Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Treatments and drugs
By Mayo Clinic staffArthritis treatment focuses on relieving symptoms and improving joint function. You may need to try several different treatments, or combinations of treatments, before you determine what works best for you.
Medications
The medications used to treat arthritis vary, depending on the type of arthritis. Commonly used arthritis medications include:
- Analgesics. These types of medications help reduce pain, but have no effect on inflammation. Examples include acetaminophen (Tylenol, others), tramadol (Ultram) and narcotics like oxycodone (Percocet) and hydrocodone (Vicodin).
- Counterirritants. Some varieties of creams and ointments contain a substance such as menthol or capsaicin, the ingredient that makes hot peppers spicy. Rubbing these preparations on the skin over your aching joint may interfere with the transmission of pain signals from the joint itself.
- Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). NSAIDs reduce both pain and inflammation. Over-the-counter NSAIDs include aspirin, ibuprofen and naproxen. Some types of NSAIDs are available only by prescription. Oral NSAIDs can cause stomach irritation, and some may increase your risk of heart attack or stroke. Some NSAIDs are also available as creams or gels, which can be rubbed on joints.
- Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs). Often used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, DMARDs slow or stop your immune system from attacking your joints. Examples include methotrexate (Trexall) and hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil).
- Biologics. Typically used in conjunction with DMARDs, biologic response modifiers are genetically engineered drugs that suppress the immune system. Examples include TNF blockers such as etanercept (Enbrel) and infliximab (Remicade).
- Corticosteroids. This class of drug, which includes prednisone and cortisone, reduces inflammation and suppresses the immune system. Corticosteroids can be taken orally or be injected directly into the painful joint.
Therapy
Physical therapy can be helpful for some types of arthritis. Exercises can improve range of motion and strengthen the muscles surrounding joints. In some cases, splints or braces may be warranted.
Surgery
If more-conservative measures don't help, your doctor may suggest surgery, such as:
- Synovium removal (synovectomy). Rheumatoid arthritis causes the joint capsule's lining, called the synovium, to swell — particularly in the wrists, hands and fingers. Removing the synovium may slow joint deterioration.
- Joint replacement. This procedure removes your damaged joint and replaces it with an artificial one. Joints most commonly replaced are hips and knees.
- Joint fusion. This procedure is more often used for smaller joints, such as those in the wrist, ankle and fingers. It removes the ends of the two bones in the joint and then locks those ends together until they heal into one rigid unit.
- Arthritis. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. http://www.niams.nih.gov/Health_Info/Arthritis/tengo_artritis.asp. Accessed Nov. 24, 2008.
- Pinals RS. Patient information: Arthritis. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Nov. 24, 2008.
- Questions and answers about arthritis and rheumatic diseases. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. http://www.niams.nih.gov/Health_Info/Arthritis/arthritis_rheumatic_qa.asp. Accessed Dec. 4, 2008.
- Handout on health: Osteoarthritis. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. http://www.niams.nih.gov/Health_Info/Osteoarthritis/default.asp. Accessed Nov. 24, 2008.
- Handout on health: Rheumatoid arthritis. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. http://www.niams.nih.gov/Health_Info/Rheumatic_Disease/default.asp. Accessed Nov. 25, 2008.
- Kalunian KC. Patient information: Features and diagnosis of osteoarthritis. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Nov. 25, 2008.
- Becker MA. Patient information: Gout. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Nov. 26, 2008.
- Surgical therapy. In: Goldman L, et al. Cecil Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/112757110-6/780150341/1492/1060.html#4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-2805-5..50304-9--cesec7_13377. Accessed Dec. 5, 2008.
- Natural medicines in the clinical management of osteoarthritis. Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database. http://www.naturaldatabase.com. Accessed Nov. 28, 2008.
- Acupuncture for osteoarthritis of the knee. National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. http://nccam.nih.gov/research/results/acu-osteo.htm. Accessed Nov. 28, 2008.
