Treatments for rheumatoid arthritis

Whenever I can’t stand the depression in this bustling city, I will go back home for a few days to relax myself. I will go out for a walk with my mother at night and feel that life is so comfortable. When we were walking, we saw an old woman sitting there, rubbing her legs. I asked my mother what happened. My mother said she had rheumatoid arthritis. Alas, people’s fate is determined by heaven. So what are the treatments for rheumatoid arthritis?

Our teacher said that people's fate is determined by heaven, and it is useless to fantasize about it. It can be seen that this is the case. People don't know when they will get sick, but if they are sick, we must seek timely treatment to avoid endangering our lives. So what are the treatments for rheumatoid arthritis? Let's learn about it together!

treat

The main purpose of rheumatoid arthritis treatment is to reduce joint inflammation, inhibit the progression of lesions and irreversible bone destruction, protect joint and muscle function as much as possible, and ultimately achieve the goal of complete remission or low disease activity.

1. Patient education

Help patients correctly understand the disease, build up confidence and patience, and cooperate with doctors in treatment.

2. General treatment

For those with obvious joint swelling and pain, rest and joint immobilization should be emphasized. After the joint swelling and pain are relieved, attention should be paid to starting functional exercises of the joints as early as possible to relieve stiffness. In addition, auxiliary treatments such as physical therapy and topical medications can quickly relieve joint symptoms.

3. Medication

The treatment plan should be individualized, and drug treatment mainly includes non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, slow-acting anti-rheumatic drugs, immunosuppressants, immune and biological preparations, and herbal medicines.

4. Immune purification

Rheumatoid arthritis patients often have high titers of autoantibodies, large amounts of circulating immune complexes, high immunoglobulins, etc. in their blood. Therefore, in addition to drug treatment, immune purification therapy can be used to quickly remove immune complexes and excessive immunoglobulins, autoantibodies, etc. in the plasma. If there are too many immune active lymphocytes, mononuclear cell clearance therapy can also be used to improve the function of T, B cells, macrophages and natural killer cells, reduce blood viscosity, so as to achieve the purpose of improving symptoms and improve the efficacy of drug treatment. Currently commonly used immune purification therapies include plasma exchange, immunoadsorption and lymphocyte/monocyte removal. The replaced pathological components may be lymphocytes, granulocytes, immunoglobulins or plasma, etc. This method needs to be combined with drug treatment.

5. Functional exercise

It must be emphasized that functional exercise is an important method to restore and maintain joint function in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Generally speaking, during the acute phase when joint swelling and pain are obvious, joint movement should be appropriately restricted. However, once the swelling and pain have improved, functional activities should be performed without increasing the patient's distress. For those who do not have obvious joint swelling and pain but have reversible limited joint movement, they should be encouraged to perform regular functional exercises. In hospitals with the necessary conditions, it should be carried out under the guidance of rheumatologists and rehabilitation specialists.

6. Surgical treatment

Surgery is an effective treatment for patients with rheumatoid arthritis who cannot be controlled by medical treatment and have severe joint dysfunction. Surgical treatment ranges from carpal tunnel syndrome release and tendon repair to synovectomy and joint replacement.

Through the above understanding, we know the treatment methods for rheumatoid arthritis. I hope people can learn and keep them in mind, so that we can make our bodies healthier and live happier.