Arthritis and joint pain

Osteoarthritis: slow joint degeneration

The human skeleton consists of more than 200 bones. Many of them are by movable joints interconnected. In everyday life, the movement of his joints one is rarely aware. It comes back only in the consciousness, if you have pain. Osteoarthritis is a common cause of joint pain. Osteoarthritis is a chronic joint disease that occurs primarily in older age. It is wear of the articular cartilage. It ensures in healthy joints for smooth, and therefore painless, movement. By over- and improper loading of the joints the cartilage takes damage: It comes to a degradation of the cartilage. In the affected joint an inflammation develops with pain. After a few years the cartilage disappears and the joint begins to "scrub", what intensifies the pain. Osteoarthritis often occurs in highly stressed joints such as the hip, vertebral, Finger and knee joints. The treatment in Western medicine is based on the severity of osteoarthritis. At the start are weight loss, avoidance of congestion (sports) and physiotherapy in the foreground. Inflammation is treated with analgesics. In advanced osteoarthritis with stiffening of the joint, an artificial joint can help.

Osteoarthritis as blockage of vital energy

In TCM, the osteoarthritis is one of the bi-syndromes (Joint Bi-syndrome). Bi means something like "blockade" or "obstruction" (not be continuous). In its broadest sense it is interference Qi (pronounced "Chee") and Xue (pronounced "Schiä»). Qi is the vital energy - Xue the blood flow. In a Bi syndrome both are blocked and they do not longer flow freely. A blocked Qi leads to pain. Depending on the symptoms of sufferers the TCM specialists divide the joint-Bi syndrome in four Groups: Wind-Bi, Bi moisture, cold-Bi, heat-Bi. Osteoarthritis fits best for cold-Bi. Remove blockages - relieve pain. Based on a detailed patient survey with tongue and pulse analysis, the TCM specialist gets a diagnosis. Behind the TCM therapy is the idea to distribute the cold and to let Qi and Xue flow again.