LIVING WITH CHRONIC PAIN AND OSTEOARTHRITIS

Pain is personal. While it’s something you feel physically, your emotions and thoughts play a significant role in how you experience pain.

Pain is your body’s warning system alerting you to harm. Your brain interprets pain signals from your nerves (usually starting from those closest to the source of harm) based on their intensity and location, as well as your surroundings, previous injury experience, your beliefs, your emotional state, and many other factors. You feel the pain after your brain has processed all of this information. This is why each person’s experience of pain is unique – even between people with the same disease or injury.

WHAT ARE THE TYPES OF PAIN?

There are different types of pain:

• Acute pain is short-term pain that protects you and prevents more damage to your body by changing your behavior. For example, after an injury the pain usually goes away once your body has healed, or the unpleasant stimulus has been removed.
• Chronic pain (also called persistent pain) typically lasts for more than three months and is not always associated with damage. People who live with chronic diseases, like osteoarthritis, often live with chronic pain.

Chronic pain, in particular, may affect all aspects of your life. It interferes with sleep and raises your stress levels, which may make the pain feel more intense. It may also take a toll on your mental health, making you feel angry, depressed, anxious, and frustrated.

HOW CAN I MANAGE MY PAIN SYMPTOMS?

People living with chronic pain caused by a chronic disease often believe that the effects are inevitable, so they don’t take active steps to manage their pain. But, that doesn’t have to be the case.

For example, osteoarthritis (OA) is a disease of the whole joint that leads to the breakdown of cartilage and the underlying bone. Its symptoms include pain, swelling, or stiffness of the joints, which may make it difficult to perform ordinary tasks. Simple acts like tucking in bed sheets, opening a box of food, grasping a computer mouse, or driving a car might become difficult.

However, mild to moderate OA symptoms are improved with physical activity. While it may be hard to think of exercise when the joints hurt, strengthening exercises build muscles around affected joints, easing the burden and reducing pain. Losing weight can also help reduce pain for all stages of OA and limit further joint damage.

PAIN MANAGEMENT PROCEDURES

Medications are available for pain relief, ranging from oral analgesics to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs to corticosteroids. Pain management procedures may also be an option:

• Cortisone is an anti-inflammatory medication that can be injected into joints and soft tissues under X-ray or ultrasound guidance to decrease inflammation and reduce pain.
• Hyaluronic acid is a natural element present in joints. Injection of HA can improve mobility, acting as a natural lubricant and reducing pain. Injections are performed under X-ray guidance to ensure the solution is delivered exactly into the joint. HA injections can help relieve pain from osteoarthritis or mechanical difficulties in joints. Hips, knees, and ankles are the most commonly treated, and relief can last up to 12 months.
• nSTRIDE autologous protein solution (APS) helps treat joint pain and osteoarthritis (OA) which has been approved by Health Canada and the FDA for treatment of knee OA. The treatment involves a single injection of a protein liquid derived from your own blood. It’s drawn from an arm vein prior to the injection and centrifuged to remove unwanted blood components and then spun again to obtain the protein liquid. APS has proven to be a safe and effective treatment, which has been shown to reduce pain and protect cartilage by reducing further destruction.

There are many more treatments options for osteoarthritis pain, including physiotherapy and surgery. If you are affected by chronic pain, take the next step to relieving your symptoms and speak with your health care practitioner about options for pain management.

REFERENCES

Arthritis Society (2022) “Arthritis Pain Management Guide.” www.arthritis.ca. Accessed January 10, 2022.

Ambardekar, N. (2021) “Do I Have Chronic Pain?” www.webmd.ca. Accessed January 10, 2022.

Deardorff, W. W. (2017) “Understanding Chronic Pain.” www.spine-health.com. Accessed January 10, 2022.