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Stanford Health Care

Arthritis

How We Can Help You for Arthritis

The doctors in the Stanford Medicine Spine Center have the experience needed to accurately diagnose and effectively treat arthritis, the condition causing inflammation of joints, tendons, and ligaments.

Our team members work together to accurately diagnosis and effectively treat your symptoms. Arthritis may cause pain, swelling, redness, and warmth. Arthritis also can limit your ability to move normally.

Our goal is to relieve your pain and any other symptoms, and to help you return to doing the normal activities you enjoy.

Stanford Medicine Spine Center patients with arthritis also may have opportunities to participate in research studies of new diagnostic and treatment approaches not yet available anywhere else.

What We Offer You for Arthritis

  • Center of Excellence for advanced care of all orthopaedic conditions.
  • Nationally recognized expertise in treating every type of arthritis, no matter how complex.
  • Precise diagnosis options including the latest imaging technology.
  • Team-based treatment planning that brings together orthopaedic surgeons, neurologists and neurosurgeons, pain management specialists, rheumatologists, physiatrists, geneticists, and others to tailor care to your needs.
  • Advanced treatment options emphasizing noninvasive approaches whenever possible, including exercises, physical therapy, and medication therapy, and, when needed, spine surgery.
  • Comprehensive support services including care coordination from diagnosis to treatment to follow-up.
  • Active research program to develop new diagnostic and treatment advances.

Treatments for Arthritis

The team members of the Stanford Medicine Spine Center use the most advanced techniques to effectively treat arthritis. We have experience with all treatment approaches and always emphasize the least invasive techniques whenever possible.

Our team includes doctors from orthopaedics, neurology, neurosurgery, rheumatology, physiatry, pain management, and other specialties. They work together to ensure you receive the most effective treatment possible.

Our arthritis treatments focus on:

  • Reducing pain, swelling, and other symptoms
  • Keeping your condition from getting worse
  • Helping you continue or resume doing your daily activities

The active involvement of both you and your loved ones is key to successful treatment of your arthritis.

Early, precise diagnosis and treatment may help reduce symptoms. Timely treatment also may reduce the risk of arthritis causing further damage. The exact treatment recommended by your doctor depends on your specific condition.

 

Treatment approaches may include:

Exercises

Your doctor may recommend an exercise program to help control symptoms and to improve movement and overall fitness. Your doctor also may recommend that you stop doing certain exercises you did in the past, to help control symptoms or slow down the progression of arthritis.

Heat and cold therapy

Your doctor may recommend heat therapy, cold therapy, or a combination of both to help reduce pain and swelling.

Massage therapy

In many cases, doctors recommend massage therapy to ease bone and joint pain and stiffness.

Weight loss and nutritional counseling

Being overweight places added stress and strain on joints and bones. Poor nutrition can make joints and bones weak. We offer counseling programs to help people lose weight (and keep it off) and eat a healthier diet.

Acupuncture

Stimulation of certain muscles and nerves with acupuncture needles may help relieve pain and other symptoms of arthritis.

Stress management

Stress is bad for your health in general. If you have arthritis, stress may make symptoms feel worse and reduce the positive effects of treatment. Your care team can recommend ways to help reduce or manage stress.

Physical therapy

For some cases of arthritis, doctors recommend physical therapy to help reduce symptoms and improve mobility.

Occupational therapy

Occupational therapy can help you learn how to do daily tasks while protecting your joints and bones.

Joint immobilization

In some cases, doctors recommend a brace or other device to keep bones or joints in a fixed position, help relieve symptoms, and reduce the risk of further damage.

Assistive devices

If needed, your doctor will suggest that you use a cane or walker so you can stay physically active, even if you have limitations.

Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS)

In a TENS procedure, electrodes placed on the back send electrical signals through the skin to stimulate nerve cells and numb pain.

Medications

Your doctor may recommend over-the-counter or prescription medications to help relieve symptoms. For example, to help relieve pain, the doctor may suggest you take aspirin or acetaminophen.

Other medications sometimes recommended to treat arthritis symptoms include:

Surgery

In certain cases, as a last resort after trying or considering less invasive methods to treat arthritis, your doctor may recommend a surgical procedure. For example, some people need joint replacement surgery, such as a hip or knee replacement. Our doctors have experience with all surgical procedures, from the common to the most complex, for arthritis and related conditions.

 

Clinical Trials

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Open Clinical Trials

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Clinical trials are research studies that evaluate a new medical approach, device, drug, or other treatment. As a Stanford Health Care patient, you may have access to the latest clinical trials.

Open trials refer to studies that are currently recruiting participants or that may recruit participants in the near future.

Closed trials are not currently enrolling, but may open in the future.

What Is Arthritis?

Arthritis

Arthritis is inflammation of a joint. Symptoms of arthritis may include pain, swelling, redness, warmth, and limitation of movement.

There are over 100 types of arthritis. Three common types are osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and gout.

  • Osteoarthritis is a condition in which the cartilage that protects and cushions joints breaks down over time. Eventually, the bones—formerly separated by the cartilage—rub against each other, resulting in damage to the tissue and underlying bone and causing painful joint symptoms.
  • Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an inflammation of the membranes or tissues lining the joints. Over time, rheumatoid arthritis may destroy the joint tissues, including cartilage, ligaments, tendons and bone, and, in rare but severe cases, may cause organ damage.
  • Gouty arthritis (gout) is an inflammatory joint disease that causes acute pain and swelling. It is a form of arthritis that develops when uric acid crystals form in and around the joints, commonly affecting the big toe joint (this symptom is called podagra). People who have gout may have a very painful attack in one or two joints followed by the total disappearance of all symptoms until the next attack.

Our Clinics

Stanford Medicine Spine Center

The Stanford Medicine Spine Center is staffed by world-class spine specialists from neurosurgery and orthopaedics, who work together to offer you the world’s most advanced and effective treatment options—including those that don’t involve surgery. Our goal is to safely get you back to your normal lifestyle as soon as possible, and maintain long-term spinal health.

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