Pain, Pain, Go Away! Come Back Another Day!

originally published 6/3/08

Wow, what a morning! I woke up this morning to my body screaming in pain.   I usually have morning stiffness, but the pain today is just absolutely miserable.  I tried a really hot shower, a cup of hot green tea and even put my jacket on to keep the air off of my arms.  It’s just not working today.  I sat at my kitchen table this morning for about 45 minutes just staring out the window.  Not thinking about anything in particular, just staring.  I have now moved on to coffee which usually gives me that extra push I need to get my day going, but does not have the antioxidant effect of green tea.  At this point, I will do whatever works.

While I wait for the coffee to kick in, I wonder why do we experience more pain on some days, but not others?  For starters, it is a nasty gloomy rainy day here in Lexington, KY.  Upon checking the weather, I realize that the humidity is 97%.  Yikes, no wonder I hurt so bad today. 

Is this really the cause of why some of us with arthritis tend to experience more pain?  There does not appear to be any definite answer here.  There have been studies on the subject, but none to definitely say that the humidity is a pain factor.  Some believe that the barometric pressure contributes as well.  All I know is that I hurt when it rains, never mind the scientific facts about it.  I just hope that one day research will be able to tell us how the changes in the weather and arthritis pain are linked together.  Maybe then, we will have a way to combat the pain.

Take a look at a Johns Hopkins Health Alert regarding weather and arthritis pain.

How Many Pediatric Rheumatologists are in Your Local Area?

originally published 5/28/08

Did you know that Juvenile Arthritis affects approximately 300,000 children in the United States?  Unfortunately, there are not enough pediatric rheumatologists to cover the demand.  It may not affect you as an adult, however, if your child, niece, nephew, friend’s child, neighbor’s child, etc., is one of the 300,000, it will affect them tremendously.  The problem is this: If a child has a form of juvenile arthritis and it goes undiagnosed for a significant period of time, the child may suffer the consequences.  It is very important that children are diagnosed as early as possible so the necessary treatment can begin.  Otherwise, the affected joint(s) may continue to sustain pain, swelling, joint damage, etc.  Later in life, this could lead to deterioration of the affected joint, which affects quality of life and may well lead to joint replacement, joint fusion or some other type of significant treatment.

How do I know this?  I was one of those children back in the 70′s.  For as long as I can remember, I have had joint pain, swelling, tenderness, etc.  In those days, if you went to the family doctor or emergency room, you were told that it was probably just a sprain.  For years, this occurred until I finally saw a pediatric rheumatologist who diagnosed me with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis (JRA).  The problem is that it was undiagnosed for eleven years.  By then, significant damage had already occurred in the ankle joint.  I could keep telling my long story, but to get to the point, I had to have a total ankle replacement at the age of 30.  It was a long time coming, but that is an early age to have a joint replacement.

My point is that children need to be diagnosed early to help prevent significant problems down the road.  Will it prevent significant problems by 100%?  Surely not, but we owe it to our children and the children of this nation to help provide them the best care they can get. 

How can you help?  It’s easy!  Support the Arthritis Prevention Control and Cure Act.  It calls for more pediatric rheumatologists among other necessities.  The Arthritis Foundation makes it simple to show your support.  Just go to the Arthritis Foundation’s Arthritis Action Center and enter your zip code in the “Find Your Officials” box.  The resulting page will show your officials and will have an “Action Alert” box.  Just follow the links from that point on.

Just for kicks, try searching for a pediatric rheumatologist in your area.  You’ll probably be surprised to see that they are few and far between.  About a month ago, I checked for pediatric rheumatologists in Kentucky.  Unfortunately, I only found two full-time pediatric rheumatologists and they are both in Louisville.  The really sad thing about this is that Kentucky is the second-highest state for the prevalence of arthritis.  In other words, the Kentucky population has a higher percentage of arthritis than most of the other states.  However, we only have two full-time pediatric rheumatologists to serve the children with arthritis and many of those children will have to travel hours just to see the doctor.  Pretty sad if you ask me.