Why You Shouldn't Ignore Chronic Joint Pain

If you have chronic joint pain, you’re not alone. Nearly 1 in 4 people in the United States have stiffness and pain in their joints that limit their leisure and work activities. Ongoing pain in your knee, hip, or shoulder can make daily tasks, like putting away groceries or getting out of the car, difficult. Plus, pursuing activities you like to do for fun is often out of the question. 

Dr. John Monroe and our team here at Healthy Life Family Medicine in Goodyear, Arizona, provide diagnoses so you understand why you have chronic joint pain and treatments to help you resolve it, lessen it, or manage it, so it has less of an impact on your quality of life. 

Don’t ignore chronic pain, reach out to us for help.

When you should seek support for chronic joint pain

When you have pain, it’s not just an inevitability of an active lifestyle or aging. It’s a warning sign from your body that something is wrong. Even if you learn to live with it or stoically say, “it’s not that bad,” you should get it checked out.

Chronic joint pain is often a sign of a condition like arthritis or gout. While these conditions can’t be cured, their symptoms can be managed, so you feel less burdened by pain. In other cases, you might have tendonitis or even a stress fracture that requires rest and smart treatment strategies to prevent complications.

Signs that you should seek care at Healthy Life Family Medicine include:

• Your pain has lasted for months or longer
• Your pain doesn’t get better on its own
• Your mobility is compromised, so you have trouble climbing stairs or reaching above your head
• Your pain wakes you up at night
• You regularly use over-the-counter medications to manage discomfort
• You started using a cane or walker due to pain
• You have trouble changing positions, like sitting to standing

These are signs that your joint problems aren’t just going to go away and will likely continue to worsen with time. 

How early interventions can help

Ignoring joint pain for too long can often lead to greater mobility issues or a fall or injury. When you take care of your joint pain early, you are more likely to delay or prevent the need for surgery. If you end up needing surgery, early interventions mean you are more likely to heal faster and better than if you wait. 

When you come to us with joint pain, we’ll run screening tests to determine the extent of the damage and the likely cause. These may include X-rays, blood tests, and MRIs or CAT scans. 

Early interventions include:

• Recommending lifestyle changes to reduce pain
• Discuss how to use pain medicine wisely
• Pain-relieving injections, including cortisone shots or viscosupplementation 
• Pursue physical therapy

We can also talk to you about surgery and whether it’s necessary now or in the future. 

Don’t live another day with undiagnosed and unsupported chronic joint pain. Contact Healthy Life Family Medicine today for a diagnosis and treatment plan. Call today or use this website to schedule your visit.