rheumatoid arthritis

moving me forward™

Your movement may be limited, but your options don't have to be. See how other patients conquered their pain and get started on your own journey to recovery.

Mike "Coach K" Krzyzewski
Inspirational college coach and DePuy joint recipient.

watch a pep-talk from Coach Kread Coach K's story

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"It's not worth living with pain."

http://prod.depuy.edgesuite.net/patients/media/depuy_intro.mp4
http://prod.depuy.edgesuite.net/patients/media/depuy_intro.mp4
"It's not worth living with pain."

read Coach K's story

"Hi, I'm Mike Krzyzewski, coach of Duke University's Men's Basketball team. If you could take a journey to move better, live better, why wouldn't you? I did when I had joint replacement surgery.

"I'm here to tell you that you have two opponents. Pain and lack of mobility. Pain can get you down every day. Lack of mobility can lead to decreased speed and loss of endurance. With speed and endurance loss, you don't stay competitive and you spend energy just trying to catch up. But you've got to fight your opponents to stay in the game.

"I know it isn't always easy. There was a part of me that thought of stopping, giving up coaching altogether. I would never have won two Olympic team medals and four NCAA Championships if I hadn't had my surgeries.

"Now, I don't have to overcompensate for injury and pain. I'm more active than before, I have relief from pain and I'm even quicker on my feet. People say I look better now. Do you want your life back the way it should be? You have two choices, a continued downward spiral or take action.

"So don't let the injury win. You don't need to live in pain. That's why I want to encourage you to empower yourself. Get educated, develop a personal treatment plan with your doctor, build a team of support and commit to reclaiming your life. Remember, this is a major event in your life—treat it as such. What you put into it will multiply for you at the end of the journey."
 

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symptoms

PainPainAn unpleasant sensation associated with actual or potential tissue damage, and mediated by specific nerve fibe... is the main symptom of arthritisarthritisJoint inflammation. This pain first occurs during activity. Usually, once the activity begins the pain is tolerable, but after resting for several minutes the pain and stiffness may increase. Later, when the condition worsens, pain may be present even at rest. In rheumatoid arthritisrheumatoid arthritisGeneralized inflammatory joint disease., the fingers also become deformed as the disease progresses. At the MCP jointjointThe junction or articulation of two or more bones that permits varying degrees of motion between the bones., the joints begin to point sideways toward the thumb, pointing the fingers towards the little fingers. This is commonly referred to as "ulnar drift." Ulnar drift can cause weakness as well as pain and make daily activities difficult.

diagnosis

The diagnosis of arthritis of the finger joints begins with a history of the problem. Details about any injuries that may have occurred to the hand are important and may suggest other reasons why the condition exists.

Following the history, a physical examination of the hand, and possibly other joints in the body, will be performed. It will be important for your doctor to see how the motion of each finger joint has been affected.

X-rays will be taken to identify the severity of the joint damage. This is usually the most important test to determine the extent of the degenerative arthritisdegenerative arthritisDisease that leads to the gradual deterioration of a joint; also called Osteoarthritis.. The amount of articular cartilagearticular cartilageA resilient tissue that covers the surface of bones where they meet in a joint. The cells of articular cartila... left in the joint can be estimated using X-rays.

understanding hand and finger anatomy

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May 15 2012 - 19:17:49