6 things your rheumatologist wants you to know

Dr. Ameet Pispati, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon at Jaslok Hospital & Research Centre, Mumbai elaborates

By: Mansi Kohli | | Published: March 9, 2017 3:25 pm

If you have symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), you are most likely to see your rheumatologist on regular basis. A condition that can occur at any age and most commonly in the twenties and thirties, RA tends to give us severe joint pain, fatigue and acute stiffness. While you should take your time to report any sort of lifestyle modification, Dr. Ameet Pispati, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon at Jaslok Hospital & Research Centre, Mumbai who specialises in Sports Medicine, Hip and Knee replacement surgery, tells us about 6 things that a rheumatologist wants you to know:

1. The patient does not need to blame himself or herself for rheumatoid arthritis: RA is an auto immune disease; hence no one is to blame for its development! A doctor always examines a patient to assess for disease activity; if the RA is “active”, more medication will be needed in the form of Disease modifying drugs (DMARDs). Patients need to be religious about taking prescribed drug doses.

2. Apart from the obvious joint, muscle, or bone pain, there seem to be other symptoms too: Some patients wake up with severe morning stiffness, others have deformities in their joints, while still others present with weight loss, blurred vision, hair loss, or rashes.

3. Be super descriptive about your pain: The type of pain helps the doctor understand the nature of disease and how active the disease may be.Words like dull, sharp, stabbing, throbbing, burning, aching, cramping, radiating are important to use. Read more about Expert tips on how you can reverse rheumatoid arthritis naturally

4. It is totally okay to exercise when suffering from RA:Exercise is necessary! Joints that are not exercised with get stiff, and the patient will become immobile. Patients need to move, walk, learn to stretch and move every joint as much as possible to prevent stiffness. Swimming, cycling and brisk walking are excellent exercises.

5. There can be many triggers to your pains and flares:One doesn’t need to experiment and try and find out the triggers, but rather, one notices them over a period of time. For example, some people get joint stiffness on sudden exposure to cold weather.

6. There are many other health conditions that can be a conclusion of RA:RA patients may develop osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, lupus, or interstitial lung disease, hence regular treatment and visits to your doctor/Rheumatologist are necessary. Read about Rheumatoid Arthritis: Your guide to living with the disease.

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Published : March 9, 2017 3:25 pm

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