Joint Pain and Our Government

It’s that damn pain that may creep up slowly on you with a dull, discomfort in one or several of your joints.

Or it might be like a raging inferno it like a thief in the night, to steal your joy or try to…. the pain comes on suddenly without any warning, bringing on that stabbing intensity as sharp as a knife.

The pain might come and go, or it may last hours, days, weeks…. This pain is arthritis, and it’s likely you know someone living with it or you may be living with it yourself.

It is not just a grandparents issue.

I have been living with arthritis for over 20 years, I think I was 35-36 when I was diagnosed with osteoarthritis, only years later to be diagnosed also with osteonecrosis in 2014 and spondylolisthesis for over 5 years. It can really be exhausting from always dealing with some sort of pain.

Arthritis can be crippling. Some people even need a stair-lift just so they can move freely around their house as they are in too much pain to walk up and down the stairs. Some end up in a wheelchair or using a walker.

Did you know that arthritis impacts more than 50 million adults and 300,000 children in the U.S. According to The Arthritis Foundation, the number of people affected by the condition is expected to increase to 65-68 million by 2030.

More research is needed to combat this health crisis, a disease and source of chronic pain for so many people that it is often marginalized by misinformed attitudes, old wise tales, and social stigma.

Our government officials are not helping us either. They are trying to tell doctors what to prescribe and how much and limit them on treating their patients.

I wish the government would stay out of my health and my doctors business.

My doctor went to school many years and I don’t want some politician giving me medical advice when they have no idea what I live with on a daily basis.Nor have they went to school to become a doctor either.

Many like myself cannot take NSAIDs and when you have osteonecrosis,you really don’t want to constantly be using steroids.

I avoid steroids at all costs.

Arthritis includes more than 100 different types of joint disease and related conditions. I have written previously about osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and juvenile arthritis.

In the most basic terms, arthritis is inflammation of the joints that causes swelling, stiffness, reduced range of motion, and pain that can become chronic. It can affect your knees,ankles and toes, back, hip, fingers, wrists, elbows, shoulders, or neck.

Did you know that the heart, eyes, lungs, kidneys and skin can sometimes also be effected?

Arthritis can also affect your muscles, resulting in muscle weakness or fatigue.

The extra weight from obesity can strain your joints if you are not eating well and exercising regularly.

Your bones are like a bridge and like with any other bridge it has a weight limit before it starts to damage the bridge.

So we have to try to keep moving remove excess weight to keep out bridge aka our bones and joints strong and able to support us.

So many people often dismiss arthritis as a condition of older adulthood, but arthritis can strike any age, gender or race, and it is the leading cause of disability in the United States.

Chronic pain sufferers fear they could become casualties in the war on Ohio’s opioid overdose epidemic.

Because it seems like those who suffer in pain real chronic pain are the only ones paying the price.

 

What they ( our elected officials ) don’t understand is responsible people are the ones suffering, not the drug addicts who use heroin and get many of their drugs illegally.

In August 2019 Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said that evidence recently made public makes clear that drugmakers were responsible for the deadly opioid crisis and that they had lied about the addictiveness of their painkillers.

I’m sorry but ya know I don’t buy that crap at all.

When will people actually learn to take responsibility for their own poor choices?

There has been people using and abusing drugs for decades, longer….

lThey are looking to get high, that’s a big difference than someone needing a pain pill now and then to function and have joint mobility and the pain managed.

I get so frustrated at our government always telling patients whats good for them.

And telling doctors how to do their job.

I don’t want my car mechanic telling my dentist how to clean my teeth.

And I don’t want my elected officials telling my doctor what to do.

Why not ban alcohol ?

Why not ban cigarettes

That kills a lot more people and well we know how many abuse that.

Probably because they get a tax on that , so that’s ok.

Just like marijuana, years ago you went to prison , now because the state can make a buck its ok as long as its medical.

According to the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey, in 2013, more than half of the US adult population drank alcohol in the past 30 days. About 17% of the adult population reported binge drinking, and 6% reported heavy drinking.

According to the ARDI application, during 2006–2010, excessive alcohol use was responsible for an annual average of  88,000 deaths, including 1 in 10 deaths among working-age adults aged 20 to 64 years, and 2.5 million years of potential life lost.  More than half of these deaths and three-quarters of the years of potential life lost were due to binge drinking.  https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/data-stats.htm

 

The Republican Governor of Ohio urged the companies to move quickly to settle pending lawsuits seeking to hold them accountable for the epidemic in light of troves of new documents made public because of those suits. And who gets the money from these lawsuits? Certainly not the people that were or are addicted , or their families……no it’s the state.

 

Get stricter on drunk driving laws https://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/impaired_driving/states-data-tables.html

 

But for gosh sakes stop punishing people responsible people who just are trying to live dealing with their chronic pain. To function, to get to work, to grocery shop to live.

Please get involved write or call your elected officials : tell them help those living with chronic pain not make them suffer.

They are not drug addicts they are people like you and me and your neighbor and like your grandparent, mother, uncle son or daughter suffering with chronic pain.

https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials

 

 

The most 5 common types of arthritis are Osteoarthritis, Fibromyalgia, Gout, Rheumatoid Arthritis, and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than a third of adults who have arthritis report it limits their leisure and work activities. 25% of them state it also causes severe pain (7+ on the 0 to 10 point pain scale).

Children and teens get a type of arthritis called juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). “Juvenile” means young (16 yrs of age or younger) and “idiopathic” means the cause is not known. JIA is also sometimes called juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA).

Many people confuse osteoporosis and different types of arthritis.

• Arthritis: A general term for conditions that affect the joints and surrounding tissues. Joints are places in the body where bones come together, such as the knees, wrists, fingers, toes, and hips. The two most common types of arthritis are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
• Osteoporosis: A condition in which the bones become less dense and more likely to fracture. In osteoporosis, there is a loss of bone tissue that leaves bones less dense and more likely to fracture. It can result in a loss of height, severe back pain, and change in posture. Osteoporosis can impair a person’s ability to walk and can cause prolonged or permanent disability – Difference Between Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis

References

Arthritis Foundation

AF types of arthritis