Arthritis Specialist

Arthritis services offered in Porterville, Reedley and Visalia, CA

More than one in four adults develop arthritis, a progressive disease that often causes debilitating joint pain, limiting your movement and preventing you from enjoying daily activities. With early treatment from the experienced team at Sequoia Institute for Surgical Services, you can slow down the joint damage and stay active with conservative treatments. If your arthritis reaches an advanced stage, you can depend on their surgical skills to replace the joint. To schedule an appointment, call the office in Visalia, Porterville, or Reedley, California, or book online today.

What causes arthritis?

Arthritis is a general term referring to joint inflammation. You can develop many types of arthritis, but the most common include:

Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis develops as you repeatedly use the joint, causing wear-and-tear damage that breaks down the cartilage covering the ends of bones. As the disease progresses, more of the cartilage wears, exposing the bone and leading to bone damage, inflammation, and bone spurs.

Rheumatoid arthritis

As an autoimmune disease, rheumatoid arthritis develops when your immune system mistakenly attacks the synovial tissues lining the joint. As a result, the tissues develop chronic inflammation, which gradually erodes the underlying bone and causes joint deformities.

Psoriatic Arthritis

Psoriatic arthritis is an autoimmune disease in which your body’s immune system mistakenly attacks your joints and your skin. The condition typically starts out as psoriasis on your skin and progresses to your joints over time. When it reaches your joints, it causes inflammation, which leads to pain, stiffness, and swelling in your joints.

Left untreated, psoriatic arthritis can cause permanent damage to your joints and tissue, making early intervention critical.

Post-traumatic arthritis

Joint injuries may accelerate cartilage degeneration. When that happens, osteoarthritis develops over months instead of years. However, unlike the other types of arthritis, post-traumatic arthritis usually heals with prompt treatment.

What are the symptoms of arthritis?

Osteoarthritis typically begins in large, weight-bearing joints like your knees, hips, and shoulders. By comparison, rheumatoid arthritis first appears in the small joints of your fingers, wrists, toes, and feet.

Both types of arthritis cause joint pain, stiffness, and limited movement. These symptoms worsen as the disease progressively damages the joint.

Rheumatoid arthritis often causes redness, swelling, and warmth in the joint. The inflammation can spread to other parts of your body, often causing problems in your skin, eyes, lungs, and heart.

How is arthritis treated?

Sequoia Institute for Surgical Services offer integrative care for arthritis to slow down disease progression and preserve a healthy joint for as long as possible. Your treatment plan may include:

Physical therapy

Exercise eases your joint pain, diminishes swelling, improves the range of motion, and can help slow down joint damage. Physical therapy provides a structured exercise plan customized to your stage and type of arthritis, ensuring you get enough exercise without pushing too hard and adding to your joint pain.

Medications

Your provider may recommend joint injections containing corticosteroids or Synvisc-One®. Corticosteroids reduce inflammation. Synvisc-One contains hyaluronic acid, which lubricates the joint and may help slow down joint damage in people with osteoarthritis.

If you have rheumatoid arthritis, your provider prescribes disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) to help prevent joint damage and put the disease into remission.

Total joint replacement

Advanced arthritis causes such extensive joint damage that joint replacement surgery becomes your only treatment option.

Don't wait to get help for painful, stiff joints; call Sequoia Institute for Surgical Services or book an appointment online today.

Notes:

We offer steroid and hyaluronic acid injections. If it doesn't help, then we will recommend surgery as the last option.