Lifestyle and Home Care

• Eat a healthy diet and strive for regular, low impact exercise, such as swimming or elliptical training. Keep your weight within a healthy range and talk to your doctor about a weight loss plan if you are overweight to reduce stress on your joints. Use ice packs on swollen joints for 15 minutes at a time to reduce inflammation and pain. Heating pads can help reduce pain as well, but they can increase swelling. Consider using a cane, walker, shower rails or raised toilet seat to make moving around easier.
  
  

Medications

• Over-the-counter and prescription medications can help relieve arthritis pain and ease joint inflammation. Analgesics ease pain but do not reduce swelling. Try acetaminophen for pain relief. Your doctor may prescribe a narcotic painkiller, such as oxycodone or hydrocodone, for severe pain. Be cautious with narcotic painkillers as they can lead to dependency.
  
  Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) relieve pain and swelling. Try over-the-counter strengths of aspirin, naproxen or ibuprofen. Prescription strength NSAIDs may be given to you if over-the-counter medications fail to control your arthritis pain. Some NSAIDs are available in topical formulas that you rub directly on the affected joints. Other topical creams and gels simulate a feeling of heat or cold to ease joint pain.
  
  If you have rheumatoid arthritis, your doctor may prescribe a disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) to prevent your immune system from attacking your joints. Oral or injected corticosteroids, such as prednisone and cortisone, can suppress the immune system and relieve joint swelling.
  
  

Alternative Methods

• Some arthritis patients benefit from transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS). A TENS unit sends small electrical pulses to the affected joints through electrodes stuck to the skin. The electrical pulses stimulate the nerves and interfere with pain signals being sent to the brain. Acupuncture is an ancient therapy that uses thin needles inserted into specific pressure points to relieve pain.
  
  

Surgery

• If medications and other methods fail to control your arthritis pain, your doctor may suggest surgery. Your affected joint can be replaced with an artificial one to help eliminate pain and other arthritis symptoms. Joint replacement procedures are usually done on hips and knees. Joint fusion removes the ends of small joints and molds the ends together so that they heal into one piece. Joint fusion is common for arthritis in smaller joints, such as in the hands, fingers and feet.