumatic diagnoses. Increased life expectancy, changed lifestyle, weight and inactivity may be some of the explanations for the overall increase in joint and muscle complaints.

• Injury: Injuries from sports or other physical stress can lead to temporary swelling or pain in joints. If pain or swelling does not go away, a doctor should be contacted.

• Arthritis: Arthritis (rheumatoid arthritis) is a chronic inflammation of joints where the immune system attacks the synovium. The inflammation is caused by the body's own immune system in rheumatic arthritis and psoriatic arthritis. This leads to chronic pain, swelling and reduced mobility in the affected joints.

• Psoriatic arthritis: Similar to arthritis, psoriatic arthritis is a chronic inflammatory condition where joints are attacked by the immune system. Psoriatic arthritis, on the other hand, mainly affects those who already have psoriasis. Compared to arthritis, psoriatic arthritis usually causes milder pain and affects fewer joints. In most cases, the feet and fingers are affected.

• Osteoporosis: Osteoporosis (bone fragility) is a condition where the bones in the body become weaker and break more easily than normal because the bone mass is reduced. This can lead to fractures and increased curvature of the back, which in turn can lead to joint pain.

• Osteoarthritis: Osteoarthritis, or osteoarthritis, is the wear and tear of cartilage and strain on joints. This can lead to joint pain and less mobility in the joint. Osteoarthritis typically affects the elderly, overweight and those with other joint disease.

• Gout: Chronic inflammation caused by uric acid crystals that precipitate out of the blood and into joints, which creates an inflammatory reaction in the joint. Gout most often affects the joint in the big toe, but other joints such as fingers, wrists, elbows, knees and ankles can also be affected.

• Fibromyalgia: Fibromyalgia is a condition with chronic pain in the muscles and joints. The pain can vary from day to day, and you can have good and bad periods. The condition can also cause fatigue and poor sleep. Fibromyalgia is a muscle disease, but the pain in the muscles can be perceived as joint pain.

Symptoms of joint pain

Joint pain can be acute and go away within a few days, or it can be chronic. The symptoms of a joint inflammation will be swelling, pain, stiffness and sometimes warmth. Based on the symptoms, it can be difficult to determine what is causing the pain or inflammation in the joint. The symptoms will also vary depending on the cause behind the joint pain.

Disease course in joint pain

The symptoms of rheumatic diseases often come on gradually, and the disease picture develops over time. Many people find that the complaints vary over time, and that periods of a lot of complaints are replaced by periods of few complaints. There are no medicines that completely cure rheumatic diseases or chronic joint and muscle diseases. But with the right treatment, symptoms and discomfort can be reduced considerably.

Good advice for joint pain

In the case of acute inflammation with joint swelling, the joint should not be loaded before examination by a doctor.

For those with rheumatic disease or chronic joint and muscle pain, it is important to acquire knowledge about the disease, about treatment options and what one should do when dealing with a chronic disease. We know a lot today about how to achieve good health and general condition even if you have to live with a rheumatic disease or other chronic joint pain. Most people can have an active life even if they have joint problems.

Being physically active and normalizing your weight if you are overweight is an important starting point for achieving the best possible health in chronic disease. Exercise is often an effective way to relieve the pain. At the same time, normal physical activity and exercise can have beneficial additional effects and a preventive effect. Using support products and insoles can make it easier to be physically active.

Treatment of joint pain

Non-prescription treatment

Anti-inflammatory: NSAIDs are pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory drugs that will be able to reduce the swelling of the joint and at the same time have a pain-relieving effect. Read the package insert and dosage instructions before use. If you have stomach ulcers, asthma, use blood-thinning medication, have kidney failure or are pregnant, you should not use NSAIDs. Read more about NSAIDs and anti-inflammatory medicine here.

Pain relievers: Medicines with paracetamol act as pain relievers and fever reducers. It can be combined with anti-inflammatory drugs if necessary.

Painkillers and anti-inflammatory medicines must not be combined with alcohol.

For rheumatic joint diseases, there is also disease-modifying treatment that slows down the breakdown of joints. Treatment with disease-modifying drugs can only be started by specialists in rheumatic disease. The disease-modifying drugs are often used in combination with symptom-relieving drugs such as anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving drugs.

Sources Norwegian Health Information Technology, Norwegian Rheumatism Association, Felleskatalogen, Norwegian Medicines Handbook