Arthritis and arthrosis are often confused, which can be really dangerous as treatment for each disease is really different. This article will help you understand the crucial difference of these two crippling and degenerative disease.
Arthritis
According to National Arthritis Foundation in United States, Arthritis is the leading disease that leads to physical disability around the world. It affects more than 20% of the population of United States from age 50 to 65. Arthritis involves the inflammation of joints, and is often accompanied with stiffness, swelling and warmth which are really painful. Arthritis can result from quite a lot of things such as infection, injury, metabolic disorder, weight issues, and over-activity of immune system.
There are over 100 types of arthritis, but the most common are rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis and gout. Any type of inflammation of joint is considered as arthritis of some type.
Arthrosis
Arthrosis on the other hand, is actually a term for osteoarthritis. It is a degenerative joint disease which does not cause inflammation of the joint, rather cartilage in the joint breaks down as bones meet and crush each other.
Arthrosis actually results from injury, long-term wear and tear of cartilage and aging. This is common among professional athletes in the line of football and basketball, as these athletes often push their legs to the limit in the sport. The disease causes pain and stiffness and can affect any joint in the body, but most the commonly affects the hips, knees and spine.
Both arthritis and arthrosis are really painful. The severity of pain varies from different conditions.
Treatment
Treatment for arthritis and arthrosis are different, though these diseases both affect the joints. For arthritis, the treatment process, therapy and medication may vary on precisely on the condition of the affected joint. Surgery and drug treatment are the common cure for this joint problem. Physical treatment, therapy, pain management and reduction of joint stress are the usual long term treatment to effectively control the pain or even keep the worst from coming back. There are also a number of herbal remedies for treating arthritis, such as Harpagophytum procumbens.
For Arthrosis on the other hand, the treatment and rehabilitation process require rigorous amount of discipline and determination for the patient to be normal again. Physical exercise, and balance between rest and exercise should be always observed. Obese patients should significantly lessen their weight if they want to walk normally again. Treatment for arthrosis should be precise to give positive results.
Today, more and more drugs have been developed to lessen and help improve functionality and mobility of the patients of these diseases. There are also drug treatment for this disease and surgery like the use of laser or Ozonetherapy to treat and revitalize the damaged cartilages and tissues.
