Joint Inflammation
1. SYMPTOMS, CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES
Joint inflammation usually develops in case of overload or injury or even after surgery. It is also common among athletes. It can also be caused by gout or an autoimmune disease (like rheumatoid arthritis). Some of its characteristic symptoms are pain, warmth and stiffness of the joint. The most important symptom is pain which patients’ everyday life a misery. Medication can only mitigate the symptoms, but it is the cause that has to be treated, otherwise it is very hard to completely eliminate pain.
2. TREATMENT OF JOINT INFLAMMATION
Treatment of Joint Pain with Conventional Therapy
Non-steroidal pain medication: Either prescription or over-the-counter drugs, to be taken regularly or periodically. They burden the stomach (e.g. nausea, vomiting) and the liver (e.g. abnormal liver function values) seriously, but the patient information leaflet also mentions headache or dizziness as possible side effects.
Dietary supplements for cartilage repair: These over-the-counter products are effective in cartilage regeneration, but some of them are overpriced, and they are often wrongly recommended by specialists in misdiagnosed cases (e.g. ligament inflammation). They need to be taken regularly, otherwise the regrown cartilage will wear off again.
Patches: Transdermal patches saturated with anti-inflammatory substance for local treatment. They are quite expensive to use and also not very effective, not to mention that they fall off easily (especially in case of perspiration) and make personal hygiene difficult to maintain.
Steroid tablets and injection: Very strong and nearly always efficient painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs, with equally strong side effects. As they contain hormones, they impact the hormonal system as well: according to the patient information leaflet, they can cause e.g. menstrual disorder and a wide range of other side effects (peptic ulcer, cardiac arrhythmia, high blood pressure, seizures and more).
Physiotherapy: ultrasound, electrical treatment etc. These methods are quite efficient, but many treatment sessions are required. Considering today’s healthcare system, it is hard to get this kind of treatment, and patients are usually prescribed less treatment sessions than they should receive in order to get healed. Another difficulty is that patients have to fit the treatment schedule in their lives.
Therapeutic exercises, massage: It is very important to get the joints moving, especially in case of rehabilitation after surgery. Many people avail of massage just for relaxation and recreation purposes, although it can also loosen up spastic muscles, and it can be used in combination with manual therapy for the correction of abnormal bone and joint positions. However, it cannot heal joint and ligament inflammation. In the long run it is costly, and many patients find it difficult (not least because of their pain) to visit a good specialist regularly, sometimes in another city or district.
Thermal spas, balneotherapy: Here patients can also receive physiotherapy, therapeutic exercises, massage etc. Hungary has several high-level balneotherapeutic facilities. However, patients may find it to leave their home for 2-4 weeks, spending their holiday in a spa, or going on sick leave. Of course, it is not cheap either.
The therapies mentioned above are ways treat joint pain without surgery. Sometimes, however, they can prove unsatisfactory, so a jointbsurgery cannot be avoided.
3. HOW CAN SAFE LASER HELP?
Laser therapy performed with Safe Laser, developed as a result of a 40-year-long medical laser research, has pain relieving, inflammation reducing and biostimulating effects on the irradiated area.
In case of musculoskeletal problems, long-term irradiation has been observed to regenerate damaged joints, muscles and ligaments, resulting in the mitigation or even termination of complaints.
In order to reduce joint pain, we treat the joint as well as the tense muscles that move it. Thus we can also reduce the pain radiating into the joint.
In case of joint inflammation, it is recommended to use Safe Laser 500 Infra, which offers an efficient treatment for joint inflammation as well as cartilage wear.