Under conventional medicine drug therapy and physiotherapy are usually recommended to try to retain levels of mobility in the joints. NSAIDs are the normal drugs of choice for arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.
Under conventional medicine drug therapy and physiotherapy are usually recommended to try to retain levels of mobility in the joints.
Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) e.g. Aspirin – Ibuprofen.
Oral steroids such as Prednisone and Hydrocortisone are also common, with powerful painkillers like Codeine and synthetic narcotics such as Vicodin also prescribed.
NSAIDs are the normal drugs of choice for arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. Side effects include possible kidney failure with prolonged use, as well as fluid retention, potential liver failure, ulcers and prolonged bleeding.
COX-2 inhibitors e.g. Vioxx – Celebrex – Bextra.
COX-2 inhibitors are improved NSAIDs that block the COX-2 enzyme at the site of inflammation.
The COX-2 enzyme however creates protective fatty acids in the body. By blocking this enzyme with a COX-2 inhibitor the patient is left without these protective fatty acids, increasing their risk of heart attacks and other cardiovascular problems.
Important Note: Pharmaceuticals such as VIOXX, Bextra and Celebrex (arthritic painkillers), and other widely used COX-2 inhibitors, have been investigated following studies into their negative cardiovascular side effects. VIOXX alone has been linked to around 140,000 cases of coronary heart disease in the US since 1999, and reportedly 103 deaths from heart attack and stroke in the UK.
Drugs from different classes will often be used together. All of these drugs have potentially toxic side effects however and are only ever treating the symptoms, suppressing them, rather than getting to the actual root cause of the pain. Other treatments conventional medicine has integrated to help ease symptoms include ultrasound, heat therapy, surgery to ‘clean up’ the ends of the bones, keyhole surgery to examine and repair tissues, joint replacement, bone grafting and spinal fusions.
All of these surgical procedures require the problem to be of a significant level to justify intervention.
