Laser MD | Arthritis Pain and Treatment

Arthritis is ubiquitous, nearly everyone will get arthritis if they live long enough. Arthritis is, simply, swelling of the joint. Osteoarthritis is the most common type, with an estimated 27 million people affected at any time. fibromyalgia affects 5 million people. Gouty arthritis affects about 3 million people a year. Rheumatoid arthritis affects 1.5 million Americans. There are more than 100 other causes of arthritis, but they play a smaller role.

Generally speaking, arthritis is evenly split between men and women, but there are variations within osteoarthritis, fibro, rheumatoid and gout. Osteoarthritis is a sign of aging. By 85, half of all people will have arthritis in their knee, and nearly everyone will have arthritis somewhere. However, even children can be afflicted. 300,000 children under age 18 have rheumatoid.

Arthritis & Laser Treatment

The new high-power Class IV Lasers can effectively treat osteoarthritis and fibromyalgia. The ability to treat rheumatoid arthritis is unknown. Prior studies with weaker Class III lasers, so called "low level laser therapy" or "cold lasers", has been shown by numerous scientific studies to be worthless at treating arthritis. Given their inability to penetrate more than a few mm of skin, this is not surprising. Modern Class IV lasers such as the one at LaserMD have 50 times the power of cold lasers.

Osteoarthritis, or degenerative joint disease

Osteoarthritis starts off as a breakdown, thinning, or wearing out of the joint lining due to repeated stress and weight bearing. Osteoarthritis involves the entire joint including the cartilage, joint lining, ligaments, and underlying bone. After the age of 40, you just cannot avoid osteoarthritis, it progressively affects everyone. Osteoarthritis can be well treated with high power laser therapy. Laser improves the underlying cytochemistry, increases blood flow, and relieves pain. See more details under the joints afflicted: Shoulder, Elbow & Arm, Hand & Wrist, Hip, Knee, Foot & Heel, Neck.

Rheumatism

Rheumatoid arthritis is an auto-immune disases causing inflammation of the synovial lining of multiple joints. Usually the weight-bearing joints are less-affected and more often than not, symmetrical joints (left/right). Pain, swelling, and redness are common. First-line treatments are standard rheumatoid drugs. Laser does not treat the underlying condition but may be helpful in treating refractory pain.

Fibromyalgia, Gout, and other types of arthritis

Fibromyalgia is covered separately and is a good candidate for high intensity laser therapy. Gout potentially could be treated symptomatically with the laser but the underlying problem, uric acid crystallization, should be treated by conventional medications and diet alterations.

Disability, Costs

Arthritis is the leading cause of work-related disability, and has been the leader for twenty years. The total cost of arthritis is circa 150 billion dollars annually. Staggering. The number one reason for the One million joint replacements a year is arthritis. Knee joint replacement is most common, followed by hip and shoulder.

RICEN Conservative Arthritis Pain Treatment

RICEN is the foundation for all pain treatment: Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation. Then follow that with NSAIDs such as Motrin or Advil. Compression is the least critical of these factors in treating elbow pain and may make it worse. Do not use compression where nerves or structures are already compressed.

Arthritis Pain