Arthritis Treatment NJ & NY

Arthritis, Sports Injuries, & Bursitis

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ARTHRITIS, SPORTS INJURIES, & BRUSITIS

Arthritis

Arthritis is a disease that causes pain and loss of movement of the joints. The word arthritis literally means joint inflammation (arth-joint, ritis-inflammation). Arthritis can be acute or chronic and affect every joint in the body. There are many forms of arthritis with Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid arthritis being the most well known. People of all ages, including children and young adults, can develop arthritis.

Osteoarthritis is a disease that causes the breakdown of joint tissue, leading to joint pain and stiffness. Degenerative arthritis can be related to chronic sports injuries or high impact activities, as well as aging. Most people over the age of 65 will develop some mild form of osteoarthritis. It is associated with a breakdown of cartilage in joints and can occur in almost any joint in the body. It most commonly occurs in the weight bearing joints of the hips, knees, and spine. It also may affect some finger joints, the joint at the base of the thumb and the joint at the base of the big toe. Rheumatoid arthritis differs in that it primarily affects the ankles, knees, and joints in the hands.

Treatment of Arthritis: A cornerstone of therapy of any form of arthritis is physical therapy and anti-inflammatory medication. If symptoms persist, Dr. Desai offers injection therapies which can help reduce inflammation in any joint. Acute swelling and inflammation can be initially treated with steroid injection therapy. Chronic arthritis in the knees can be treated with viscosupplementation, which is synthetic lubricant that cushions the joint reducing friction and knee pain. Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) is also a therapy for arthritis, which helps to repair and regenerate the cartilage in the knee.

Sports Injuries

Most common sports injuries can include acute damage to the soft tissues, muscles, tendons, ligaments and nerve entrapments. Common injuries are muscle strains or sprains, contusions, overuse injuries including stress fractures, tendonitis and bursitis.

Dr. Desai uses ultrasound to image the location and source of the injury. Her state of the art use of ultrasound guided prolotherapy and platelet rich plasma therapy (PRP) can help to heal the injury using the body’s own healing growth factors

Common conditions in sports include:

Leg & Foot pain:

Hamstring tendonitis or tears
Patellar tendonitis/tendinosis
Quadriceps muscle/ ligament injuries
Plantar fasciitis
Peroneal tendonitis
Achilles tendonitis or partial tears

Arm & Shoulder pain:

Rotator Cuff tendonitis or tears
Bicipital tendonitis
Medial epicondylitis (golfers elbow)
Lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow)
Ulnar collateral ligament injury
Hip pain gluteus medius tendinopathy
Piriformis syndrome
Trochanteric Bursitis
Ischial bursitis Sacroiliac joint pain

Tendonitis/Brusitis

Tendonitis is amongst the most common overuse injury. Tendons are made of collagen. They attach muscles to bone and are subject to great deal of force. The vasculature of tendons varies with blood supply originating at both the musculo-tendinous and bone tendon junctions. Often times, the blood supply is insufficient for healing, and tears to the collagen lead to chronic pain in many athletes. Chronic tendinopathy can occur most commonly in the rotator cuff, extensor carpi radialis brevis, patellar and achilles tendons. Other tendons can include the adductor longus, biceps, tibialis posterior, and flexor hallucis longus tendons.

Bursitis – The body contains many bursae (fluid filled sacs) situated between the bony surfaces of overlying tendons. Their role is to facilitate movement of the tendon over the bony surface. Overuse injuries in bursae are quite common, particularly at the subacromial bursae, the greater trochanter, ischial bursae, and the bursae deep to the illiotibial band at the knee and the retrocalcaneal bursae. Bursitis is associated with local tenderness and swelling and pain with specific movements. Treatment involves NSAIDS, but this may be ineffective due to the poor blood supply of most bursae. Chronic bursitis will need to be injected with corticosteroids to reduce the inflammation.

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