Joints are basically where two or more bones meet, enabling limb movement. A sedentary lifestyle or relentless exercise can make your joints ache, and over time, can even lead to chronic issues. You can even experience acute joint pain due to injury or a variety of diseases, such as arthritis. While it might be difficult to completely cure such aches in many cases, multiple joint pain treatment options are available that help manage the condition.

Symptoms
The most common symptom of this condition is any form of discomfort in your joints. If it is due to an injury, the pain generally subsides within a couple of days with minimal medical assistance. However, you should visit a doctor if the pain remains for over three days, the surrounding area is red, swollen, tender, or feels warm, the pain leads to fever, the joint seems deformed, the joint becomes immobile, or the pain suddenly becomes severe.

Causes
Arthritis is one of the common reasons for joint pain, and it has two primary forms: Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and Osteoarthritis (OA). Osteoarthritis is the most commonly occurring type of arthritis in people over 40 years of age. It is a slowly progressing type of arthritis that mainly affects the knees, hips, hands, and wrists. Firm tissue known as cartilage form protective layers around the joints and work as shock absorbers in the body. OA causes the cartilages around your joints to break down, making them absorb more pressure and consequently leading to pain.

RA affects women more commonly compared to men. According to studies, around 1.5 million individuals in the country are currently suffering from this condition. RA can cause the deformation of joints over an extended period, leading to fluid buildup, inflammation, and pain.

The other notable causes of joint pain include rickets, sarcoidosis, fibromyalgia, cancer, osteoporosis, joint overuse, infection, tendonitis, injury, chondromalacia, infectious diseases like hepatitis, influenza, and mumps, gout, lupus, and bursitis.

Diagnosis
There are two primary ways join a doctor diagnoses joint pain:

Laboratory tests
If the doctor suspects that arthritis is the primary reason for your pain, they generally suggest a lab test. For this, a health professional will insert a needle into the affected area and collect joint fluid. This fluid is then analyzed to see if you have arthritis and what type of it. Urine and blood samples are also often tested for the same.

Imaging
Different types of imaging methods are often used to determine the cause of your joint pain. The most commonly used imaging techniques are:

Ultrasound
This method uses sound waves to image fluid-filled areas near the joints, cartilage, and soft tissues. Ultrasound is often also used to help guide a needle to collect fluid from the joint.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
MRI has the capacity to produce detailed images of ligaments, tendons, and cartilage. By imaging the soft tissues using a powerful magnetic field and radio waves, MRIs can help determine the reason behind your joint pain.

Computerized tomography (CT)
CT scan is a commonly used imaging technique that takes X-rays of your soft tissues and bones from different angles. It produces a clear image of the targeted structure by combining the X-ray outputs, revealing the cause of your pain.

X-rays
It is one of the most commonly used imaging technologies that can reveal bone spurs, bone damage, and cartilage loss. X-rays help determine the progress of arthritis.

Treatment
There are different forms of joint pain treatment options, and an experienced doctor can suggest the best course of action for you, depending on the source and condition of the discomfort. In some situations, exercising and physical therapy can help. It can strengthen the muscles around the joints and improve the range of joint movement. Exercising regularly also helps to reduce weight, which is another reason for joint pain due to continuous stress.

In case of more severe damage, doctors might suggest surgical solutions. For example, a surgeon can operate the joint to realign it or smoothen the joint surfaces. The procedure can reduce pain and help the joint function better. These types of surgeries are performed by making small incisions over the affected area and operating through those openings. The doctor might also suggest a total replacement if your joints are damaged beyond repair. This is more commonly done for knees and hips where the affected joints are surgically removed, and an artificial joint is placed as a replacement.

It is crucial to start treating joint pains as soon as they first appear. It becomes increasingly challenging to manage the joint issue if you leave them untreated.