Arthritis

Osteoarthritis, or inflammation of joints due to poor mechanics or direct injury

The word “arthritis” can mean several different things.  For this discussion, we are referring to osteoarthritis, or inflammation of joints due to poor mechanics or direct injury.

Osteoarthritis is a direct result of poor body mechanics.  Improper motion of a joint puts unequal pressure on the joint surfaces.  This causes uneven wear and tear of a joint, just as driving your car with misaligned wheels can cause uneven tire wear.

When we wear out the “cushion” layer of cartilage between bones in a joint, however, this leads to a problem of instability.  The body’s answer to instability is inflammation, or swelling.  The added fluid to the area literally helps stabilize the damaged area.  This inflammation, however, is irritating to surrounding nerves, and pain is produced.  Additionally, it causes joints to become immobile.  Immobile joints degenerate faster than mobile joints.  It is a “vicious cycle” of pain, instability, inflammation, and immobility.

In our clinic, we work to normalize the motion of a joint, and thus decrease the amount of inflammation needed to stabilize the joint.  We do this by 1) moving joints that are “stuck” and 2) exercising those joints. (You can’t exercise a joint that does not move)