With a population of 6,045,680, Maryland has 16% of people who are aged 65 years or older. According to NCBI, in Maryland and other areas in the United States, 10% of men and 13 % of women aged 60 or older are likely to suffer from osteoarthritis.
Other than the age factor, osteoarthritis can also occur because of joint injury or obesity and genetics. There is no complete cure for osteoarthritis, but there are ways to treat the symptoms and relieve the pain.
One way to do that is with the help of specialists, so while in Maryland pain clinic near you can be of great assistance. Here is why you should visit a pain clinic for osteoarthritis.
Table of Contents
You Will Require a Specialist
In Maryland and other parts of the United States, osteoarthritis is the most common joint disorder. Pain clinics can help anyone who suffers from chronic pain. But people who suffer from inflammatory types like osteoarthritis can benefit the most.
If you are suffering from osteoarthritis for a longer period, even over-the-counter pain relievers and home remedies will eventually stop working. It will increase your pain and even affect you from doing your everyday tasks.
And over time, osteoarthritis can get worse. The cartilage will slowly wear off, and the bones in the joints will rub together when you move. At this stage, you may even need total joint replacement surgery.
Instead, in Maryland, any pain clinic near you will help you meet a specialist who will suggest proper pain management and recovery treatment.
You Will Get A Multi-Specialty Checkup
At some of the pain clinics in Maryland, from general medicine to intervention, rehabilitation, and psychiatry or psychology, you will get the opportunity to consult different specialists and recover as much as possible from osteoarthritis.
As osteoarthritis treatment involves medications, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and other surgical procedures, pain clinics will have experienced specialists from all departments to treat and monitor you.
They Offer Programs To Change Your Lifestyle
In the United States, Maryland, Washington Dc, and other areas, the number of people affected with symptomatic osteoarthritis is likely to increase because of aging and obesity. Especially in Maryland, where the senior citizen population is relatively higher. If you are obese and have osteoarthritis, visiting local pain clinics in Maryland near you is the right choice.
This is because pain clinics include exercise and weight loss programs for osteoarthritis treatment. As carrying extra weight can increase the pressure on the joints, mainly your knees and hips, even very minor weight loss can relieve pressure and reduce some pain.
With a slow change in the lifestyle, you will experience less pain and improved mobility too.
Different Treatment Options
Pain clinics in Maryland also treat osteoarthritis through interventional procedures, from nerve blocks to trigger injections, nerve stimulation, stem cell therapy, and more. Some of the interventional procedures to treat osteoarthritis include:
- Non-steroidal anti-inflammatories
- Nerve blocks
- Steroid and facet joint injections
- Hyaluronic acid injections, etc.
The non-steroid inflammatory help relieve pain and inflammations. Steroid injections can help suppress the inflammation and relieve the osteoarthritis symptoms when it is injected into the arthritic joints.
When you visit pain clinics near you in areas like Glenn Dale with all specialties under one roof, with the less mobility and pain you experience, you need not go out and find different clinics for different treatments.
Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy
With osteoarthritis, a quick fix or complete elimination of pain is not an option. Pain clinics will help restore your function and improve your life quality by introducing physical, mental, and emotional coping management to reduce pain.
Depending on the pain clinic you visit, the program timelines may vary. Some clinics host full-day sessions for several weeks, and you will attend it as an outpatient. Some programs can last longer but will take place on a part-time basis.
The treatment program at the pain clinic will include physical therapy to improve your movement, occupational therapy to improve your ability to perform everyday activities, pain education classes to teach you about chronic pain, and relaxation therapy.
The Maryland Department of Health has special programs running to improve physical activities among residents that can help promote vitality and act as a potent remedy to treat pain.
Treatment with The Help of Medications
Many pain clinics in Maryland help patients taper off opioids as the medication is not an immediate part of the treatment plan. But, be it prescription or over-the-counter medications, they can somewhat make osteoarthritis manageable.
Some of the medications typically given to treat osteoarthritis when you visit pain clinics are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, COX-2 inhibitors, Corticosteroids, Hyaluronic acid substitutes, and topical pain-relieving rubs, creams, and sprays.
Regular appointments and keeping up with your treatment at the pain clinic plays an essential role in controlling your osteoarthritis symptoms. If you are suffering from chronic pain for a long time, it is time you make a visit to any local pain clinic in Maryland.