Constant aches, swelling, and stiffness in your joints turns simple tasks into painful problems.
Chronic joint inflammation is the result of the body’s autoimmune response gone rogue. And unlike aches and sprains, healing from joint inflammation pain is more complex than just rest and rehabilitation.
Following an injury, inflammation around the joints is a sign that the immune system is protecting the area and facilitating the growth of new, healthy tissue.
But, sometimes the immune system acts out and directs an inflammatory response at uninjured joints, resulting in pain and stiffness. This seemingly random attack on healthy tissue is known as chronic joint inflammation, and when left unchecked, can deteriorate the health and mobility of joints over time.
Common Chronic Conditions
Chronic conditions involving joint inflammation share similar characteristics, and are notoriously difficult to diagnose.
Rheumatoid arthritis develops when the immune system attacks the lining of the joints, most commonly impactings hands, wrists, and feet.
Psoriatic arthritis commonly develops among people who have the skin condition psoriasis.
Gout develops from the build-up and crystallization of Uric acid, most commonly in the big toe, hands, wrists, and knees.
Lupus develops when the immune system attacks healthy cells throughout the body, including: joints, skin, heart, lungs, blood, kidneys, and brain.
What Can You Expect From Treatment?
Living with chronic pain is no way to live. Our functional medicine team is committed to finding the root of your pain to stop it for good.
Your individualized healing plan will be based entirely on you and your symptoms. Here is a view of what you can expect:
Your first appointment with our functional medicine team is designed to help our practitioners get to know you, your autoimmune symptoms, and your short and long-term goals. This appointment is centered on Root Cause Analysis, which incorporates a mix of tools, techniques, and assessments to uncover underlying causes.
This session may include:
- Lifestyle and environmental exposure evaluation
- Medical history evaluation
- Symptoms review
- Goal Setting
- Bloodwork
After your bloodwork is processed in our on-site lab, our team will schedule a follow-up appointment with you to discuss your results and next-steps.
Once our lab has processed all of your test results, your doctor will walk you through the implications of your test results. They will also walk you through your highly individualized treatment roadmap, which may include: diet alterations, lifestyle changes, supplements, and more.
During your second evaluation, our team may administer more in-depth tests—dependent on your symptoms and goals.
**Because of the complexity of undetected diseases, you may require additional lab testing appointments before our functional medicine practitioner prescribes a plan of action.
Our team will schedule regular virtual check-ins to monitor how your joints are responding to treatment. If there are aspects of the treatment plan that are not agreeing with your body or your life, our functional life practitioners will modify the plan while still monitoring your results.
In addition to working closely with your functional medicine doctor, we also offer health coaching as a means of providing extra support if your treatment plan asks you to change certain aspects of your lifestyle.
Common Symptoms of Chronic Joint Inflammation
Like other autoimmune conditions, genetics and environmental exposures play a role in chronic inflammation, but the exact causes are still a mystery. Common symptoms of chronic joint inflammation include:
Living with Chronic Joint Inflammation
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