I have patients that come in and have all sorts of named conditions. Most are common, but every now and then I get one I have never heard of. When I ask the patient what the name tells them they often stare blankly at me, bewildered. A named condition should help you understand what it means.
A common one is ARTHRITIS. I tell patients to break down the word. “ARTHRO” meaning joint and “ITIS” meaning inflammation. Arthritis basically means an inflamed joint. This doesn’t tell much of the story and there are over 100 different types of arthritis. That’s a lot! We can simplify this into things that could cause an inflamed joint. Metabolic problems can cause a reaction in the body where the immune system attacks the body and causes inflammation. Another cause could be fracture, a fractured joint will generally get some chronic inflammation and this will have to be looked at long term. Another reason a joint can be inflamed is mechanics. I often see patients for this reason. For example, bad mechanics can come from a forward head posture that causes extra force on the spine by the distance from the head in relation to the torso. Simple way to think through this is to think if a waiter carries a tray of food they keep it as close to their bodies as possible. The further they carry it away from the body the “heavier” it feels. This is because of a force called torque, which is a scientific term that is calculated in foot pounds, and is not going to be described any further for our purposes here! Bad mechanics can also come from a chronic position at a job; like computer work or hanging doors on cars for ten hours a day for years at a time. Additionally, obesity causes center of gravity to change and biomechanics of the spine to change as well.
Arthritis can occur in men and women of all ages. About 37 million people in America have arthritis of some kind, which is almost 1 out of every 7 people” (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002223).
At Health By Logic in Beavercreek, Ohio we commonly treat patients with arthritis by helping the patient relieve pain, restore spinal motion and correct postural curves as well as educating them about possible ways to alter their lifestyles to minimize any future effects.
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