New York Spine Institute Spine Services

Arthritis

Why Choose New York Spine Institute

Quality Care

At New York Spine Institute, you are supplied specialized care that fits your needs so you you can return back to all the activities you love without the painful symptoms that accompany arthritis.

Industry Leaders

NYSI’s team of physicians, led by medical director Alexandre B. de Moura, M.D., FAAOS, are industry leaders that specialize in neck and back disorders.

Multiple Languages

To live up to our mission of custom, personalized care, our staff speaks a variety of languages including Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, German and Russian.

Understanding the Causes Of Your Arthritis

Osteoarthritis can cause the cartilage, or the hard tissue that covers the ends of the bones where the joints are formed, to break down. On the other hand, rheumatoid arthritis is a condition where the immune system invades the joints. Arthritis is more common among adults 65 and older but can also affect people of all ages, including children. Some other key points about arthritis include: 

  • Can cause a range of symptoms and affect a person’s ability to perform everyday tasks
  • Physical activity is proven to have a positive effect on arthritis and can improve pain, and function
  • Factors in the development of arthritis include injury, abnormal metabolism, genetics, infections, and immune system dysfunction
  • Treatments are aimed to control pain, lower joint damage, and improve or maintain quality of life

Diagnosing Your Arthritis

Pain is very subjective with Arthritis and can vary person to person. It is an inflammation of the joints.that can identified with over 100 different types. It can affect one or multiple joints. Two of the most common types are osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The symptoms of the disease typically show up gradually but it is possible it may appear suddenly.*

Some risk factors may increase an individual’s chances of getting arthritis or even make it  worse. By changing the risk factors you can control, you can decrease your risk of getting arthritis or making arthritis worse. Arthritis has various risk factors some you can control and others you cannot.*

Controllable Risk Factors:

  • Being overweight: Healthy eating and physical activity can help you lose weight and stay at a healthy weight. This will take stress of your joints
  • Joint injury/repetitive stress: protect joints from injury and perform special exercises that can be given to you through our services.
  • Smoking:  smoking cigarettes can increases a person’s risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and can make the disease worse.* Smoking can also discourage staying physically active which is important for symptom management.
  • Occupation: Physical jobs may require repetitive movements that may affect your knee and hip joints. Be aware of your physical limitations and make sure your work site is safe for the physical work you do.

Uncontrollable Factors:

  • Age: risk increases as you get older.
  • Gender: women are far more likely than men to be diagnosed.
  • Genetics: People born with specific genes are more likely to develop certain types of arthritis.

Meeting with one of our orthopedic staff is the a step in the right direction toward diagnosing your arthritis. One of our doctors will perform a physical examine in order to determine if there’s fluid surrounding the joints where you experience discomfort. Extracting and analyzing inflammation levels in your blood and joint fluids can help your orthopedic doctor determine what kind of arthritis you have.*

Treatment Options For Arthritis

Various treatment options for patients with arthritis are aimed to control pain, minimize joint damage, and improve function and quality of life. There are numerous medications that can help eliminate pain as well as physical therapy and lifestyle changes to help protect joints and any further damage. A variety of treatments are considered for arthritis some of them include:

  • Medications 
  • Physical or occupational therapy 
  • Splints of joint assistive aids 
  • Patient education and support 
  • Surgery, including joint replacement

 

*The effectiveness of diagnosis and treatment will vary by patient and condition. New York Spine Institute does not guarantee certain results.

Man kneeling with x-ray review of ankle

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