Why Do My Joints Hurt? Causes And Homeopathic Treatment
Joints are the structures present between the bones that enable all types of movements. Any damage to the joint or the structure around it can lead to pain. It is a prevalent problem and the incidence increases with increasing age. Joint pain can affect any part of the human body.
Joints are the structures present between the bones that enable all types of movements. Any damage to the joint or the structure around it can lead to pain. It is a prevalent problem and the incidence increases with increasing age. Joint pain can affect any part of the human body. Knee pain is the most commonly found joint pain followed by shoulder and hip pain. Joint pain can range from mild to increasingly debilitating hence affecting the quality of life. Joint pain can be acute and generally goes away after a week or chronic when it lasts for longer duration.
Pain in the joint can be due to inflammation of joint or arthritis, due to injury affecting any of the ligaments, bursa and tendons surrounding the joint or ligaments, cartilage and bones present within the joint. Joint pain can also be due to infection. Very rarely cancer is found to be the cause of joint pain. Infection such as sexually transmitted diseases like gonorrhea and Chlamydia can lead to joint pain. Apart from pain there can be other associated signs and symptoms such as redness, swelling, tenderness, warmth, limping, locking of the joint, loss of complete range of motion of the affected joint, stiffness and weakness of the joint.
Joint pain, acute or mild badly affects the quality of life. Therefore it is important to know the factors that predispose to this problem. These are
Being Overweight – Research shows that for every pound of weight, knees have 4 pounds of stress on them. This places extra strain on joints making them prone to early wear and tear. Besides, fats secrete inflammatory chemicals that lead to arthralgia and promote the development of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
Using thumb for texting- Thumbs are responsible for 60% of the functioning of hands. Texting places pressure on thumb joints that irritate the tendons. Also bending neck forward such that the chin touches the chest places a lot of stress on neck too.
High heels and ill fitting or worn out shoes- This places a lot of stress on joints, strains muscles, and can affect the alignment of the back thus increasing the chances of developing osteoarthritis, foot pain, joint pain and joint problems.
Heavy backpacks- Carrying heavy backpacks can strain neck, back and shoulders leading to muscle pain and joint pain.
Sleeping on stomach- This can compress nerves and spine leading to awkward spinal alignment.
Avoiding stretching before workouts- Regular stretching strengthen muscles, tendons, lubricates joints and boost the ability to have normal range of motion.
Smoking and tobacco- Tobacco decreases calcium absorption leading to weak bones. Also nicotine in tobacco reduces blood flow to bones and discs in spine. Tobacco use interferes with estrogen in the body which is essential in females to maintain healthy bones.
Insufficient sleep- Not only joint pain disturbs sleep but also sleep disorders make joint pain worse. It is found that sleep disorders trigger inflammation which makes joint pains and certain inflammatory ailments like autoimmune disease, ankylosing spondylitis , psoriatic arthritis, gout, etc worse.
Poor posture- Poor posture like sitting or standing stooped causes spine to get out of alignment; this puts extra stress on joints and muscles and leads to pain.
Sitting at the computer for long duration- This stresses the muscles and the discs leading to pain in neck, wrists, elbows, shoulders and back.
Keeping in mind the above common causes it is important to make some lifestyle changes to avoid joint pain such as quitting tobacco use, avoiding high heels and heavy backpacks, maintaining healthy weight of the body and adopting straight sitting and standing posture.
