Lower Extremity Difficulties

Arthritis. In the years before fifty, joint arthritis is likely to be an inflammatory disease known as rheumatoid arthritis characterized by pain, stiffness and swelling of the joints, with redness and increased heat in the overlying skin. It is seen usually between the ages of fifteen and forty, and affects women three times as often as men. This form of arthritis most often attacks the knees, elbows, ankles and shoulders.

After fifty years of age, arthritis or joint pain is nearly always due to a mechanical degeneration of the joint itself. This is a disease of the later years; it is not infectious and most often affects the finger joints and weight-bearing joints, as the back, hip and knee. Degenerative arthritis is a continuous disease, but its pain is usually not intense and is somewhat relieved with resting. In degenerative arthritis as the years wear on and the joints wear out, particles of the joint structure break off and create a crunching sensation during motion. These particles can lock a joint momentarily in one position, especially the knee joints. As


Fig. 136. The ankle joint must carry the entire body weight with each step. It is often a victim of inflammatory rheumatoid arthritis and obesity which punishes the helpless ankle joint with every step.

the joints break down further, especially the fingers, a gnarled twisting produces the typical arthritic hand of old age.

There is no complete cure for degenerative arthritis. Rest, application of heat and pain-relieving drugs have long been the most successful aids in lightening this disabling burden, carried by so many. The effect of damp weather, on nearly all types of arthritis, is well known the world over, but exactly what causes


Fig. 137. Knee joint difficulties in senior years result from youthful injuries and because the joint actually wears out. Usually, they are not severely painful unless forced to carry the sin of obesity.

increased pain in damp seasons remains unknown. Many ar-thritics, however, have experienced considerable relief after moving to areas of a dry climate.

Another unanswered question is why joints wear out in some folks and not in others? The still unknown reason seems to be related to the strength and durability of each individual’s body tissues, although over-weight, and exceptional activities without doubt, help wear out the joints. There will probably always remain an inequality of suffering among people with arthritic problems. The physician’s accurate diagnosis, elimination of contributing causes, proper diet and the administration of pain-relieving drugs can do much for the senior age individual with an arthritic problem.