DOES ARTHRITIS CAUSE MUSCLE PAIN OR JOINT PAIN?

Arthritis comes, and nothing helps.  

Bad bones? I'll make a point: 

It’s muscle spasms and little else 

That hurt your poor joint.   

The term comes from Greek arthro- meaning joint and  -itis meaning inflammation. Everybody has heard this word.   

– You’ve got pain in the knees? You probably have arthritis.  

– Neck crackling? Arthritis, for sure.  

What is arthritis?  

In fact, joint pain does not necessarily mean arthritis! The pain that we feel when moving often relates to adjacent ligaments and muscles rather than the joint itself. Is there any difference, you may wonder?

Quite a lot! True joint inflammation calls for a lengthy, aggressive treatment with pharmaceutical drugs. However, if just the surrounding tissues were inflamed, a few sessions of skilled physiotherapy would sometimes be enough to restore mobility and eliminate pain.  

The impact of arthritis on the American economy is similar to that of a moderate recession: it costs the country over 64 billion dollars a year.  

How can we tell one from the other? Some people think that arthritis attacks old people, while the younger generation suffers from sprained ligaments. Not quite: inflammation can assault your joints at any age.  

Arthritis or not arthritis? 

In 1916, the German military doctor Hans Reuter described what was later called “the Reuter syndrome", a form of reactive arthritis triggered by a chlamydial infection.  

Antibodies against bacteria in the tonsils can also impact connective tissue in the joints.  

Here is an example from my practice. A young girl came to the clinic complaining about pain and swelling in her left ankle. She did not remember sustaining any injuries; having examined her, I also do not see any signs of trauma. A detailed interview, however, reveals that she has regularly had a sore throat for a long time.  Her tonsils turned out to be filled with purulent matter. A blood test indicated a high concentration of antibodies against streptococci, the bacteria that infect the tonsils. These same antibodies can also harm connective tissue, that is, joints and ligaments. These antibodies were in fact the real source of her malady. A brief course of treatment with the right antibiotic stopped this arthritis for good.  

In some cases, the inflamed joint develops deformations. This happens even to younger people if they have a family history of rheumatoid arthritis. If a detailed immune system test reveals a high concentration of antibodies, the disorder has an autoimmune origin. It essentially means that the body is being destroyed by its own immune system, which takes its own joint cells for enemies and kills them without mercy, according to the laws of war. If not stopped, such an immune system is worse than any foe! Accordingly, this type of arthritis is treated with immune system suppressants. This sounds scary, but a minus multiplied by a minus indeed sometimes produces a plus!  

Arthritis in older people is a special illness called osteoarthritis. I have already talked about it in the previous chapters. It develops in the joints worn out due to chronic overexertion from hard physical work, excess body weight, or spasms and inflammation in the muscles that received no proper care. Such "unfortunate" muscles and ligaments are the most frequent cause of joint pain in young and old patients alike.  

A spasm means a severe contraction of a muscle that cannot relax on its own.

Muscle spasms and arthritis 

A spasm means a severe contraction of a muscle that cannot relax on its own.  Sural cramps are a good example. Muscle spasm sufferers would tell you that the pain is excruciating, as if the muscle is torn apart or pierced. And we are talking about a "simple" spasm that involves no pinched or inflamed nerves and no disk rupture or displacement. So why do spasms develop, and why cannot the muscles relax? In fact, the muscles need energy to relax rather than contract. An exhausted or undernourished muscle gets blocked. Its fibers are tied in a knot instead of sliding smoothly - incidentally, this is why dead muscles become stiff.  

Since arthritis is so prevalent around the world, the World Health Organization designated the period from 2000 to 2010 as the Bone and Joint Decade.  

In order to revive the spasmed area, we need to help the muscle relax by increasing the supply of blood. What is the best way to do it?  

Ice rather than heat should be applied to eliminate muscle spasms. 

Should we apply heat? Wrong. The correct answer is ice, since it will first cause the ailing muscle and blood vessels to constrict. Once you remove the ice, however, the vessels will dilate, the blood supply will increase, and the pinched muscle will start relaxing. One nail drives out another! Stretching and abrupt movements are not recommended: they would only intensify your spasm. On the contrary, things like rest, gentle pressure, painless massage, and gradual straining will slowly liberate the compressed muscle, release the joints, and eliminate this "arthritis."  

Spikes (spurs) in joints 

"Hold on," some experienced patients would say, "what about spikes? My X-ray image clearly shows changes in my vertebrae!" Well, "spikes", or deformations of joint surfaces, develop in areas subject to chronic pain - but they are the consequence rather than the source of your disorder. They do not hurt, they do not pinch anything, and they do not put undue pressure on your nerves. They appear as signs of an already existing problem where herniation due to traumatic displacement or scoliosis has already developed. Spikes are not mushrooms to grow for no reason. They are more similar to calluses that may develop because of wrong footwear, and then will hurt and grow in size as long as they are irritated. It makes as much sense to treat them as to whip a wagon to make the horse go faster.  

Once again, all types of arthritis cause pain, yet not all pain comes from arthritis. Joint pain often develops when muscles compress the joint, like tight footwear compresses your foot. Do you need pills or surgery to get rid of the pain in this case? No. You just need to remove the tight shoe or unlace it.  Similarly, joint pain may in many instances be relieved by a specialist who knows how to talk your muscles into relaxation, eliminate the spasm, and restore blood circulation.  

It would be even better to complement the specialist's work with your own efforts by learning how to contract and relax your muscles, particularly those next to the spine (core muscles).  Various exercise techniques are available to this end, particularly yoga, pilates, and tai chi.  

---