And if during a flare up, that joint is..
RED, ANGRY + full of FLUIDInflammation is the protective response to anything harmful.
It keeps us safe, pulling in the cells we need to eliminate the underlying causeÂ
..the cells that begin to heal us.
Â
It's a defensive response ranging in severity and timescale.
The severity and timescale depend on the cause…
AND the effectiveness of the response.
AND how well we in ourselves.Â
Inflammation can briefly affect one joint following an acute one-off injury, or…
Chronically affect multiple joints across a whole lifetime.
Â
The response to an acute joint injury, trauma or fall..
- Moves plasma
- White blood cells and
- Immune system moleculesÂ
..from the blood into the joint.
Kick-starting repair.
That leads to a
painful swollen joint.
That slowly gets better over a few days or weeks.
However, there're other causes..
Â
Infection..or septic arthritis, from
bacteria entering the sterile joint cavity.Â
Bugs
multiply quickly as if in a petri dish..
Causing
rapid inflammation. Rapid inflammation that can quickly overwhelm a joint.Infection quickly
kills cartilage cells.Quickly
destroying a joint. Medics are on high alert.Â
Gout..inflames the joints of 1 to 2 in every 100 of us.
Maybe 3 of us reading this right now.
Diet + genetics combine to
raise uric acid.Â
The blood can no longer hold it all..
Crystals form in joints like the big toe or knee.
I’m told it's
super painful.Â
Pseudogout ..affects 1 in 20 of us (in Europe and North America).
~15 of us might have this one.. but we'll
live with it okay.Another crystal with the less catchy name,Â
Calcium pyrophosphateThis one derives from the
excessive breakdown of ATPThe molecular currency of energy from
#023..in all living things.
Whole-body inflammationÂ
Next comes the wide range of diseases that cause whole-body inflammation.Â
Rheumatoid arthritis is the one we all know..
Affecting 1 in 100 of us.Hands, feet, shoulders and knees are targeted..
..and other organs in 1 in 5 of those.
Â
The
immune system is triggered, and..
It targets the
synovial lining of joints...and keeps targeting it.
And like inflammation anywhere, joints becomes swollen and painful.Â
Left unchecked the
inflammation destroys cartilage.Â
Joint pain IS inflammationThe stimulus for joint inflammation can come from any sourceÂ
BUT it’s inflammation in the end that causes pain + disability.Â
Joint problems are all about inflammation.Â
Â
‘Wear and tear’ osteoarthritis is no different - It's the most common cause of joint inflammation.Â
- And affects perhaps ~1 in 4 of us (at some point in our lives)Â
Here's a recent paper from Korea with massive numbers.
Click through to see what's linked to hip inflammation there..
What things you can work on
to improve your inflammation + pain.