Women and Osteoarthritis

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A Look Into Risks and Prevention

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the clinical name for “wear and tear” on joints occurring most frequently in knees, hips, and hands. Osteoarthritis impacts millions of Americans but is slightly more prevalent in women. It is estimated that one in five adults has osteoarthritis, 24 million women and 17 million men according to the Arthritis Foundation. Two main factors come into play: gender and genetics.

Gender

Research has shown that female hormones affect the cartilage between bones and joints providing cushioning so the joints can move smoothly. When menopause occurs, estrogen levels drop meaning they lose that extra protection. This has been shown to still be true even in cases where women are receiving hormone-replacement therapy after menopause. A lack of testosterone may also put women at risk. Testosterone is key in building strong muscles which leads to healthier joints.

The amount of full-term childbirths a woman has had also plays a part in the chances of developing knee or hip arthritis. A study of more than 1600 women aged 50 to 79 who had given birth to 5 to 12 children was 2.6 times more likely to have a knee replacement than a woman who gave birth to only one child.

Genetics

If a family member has OA, you are more likely to have it. This has also been shown to be more true with women. If your mother was diagnosed with OA, you will likely experience issues in the same joints around the same age she was. This is especially true in cases of hand and knee osteoarthritis.

So what can I do to avoid OA?

  • Maintain a healthy weight
    • Being overweight or obese adds extra weight on your joints. Losing weight lessens the pressure on those weight-bearing joints and increases your mobility
  • Be active
    • Exercise is an incredible tool for OA, it can increase flexibility, boost your mood, strengthen your muscles and heart, and increase blood flow. If you already have joint issues, try lower-impact exercises such as swimming or yoga to stay active and in shape.
  • Speak up
    • If you are experiencing a lot of pain or interference in your everyday activities, even something as simple as walking down the stairs, let your doctor know

Though it may seem difficult to avoid Osteoarthritis, there are treatment options available to you. If you have any questions or concerns about OA don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at 910.295.0224.

Patellofemoral Arthritis Pinehurst, NC

The Basics of Patellofemoral Arthritis

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Arthritis can affect just about any part of the body, including the knees. When we see patients with knee arthritis, they tend to experience a lot of pain behind the knee cap, which can make even walking uncomfortable to do. If you think that you or one of your loved ones has this type of arthritis, then it’s helpful to know the basics. Let’s take a closer look at what some of the basics are.

Who Is At Risk of Getting It?

Similar to other types of arthritis, there are several potential risks of patellofemoral arthritis including:

  • Females: Statistics show that women are more commonly affected than men
  • Obesity- Excessive weight can lead to joint degeneration which can cause kneecap arthritis
  • Health problems: Patients with gout, dysplasia, rheumatoid arthritis, and Paget’s disease are more likely to get
  • Repetitive movements: Repetitive movements like standing for sustained amounts of time can lead to osteoarthritis in the knee
  • Age: Most patients who are diagnosed, are over the age of 40
  • Injury: If you have or have had a knee injury, the trauma can lead to arthritis in the knees.

What Are the Symptoms?

Patients with this type of arthritis usually experience knee swelling, pain, irritation, and they hear a crackling sound in their knee joints when they walk.

How Is It Diagnosed?

When patients come in with a variety of symptoms that are indicative of arthritis, we like to run a number of tests. Tests include a comprehensive physical examination, a look at your medical history, MRI’s or CT scans, blood work, and even a lab evaluation.

What Are the Treatments?

Depending on the severity of your arthritis, treatments include:

  • Cortisone Injections
  • Swimming and walking to strengthen the muscles around the knee
  • Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication
  • Weight loss and management

Surgery

If you or your loved one have any of the symptoms listed in this article, schedule an appointment with us and call  910.295.0224.

Hip Bursitis Pinehurst, NC

The Basics of Hip Bursitis

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You probably don’t think much about your hip and joints, that is until they start acting up. Here at our office, we see patients for just about any and every joint issue including hip bursitis. But what is this condition and how can it be treated? Let’s take a closer look and see.

What Is Hip Bursitis?

There are two types of hip bursitis, both of which cause inflammation in the hip.

  • Trochanteric Bursitis: This is the most common type of bursitis, and it takes place on the bony part of the hip called the trochanteric bursa.
  • Iliopsoas Bursitis: This is a lot less common than trochanteric bursitis and takes place on the inside of the hip toward the groin.

What are the symptoms?

Typically, patients experience sharp, intense, acute pain that spreads from their hip and then goes down their legs. The pain tends to be worse at night, after long walks, climbing a lot of stairs, or a lot of time spent in a squatting position.

Who Gets Bursitis?

Patients with bursitis tend to be either elderly or women. Also, patients who experience the following are at a greater risk of getting it:

  • Hip Injury – This can be a fall onto your hip, a bump with your hip, or even when you lie on one side of your body for an extended period.
  • Spine disease – Scoliosis, osteoarthritis in the lumbar spine, and other diseases inflame the hip bursae.
  • Unequal leg lengths – When one leg is significantly shorter than the other, the stress when walking can lead to irritation of the bursa.
  • Rheumatoid arthritis – This increases the likelihood that your bursa will become inflamed.
  • Bone spurs – These can develop within the tendons that attach muscles to the trochanter.
  • Repetitive stress or overuse – When you’re a runner, cyclist, run stairs, or have a job that keeps you on your feet for long periods, you’re more likely to develop bursitis.
  • Previous surgery – Hip replacement or surgery in the area can lead to bursitis.

What Is treatment Like?

Depending on how severe your bursitis is,we  will determine what kind of treatment you may best benefit from. Treatments include:

  • Making some changes in your activities
  • Non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs)
  • Physical therapy
  • Steroid Injections

If you suffer from hip bursitis or if you want to learn more about it, contact our office and call us at  910.295.0224.

How to Alleviate Joint Pain Without Narcotics

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With the opioid epidemic, we encourage more and more of our patients to seek relief from pain without the use of narcotics. Although it’s not always possible to do, we do have a few ways for patients who suffer from joint pain, in particular, to find comfort without having to risk getting addicted to substances.

Take Ibuprofen

Ibuprofen is perfect at alleviating symptoms like swelling, pain, and aching without the chance of getting addicted. However, because ibuprofen is a blood thinner, you shouldn’t take it for extended periods or with other blood thinners. Before you start taking it, ask one of our doctors if it’s okay to take it with many different types of medication that you are on.

Practice What You Learned at Physical Therapy

The goal of physical therapy is to strengthen your joints and help you seek relief from pain but to teach you stretches and exercises to do on your own. In other words, your physical therapist will want you to be self-sufficient eventually. Make sure that you are practicing your physical therapy as frequently as instructed; especially when you have a flare up of pain.

Ice and Heat

The combination of icing and using heat is another great way to get rid of any joint pain or discomfort (especially when there is swelling involved). If you notice that you are having a flare-up alternate between both cold and heat. For instance, ice for two minutes and then heat form three. If you have double sink s in your bathroom, try to fill one sink up with ice water and one sink up with hot water. Alternating between the two will be easy to do (unless you are icing your knees or ankles).

Finding relief from pain can feel impossible sometimes without the use of narcotics, but as long as you’re consistent with treatment, it’s definitely a possibility. If you want to learn more about ways to find relief from pain, contact our Pinehurst office today and call  910.295.0224.

Injury Prevention Pinehurst NC

3 Ways to Prevent Boating Accidents This Summer

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If you and your family like to spend a lot of time out on Jordan Lake, then you must be excited that summer is finally here. Although Dr. John Moore likes boating just as much as the next person, he wants all of our patients to be as safe as possible while out on the water. With some patines coming in for treatment after a boating accident, he thought it would be a good idea to list some ways to avoid injury. But how?

Watch the Rope

Whether wakeboarding, tubing, or water skiing is your poison, be careful of that rope. If your wrist, ankle, or arm gets wrapped around the rope, it cannot only put you at risk of getting injured, but it can also pull a muscle, tear a ligament, or break a bone. Make sure that you are only using a straight rope, that doesn’t have kinks, and is new; that way, you can prevent it from getting tangled around you.

Keep Your Knees Bent

If you want to get even better at water skiing or wakeboarding this year, keep your knees bent. If you want to avoid getting a knee injury this summer while doing these sports, then keep your knees bent. Bent knees won’t just help stabilize you, but they will do prevent you from placing too much of a strain on joints and getting injured.

Take Breaks

If you have sore joints or if you just recovered from an injury that we saw you for, don’t be afraid to take some breaks while out on the lake. With so many beautiful summer day ahead, there’s no need to get burned out on the first day out of the water. Giving yourself a little bit of time to relax and breathe, will help you avoid getting injured.

North Carolina boating is one of the things that we do best. To make sure that you can get injured out on the lake this summer, use the tips listed in this article. To learn more or to schedule an appointment, contact our Pinehurst office at 910.295.0224.

The Basics of the STOP Act of North Carolina

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With the opioid epidemic taking over just about every corner of the country, North Carolina Legislatures passed a bill called STOP to help prevent narcotic addictions in medical patients. STOP or The Strengthen Opioid Misuse Prevention (STOP) Act of 2017 is designed to help both doctors and patients in the fight against the misuse of opioids. Let’s take a closer look at some of the details of this bill.

Opioid prescribing consultants

Under this law, both nurse practitioners and physicians assistants are required to advise with their supervising physician before prescribing any sorts of narcotics to patients. Additionally, they are also required to revisit with the supervising doctor for prescription refill requests after 90 to make sure that the prescription is still warranted.

Limits the Number of Opioids that Can be Prescribed

Another thing that STOP does is it limits the amount of opioids that can be prescribed to a patient upon an initial consultation. Specifically, patients can only legally be prescribed no more than a 5-day supply for acute injuries and a 7-day supply for surgeries.

Review Patients 12-Month History

Another thing that STOP requires from physicians is to review a patient’s 12-month medical and prescription history for any prior misuse of opioids or narcotics.

As always, Dr. John Moore and our staff are compliant with all of the STOP regulations, requirements, and guidelines. If you have any questions about the STOP Act and our compliance with it, contact us at our office and call 910.295.0224.

Osteoarthritis Pinehurst, NC

What Causes Osteoarthritis?

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Osteoarthritis is one of the biggest joint conditions that we see people for here at Dr. John Moore’s office. In fact, as a condition that affects over 27 million Americans, osteoarthritis is the most common chronic joint condition in adults. Because it’s so common, it may have you wondering how on earth it’s caused and if there’s anything you can do to prevent yourself from getting it. Let’s take a closer look.

Genetics: Your genetics play a huge role in virtually every part of your health. For instance, if there are genetic defects in your joints and the way that your bones fit together, it can accelerate the degradation of your joints which leads to osteoarthritis. Additionally, some young patients may develop osteoarthritis if they inherit a rare defect in the body’s ability to produce collagen.

Joint Overuse: Distance runners or people who overuse their joints a lot may develop osteoarthritis because continually bending your knee joints causes them to wear down more quickly.

Obesity: The more weight you put on your joints, the more it’s going to increase the pressure and wear on them. Patients who are overweight are putting

Injury: If you have had an injury in the past, you are at a higher risk of becoming arthritic at some point.

Other Diseases: Certain disease can increase the likelihood that you will develop osteoarthritis, including rheumatoid arthritis.

Even though these things can contribute to osteoarthritis, they aren’t the only things that do. In fact, just using your joints may increase your chances of getting osteoarthritis. If you want to learn more about treatment or diagnosis, contact us at our office today and call us at 910.295.0224.

Joint Injury Pinehurst NC

3 Spring Activities to Add a Little Bit of Spring Into Your Step

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With spring just around the corner, you may be ready to give up your Netflix obsession and head outdoors for some serious Vitamin D. If, however, you suffer from a joint injury in your knees, hips, or ankles, then you know just how painful everyday life can be. To help you head outdoors and add a little bit of a spring to your step, we have created a list of three joint-friendly activities for you to try.

Spring Stroll

When you’ve been cooped up inside all winter, getting outside for some fresh air can make a world of difference. To get your joints moving and your heart rate up, consider going on a springtime stroll around your neighborhood. Start out by doing something small like going around the block and then every day try to increase that amount so that you can get a really full walk in.

Swimming

If there’s one sport that’s especially good for your joints it’s swimming. Depending on the weather, you may or may not be able to head outdoors and swim this spring. Even if it’s too cold to swim outdoors, you can find a local indoor swimming pool to get out your wiggles out.

Cycling

Springtime in North Carolina is one of the best times of the year to head outside and hop on your bike for a bike ride. Plus, biking is really easy on your joints; especially if you’re not doing too steep of an incline. Just remember to take it slow at first and then slowly work up to it.

Spend your spring doing things that you love in the outdoors. If you want to learn more about these and other joint friendly activities that you can do, contact us at our Pinehurst office today and call us at 910-295-0224.

patellofemoral arthritis | Pinehurst, NC

What Are The Signs Of Patellofemoral Arthritis?

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Having joint stiffness and pain in your kneecaps isn’t exactly something that anybody wants to have, but if you do have any of these symptoms, it may be caused by a condition called patellofemoral arthritis.

What Is Patellofemoral Arthritis?

Behind the kneecap and just along the femoral groove is articular cartilage that is a slippery texture. When patients have patellofemoral arthritis, however, this slippery cartilage becomes inflamed and starts to deteriorate which can result in pain and a lack of cushion between the bones.

How Is It Caused?

The good news about patellofemoral arthritis is that you aren’t likely to just wake up with it one day; it is something that gradually happens overtime. On average, common risk factors of arthritis include:

  • Age. Most patients dianosed are over the age of 40
  • A knee injury such as a fractured kneecap can increase the risk of post-traumatic kneecap arthritis.
  • Certain repetitive movements sustained for long periods can wear down the knee joint, leading to osteoarthritis of the kneecap.
  • Statistics indicate that women are affected more commonly than men.
  • Health conditions like dysplasia, gout, rheumatoid arthritis, and Paget’s disease are risk factors for kneecap arthritis.
  • Obesity may cause joint degeneration, which could lead to arthritis of the knee and kneecap.

How Can We Treat It?

Depending on the severity of your patellofemoral arhtritis, we may reocmmend eithe rnon surgical or surgical treatmetns.

Non-surgical treatments include:

  • Weight loss and managemnt
  • Strength training exercises like swimming and walking
  • Cortisone injecions
  • Over-the-counter non steroidal anti inflammatory medications like ibuprofen

Sergies include:

  • Kneecap alignment – A minor surgical procedure to tighten or release soft tissues around the knee modify the actual position of the kneecap to reduce pressure and improve comfort.
  • Arthroscopy – This minimally invasive procedure is performed through a small incision. Its purpose is to trim and smooth joint surfaces that have become rough due to excessive degradation.
  • Knee replacement – In some cases, only the patellofemoral aspect of the knee joint needs to be replaced. However, patients who experience chronic knee pain due to severe joint deterioration may benefit the most from complete replacement.

If you experience chronic joint pain in your knees, schedule an appointment with Dr. John Moore at Pinehurst Srugical to get examined. Contact us at our office today and call us at 910.295.0224

knee arthritis pinehurst NC

3 Ways to Have Better Joints in 2019

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Whether you suffer from knee pain, wrist pain, hand pain, hip pain, or any other joint pain, you know just how debilitating it can feel at times. Now that 2019 is here, we have a few tips to get less pain and more comfort this year. From taking joint medication to stretching, this article will list a few ways you can find relief from the comfort of your own home.

Take Joint Medication

Depending on the severity of your joint pain, your current health, and where your pain is located, Dr. John Moore may recommend that you take either an over-the-counter medication like ibuprofen or he may even prescribe you with a prescription joint medication. Joint medication is great at helping relieve pain, stiffness, inflammation, and overall discomfort.

Ice

Swollen joints can be uncomfortable and irritating. To get rid of swollen joints— especially during a flare-up— make sure that you ice them by using a soft, gel ice pack. To start out, try icing for 10-15-minute intervals about 3-5 times per day.

Stretch

Stiff joints can be extra painful. To help loosen up your joints, you can do a variety of things at home including stretching. By doing slow, consistent stretches a few times a day, you will hopefully notice your joints loosen up and start to feel more comfortable. If you have questions about what stretches to do or how to do them, our office can help.

By getting into the habit of doing these three things on a regular basis, you can hopefully get rid of stiff, uncomfortable joints and start feeling like yourself again. If you want to learn a little bit more about joints, schedule an appointment with Dr. John Moore at our office today and give us a call at 910.295.0224