Osteoarthritis, a degenerative disorder of the joints, is an irreversible disease and cannot be cured completely. The goal of treatment is to relieve the pain and reduce the symptoms. There are various options for treatment of osteoarthritis such as medications, exercise, self-care, various therapies such as physiotherapy, hydrotherapy, massage etc. and some surgical procedures. Osteoarthritis medications are used depending upon the severity of symptoms and medical history of the patient.
For mild osteoarthritis, you can overcome the symptoms by having a rest, exercise, losing body weight, application of heat or cold and by physiotherapy. If the osteoarthritis pain persists and progresses after this initial treatment, then osteoarthritis medications are used to manage the symptoms and decrease pain. The medications such as acetaminophen, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and tramadol are used for moderate osteoarthritis.
Acetaminophen like Tylenol acts as a painkiller, but does not decrease the inflammation. It is effective for the people with mild to moderate osteoarthritis pain. But if it is taken more than suggested dosage, it may lead to liver damage specifically in case of alcoholic people. Besides this painkiller, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are also beneficial osteoarthritis medications used for the treatment which can reduce pain and relieve inflammation. Commonly used NSAIDs are naproxen sodium (Aleve), nabumetone (Relafen), aspirin (Ecotrin) and ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil). If NSAIDs are long-term used in high dosages, they can cause gastric ulcers, gastrointestinal bleeding, ringing in your ears, cardiovascular problems, liver and kidney damage.
In addition, tramadol (Ultram) can give effective pain relief with very few side-effects including stomach bleeding and ulcers, constipation and nausea. Thus, centrally acting analgesic is also available by prescription. It is recommended to use tramadol combined with acetaminophen for the effective pain relief.
Even after these treatments, if you experience severe pain, the doctor recommends other medications such as stronger painkillers, cortisone shots and visco-supplementation. The stronger painkillers such as propoxyphene (Darvon) and codeine provide an effective relief from the severe osteoarthritis pain. It may cause some side-effects such as constipation, nausea and sleepiness.
Besides the painkillers, injections of corticosteroid medications are effective to reduce the joint pain. But, too many corticosteroid injections may result in joint damage. Besides the cortisone shots, injections of hyaluronic acid derivatives such as Synvisc and Hyalgan offer a great pain relief by providing the cushioning in the knees. Visco-supplementation is found to be effective for knee osteoarthritis. It may give rise to infection, joint pain and swelling.
Although osteoarthritis medications have some side-effects which can be overcome by treatment, they effectively give a relief from the pain and enable the person to do daily activities with great ease.
