What's causing your chronic joint pain?

Whether it’s numbness in your wrist, stiffness in your hip or aching in your knee, joint pain can feel debilitating and keep you from activities you love. But not all joint pain is the same, and it’s important to know that it can have many different causes. Getting a correct joint pain diagnosis is key to finding the right treatment options for you, so we can ease your pain and get you moving again.

If joint pain is keeping you from the things you enjoy most, the orthopedic specialists at TriStar Health are ready to help you find answers — starting with helping you learn more about what causes joint pain and how it can be treated.

Causes of chronic joint pain

A joint is the place where two or more bones merge, and that means that joint pain can come from a variety of sources. If you’ve broken a bone, sprained a ligament or experienced an overuse injury like tendonitis or bursitis, the cause may feel obvious. But joint pain can also be caused by arthritis, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, osteoarthritis and gout, infections like hepatitis or Lyme disease or nerve issues.

Joint pain can also:

• Be acute (coming on and resolving quickly) or chronic (lasting a longer time, often months or more)
• Be described as sharp, shooting, throbbing, stiff or burning
• Come and go
• Worsen with age, movement and overuse

Arthritic joint pain

Arthritis is a common cause of joint pain, and osteoarthritis in particular affects millions of Americans. If you have arthritis, the cartilage at the ends of your bones wears down over time, decreasing the cushioning of your joints and causing pain.

Arthritic joint pain symptoms include:

• Dull or achy pain
• Stiffness
• Swelling
• Warmth of the skin
• Weakness or buckling

Nerve-related joint pain

Nerve (neuropathic) pain can be caused by compression or damage to the nerves. One of the most common causes is peripheral neuropathy, a condition in which the nerves outside the brain and spinal cord (your peripheral nerves) are damaged. But nerve compression can also lead to conditions like carpal tunnel syndrome in the wrist or sciatica in the back or legs.

Nerve pain symptoms include:

• Burning sensation
• Numbness
• Sensitivity
• Sharp, shooting or radiating pain
• Tingling, prickling or “pins and needles” sensation

How is joint pain diagnosed?

Your doctor will review your medical history with you, including any old injuries that might be causing nerve or arthritic pain. They’ll also conduct a physical exam to look at the joint. If needed, especially in the case of arthritis, they’ll order an X-ray to get a better picture of the impacted joint.

What treatments are available for joint pain?

Your joint pain treatment will depend on your diagnosis, but may include:

• Antidepressants to help relieve nerve pain
• Nerve block injections
• Physical therapy to help stretch, strengthen or relieve pressure
• Steroids to reduce inflammation
• Surgery to replace joints, open or repair nerves, or remove damaged tissue

While conditions like arthritis don’t have cures, there are many treatment options available to ease joint pain, including some at-home remedies:

• Heating pads or ice packs
• Pain-relief ointments or gels
• Pain-relieving medications like acetaminophen and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like ibuprofen and naproxen
• Splints or braces to stabilize the painful joint

Expert and compassionate care is close by

Don’t get sidelined by joint pain. The orthopedic specialists at TriStar Health are ready with a number of ways to ease your pain and get you back to what you love.