What Can Cause Joint Pain and How is It Treated?

Causes of Joint Pain

  • Gout causes joint pain, especially around the foot joint.
  • Pseudo-gout
  • Osteoarthritis causes pain in the joints
  • Reiter’s Syndrome
  • Rheumatoid Arthritis
  • Septic Arthritis (infectious arthritis)
  • Rheumatic Fever

Traumatic Causes of Joint Pain:

  • Physical Trauma to any of the joints can cause severe joint pain
  • Broken Bones or a fractured bone can cause excruciating joint pain
  • Dislocation of Bones
  • Sprains and Strains
  • Stress Fractures
  • Tendon Rupture

Infectious Causes of Joint Pain:

Joint Pain can be caused by any of the following infectious disease:

  • Measles
  • Hepatitis
  • Mononucleosis (viral infection)
  • Influenza (flu)
  • Mumps (viral infection of the salivary glands in the neck)
  • Lyme Disease
  • Gonococcal Arthritis

Other Causes of Joint Pain

  • Bursitis.
  • Tendinitis.
  • Osteomyelitis (Bone Infection).
  • Leukemia.
  • Side Effects or Allergic Reaction to Medications.
  • Spondylitis.
  • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.
  • Hemarthrosis.
  • Tumor of bone, Joint, and/or Soft Tissue.

Treatment for Joint Pain

  • Treatment depends on the underlying cause of joint pain and varies depending on the joint that is affected and the severity of the pain. When the underlying cause is treated, it alleviates the symptoms.
  • Minor joint pain can be managed through home remedies like icing the joint, taking warm baths, limiting physical activity or performing stretching exercises.
  • Over the counter medicines can also be given to reduce pain and swelling around joint.
  • Those medications should be discontinued that are causing an allergic reaction or side effects in the form of joint pain.
  • In quite a few cases, physical therapy may also be beneficial for joint pains.
  • For joint inflammation, steroid injections are the common choice of treatment.
  • Joint aspiration (arthrocentesis) can also be done to remove fluid from the affected joint.
  • Joint pain due to a broken bone/fracture may require surgery or casting.
  • Joint pain due to an infection in the joint may require surgery to clean out the infection and antibiotics are given post surgery.
  • Joint replacement surgery is undertaken for severely damaged joints.
  • Apart from this, other complementary treatments like chiropractic treatment, acupuncture, massage therapy and yoga can also provide relief.
Team PainAssist
Team PainAssist
Written, Edited or Reviewed By: Team PainAssist, Pain Assist Inc. This article does not provide medical advice. See disclaimer
Last Modified On:December 19, 2019

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