How Diabetes Causes Joint Pain by Dr Niraj Vora

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How Diabetes Causes Joint Pain by Dr Niraj Vora
Dr Niraj Vora Best Orthopaedic Surgeon in Mumbai,
India
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• Diabetes Mellitus is a condition where a person
  loses his ability to find the energy in food.
  This is a chronic and life-long.
• We all know that there are three types of
  diabetes, type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes and
  gestational diabetes.
• The human body breaks down the sugars and
  carbohydrates which is eaten into a special sugar
  called glucose. It fuels the cells in the body
  but the cells need a hormone called insulin to
  transform glucose to energy.
• In the diabetic patients, the body does not
  produce enough insulin, thus the glucose cannot
  be changed into energy. Hence the glucose level
  builds up in the blood, it leads to the damage of
  tissues, vessels and nervous system. 
• And what most of the patients is not aware of is
  that the diabetes can actually worsen their joint
  pain or even cause one if not present before.

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• Diabetic Arthropathy is a medical term for the
  condition when diabetes damages joint and
  causes joint pain in diabetes.
• Arthropathy takes long time to get recognized and
  identifies other symptoms like thick skin,
  changes in the feet, painful shoulders, carpal
  tunnel syndrome. There are different forms of
  joint pain from diabetic arthropathy charcots
  joint, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
• Charcots joint occurs when nerve damage is the
  main cause for a joint break down. This is mainly
  seen in the feet and ankles which further leads
  to muscle pain in diabetes.

• Osteoarthritis can be observed very commonly and
  can be caused by excess weight because this makes
  bones rub against each other. This also increases
  the difficulty in moving the limbs. The only way
  to treat OA is by reducing the weight.

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• Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune
  disease caused by inflammation. The exact causes
  of RA are still unknown but family history is one
  of them.
• The two main features of RA are pain and swell.
  Unfortunately, there are no treatments for RA but
  can reduce the inflammation with medicines. This
  is how we can come to a conclusion that diabetes
  causes joint pains.
• Just like there are different forms of diabetes,
  there are also different forms of pains. Diabetes
  knee pain is one among them.

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• Diabetic shoulder which is otherwise known as
  frozen shoulder is a condition in which a
  particular area of the shoulder joint will be
  swollen and thickened.
• The pain followed by decreased mobility, pain and
  persistent stiffness in the shoulder.
• It is not being proved that the diabetes is the
  only cause for this condition, but the symptoms
  of the frozen shoulder can say that the person is
  suffering from diabetes.
• They are much more severe and harder to treat.

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• If you are experiencing any of the above
  mentioned pain symptoms in joints and knees.
  Check the below treatment options listed.
• Biofeedback
• Acupuncture
• Neurostimulation Therapy
• Massage Therapy
• Physical Therapy/ Chiropractic Care
• TENS Unit (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve
  Stimulation)

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