Arthritis
Definition and causes of Arthritis
Joint pain can be discomfort, pain or inflammation arising from any part of a joint — including cartilage, bone, ligaments, tendons or muscles. Most commonly, however, joint pain refers to arthritis or arthralgia, which is inflammation or pain from within the joint itself.
Joint pain can be mild, causing soreness only after certain activities, or it can be severe, making even limited movement, particularly bearing weight, extremely painful.
From the perspective of Western medicine, causes of joint pain could include a list of diseases, such as, adult Still’s disease, ankylosing spondylitis, avascular necrosis (death of bone tissue due to limited blood flow), bonle cancer, broken bone, Bursitis (joint inflammation), complex regional pain syndrome (chronic pain due to a dysfunctional nervous system), dislocation, fibromyalgia, Gonococcal arthritis, Gout (arthritis related to excess uric acid), hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid), Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (formerly known as juvenile rheumatoid arthritis), Leukemia, Lupus, Lyme disease, Osteoarthritis (disease causing the breakdown of joints), Osteomyelitis (a bone infection), Paget’s disease of bone, polymyalgia rheumatica, pseudogout, psoriatic arthritis, reactive arthritis, rheumatic fever, rheumatoid arthritis (inflammatory joint disease), Rickets, sarcoidosis (collections of inflammatory cells in the body), septic arthritis, sprains and strains, and tendinitis.
Arthritis treatment in Kansas City with alternative medicine
A lot of people are suffered from arthritis in Kansas City. They have joint pain and stiffness. From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, the diagnosis of joint pain varies depending on the symptomatic characteristics. Traditional Chinese medicine calls joint pain a “BiZheng”, which means Bì syndrome or Impediment syndrome. Generally, when Qi and Blood of patients are weak the common cause of cold, wind, dampness and heat can injury the joints and cause the joint pain by obstructions of the meridians and sluggish circulation of Qi and Blood. Treatment is focused on expelling the invading pathogens followed by strengthening the Blood and zang-fu organs, especially Spleen, Liver and Kidney since these are the organs associated with, respectively, muscles, tendons and bones. And as we know, research suggests that curcumin inhibits many of the mediators of inflammation associated with the development of rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, and osteoarthritis. Turmeric continuously reduces symptoms of arthritis and can serve as an excellent complementary treatment for joint pain.
Learn more properties of turmeric to cure arthritis.
There are four type of Bi syndromes, namely Wandering-Bi, Painful-Bi, Fixed-Bi, and Febrile-Bi:
Xing Bi, Wandering-Bi, or Wandering Impediment syndrome, which refers to patients who have joints pain, but the pain moves from one joint to another. Generally, this kind of joint pain is caused by wind.
Tong Bi, Painful-Bi, or Painful Impediment syndrome, which refers to patients who have severe joint pain, and the pain stays in one joint, doesn’t move. The joint pain reduces when patient uses heating, and becomes worse when the weather is cold. Skin of this type of joint pain isn’t red, nor heated. Generally, this kind of joint pain is caused by cold.
Zhuo Bi, Fixed-Bi, or fixed Impediment syndrome, which refers to patients who have joint pain and feel joints heavy and aching. Some patients have joints swelling and numbness. Generally, this kind of pain is caused by dampness.
Re Bi, Febrile-Bi, or Febrile Impediment syndrome, which refers to patients who have severe joint pain with heat, red and swelling. This type of joint pain can affect one or several joints. Cold can reduce the type of joint pain. Generally, this kind of pain is caused by heat.
Most arthritis in Kansas City are Tong Bi and Zhuo Bi. These four types of Bi syndromes can be mixed together and the corresponding treatment is not an easy task.
Mr. Johnson has been diagnosed as rheumatoid arthritis with severe pains at wrists, elbows, shoulders, knees and feet. His joints were red, hot and swollen and the joint pains get worse during night. His pulse was fast with dark red tongue. Per the traditional Chinese medicine theory, he was diagnosed with Re Bi. Mr. Johnson was therefore treated with acupuncture and Chinese herbs specified Re Bi. After a few sessions of treatments, his joint pain was gone. Therefore, the right diagnosis with specific therapeutic strategies leads to effective treatment. If you are bothered by arthritis, and looking for an alternative arthritis treatment in Kansas City, don’t forget to contact Dr. Fung. She has a lot of successful experiences in treating arthritis patients.