Arthritis and Joint Pain Management
Many professional organizations have guidelines for managing arthritis pain. A common theme across guidelines is that pain management strategies should be flexible, include options that do not involve medication, and be tailored to meet the needs of the patient. Such guidelines suggest the following for managing arthritis symptoms such as pain:
- Over-the-counter medications like acetaminophen (e.g., Tylenol®) or ibuprofen (e.g., Advil® or Motrin®) and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).
- Physical activity/exercise or community-based physical activity programs.
- Exercise therapy, including physical therapy.
- Self-management education workshops.
- Weight loss, if overweight or obese.
- Cognitive behavioral therapy—a psychological, goal-directed approach in which patients learn how to modify physical, behavioral, and emotional triggers of pain and stress.
Over-the-Counter Medications
Emerging evidence suggests that these are safer and more effective treatments for managing long-term arthritis pain than opioids.
- A recent study of individuals with knee and hip osteoarthritis, the most common types of arthritis, found that after one year, people who took over-the-counter medications had greater reductions in pain severity than people who took opioids.
Prescription opioids are medications that can be used to treat moderate to severe pain. In 2015, nearly one in three US adults with arthritis purchased at least 1 prescription opioid from a pharmacy that year. Furthermore, adults with arthritis accounted for more than half of US adults with at least 1 opioid prescription dispensed. There is limited evidence of prescribed opioids’ long-term effectiveness when used for chronic conditions such as arthritis.
Safer options exist to help manage arthritis pain.