Joint Pain Q & A

What is joint pain?

Joint pain can affect one, several, or all of your joints depending on the cause. Sudden injuries like ligament tears typically affect a single joint, causing acute pain and difficulty moving. You’re likely also to have swelling, bruising, or reddened skin with an acute joint injury.

Chronic joint pain can affect a single joint, for example, in conditions like bursitis, an inflammation of the fluid-filled bursae in the joint. Or it can affect multiple joints, as is often the case with arthritis.

The team at Optimal Pain & Regenerative Medicine® has specialist expertise in treating hip, knee, and shoulder pain, as well as other painful joint problems.

What causes joint pain?

Joint pain is often due to soft tissue damage, so it could be a result of inflammation in the tendons, or ruptured tendons and ligaments following excessive use or repetitive strain.

Dislocation of a joint and fractures in the bones can cause acute attacks of pain, which might be severe if there’s significant trauma.

One of the most common causes of chronic joint pain is arthritis, of which there are numerous forms. Osteoarthritis, a wear and tear form of the disease, is the most widespread, but you could also have joint pain due to:

  • Rheumatoid arthritis
  • Infectious arthritis
  • Psoriatic arthritis
  • Gout

Other common causes of joint pain include:

  • Bursitis
  • Snapping hip syndrome
  • Osteonecrosis
  • Cruciate ligament injuries
  • Dislocated kneecap
  • Iliotibial band syndrome
  • Osgood-Schlatter disease
  • Rotator cuff injuries
  • Tendinitis
  • Pinched nerves
  • Torn cartilage
  • Frozen shoulder

Injuries and overuse are common causes of joint pain in people who are very physically active, playing sports regularly, for instance. They’re also more likely to develop if your job involves repeating the same movements for long periods.

What treatments are there for joint pain?

If you have joint pain, you can use cooling ice packs and warm compresses to reduce inflammation and ease the pain.

A few days rest and gentle movement can often resolve minor causes of joint pain, but if your pain is severe or isn’t improving after a few days of treatment at home, you should visit Optimal Pain & Regenerative Medicine®.

The team can provide you with further conservative or advanced treatments, such as:

  • Physical therapy
  • Medications
  • Stem cell therapy
  • Hyaluronic acid injections
  • PRP (platelet-rich plasma) therapy
  • Steroid injections

Optimal Pain & Regenerative Medicine® also offers innovative treatments for pain in the facet joints in your spine, including facet joint injections containing steroid medications, and radiofrequency lesioning (rhizotomy) to stop pain signals from the facet joints reaching your brain.

If you have joint pain, let the dedicated professionals at Optimal Pain & Regenerative Medicine® help. Call them today or book an appointment online.