5 Common (and Treatable) Causes of Joint Pain
Joint pain keeps you away from sports, work, and the daily activities you enjoy. The good news is that the most common causes of joint pain are treatable.
Our Florida Pain Medicine team provides individualized care, carefully evaluating your joint, determining the cause of your pain, and recommending treatments based on your unique needs.
Here, we explain five common joint problems and their treatments.
1. Bursitis
In and around the joints are tiny sacs (bursa) containing a thick fluid. These sacs are cushions between bones and soft tissues (skin, tendons, ligaments, and muscles). The bursa reduces friction, allowing soft tissues to glide over bone.
Bursitis develops when the bursa is injured. Then, you have symptoms like pain, tenderness, redness, swelling, and limited joint movement.
Though bursitis can affect any joint, it most often occurs in the knees, elbows, shoulders, and hips. The condition is also common in the bursa between the heel and Achilles tendon.
In most cases, limiting movement in the affected joint gives the bursa time to heal. You may need a splint or brace or steroid injections to reduce inflammation. If an infection develops, you may need antibiotics.
2. Tendonitis
Tendons bear the stress of moving your body. They take the force of muscle contractions and transmit it to bones inside joints, creating movement by pulling the bone.
This incredible stress can lead to small tears and inflammation (tendonitis), especially if you engage in activities causing repetitive movements.
Age-related tissue degeneration, an acute strain (pulled tendon), and suddenly increasing the intensity of your exercise or athletic activities can also cause tendonitis.
Several examples of tendonitis include:
- Tennis elbow
- Golfer’s elbow
- Pitcher’s elbow
- Swimmer’s shoulder
- Jumper’s knee
- Rotator cuff tendonitis
- Achilles tendonitis
- Biceps tendonitis
Tendonitis is treatable, but you must rest and avoid or limit activities that stress the joint. We may also recommend physical therapy, steroid injections, and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections.
It’s essential to heal tendonitis to prevent it from becoming a chronic (long-lasting) condition that weakens the tendon and limits its function.
3. Ligament sprains
Ligament sprains include a pulled but intact ligament, a partial tear, and a complete rupture. Ligaments support joints, so any sprain that doesn’t fully heal can lead to joint instability and the risk of re-injury.
You’re most likely to sprain the ligaments in your knees, ankles, and shoulders. Possible causes include:
- Turning your foot
- Twisting and pivoting movements
- Suddenly stopping while running
- Taking a fall
- Tissue degeneration
- Overuse injuries (frequently repeating the same movements)
Ligament injuries are treatable but challenging because some ligaments have a poor blood supply.
Depending on which ligament is affected and the severity of the injury, we may treat the sprain by immobilizing the joint, limiting your activity, and injecting regenerative medicine therapies.
If you tear a ligament that won’t heal or is likely to recover slowly, you may need surgery to restore the ligament.
4. Torn meniscus
You have cartilage (meniscus) between the bones in your knee joint. There are two C-shaped menisci in each knee that cushion the bones, absorb shock, and distribute stress through the joint.
Meniscus tears often occur during athletic activities when you twist your knee or make sudden changes in movement. The problem can also happen when the tissue gradually wears down as you age.
Your treatment depends on the injury’s location. For example, the outer third of the meniscus has a great blood supply. Tears in this area may heal on their own with treatments such as activity modification, anti-inflammatory drugs, steroid injections, and PRP injections.
The inner two-thirds of the meniscus has a poor blood supply. The meniscus can’t heal without blood to supply nutrients and healing substances. As a result, you need surgery to repair or replace the tissues.
5. Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis is the most common joint condition. Unlike the first four joint problems, osteoarthritis is a chronic, progressive condition that can’t be cured. However, we can provide arthritis management to ease your symptoms and slow the joint degeneration.
For some people, treatments like physical therapy, joint injections, regenerative medicine, and genicular nerve blocks can manage osteoarthritis for years. Eventually, the degeneration may reach an advanced stage, and you’ll need a joint replacement.
Expert care for joint pain
In addition to diagnosing and providing conservative care for joint pain, we specialize in advanced interventional treatments to ease pain that’s severe or persists despite conservative care.
Interventional medicine also treats post-surgery pain, allowing you to participate in vital physical therapy.
Schedule a consultation today by calling Florida Pain Medicine or using online booking.