A shoulder may look like a simple joint. After all, it’s just a ball and socket. But your shoulder requires a number of muscles, ligaments, and tendons to keep the joint in place and permit its (significant) full range of motion. If your shoulder hurts, the root cause could be...
Whether it’s acute or chronic, pain is a sign that something isn’t right in your body. If you have chronic muscular pain in the same spot, such as your neck or shoulder, you may have myofascial pain syndrome. “Myo” means muscle, while “fascia” refers to the thin layer of connective...
Infusion therapy could be the answer to controlling your pain. You may benefit from infusion therapy if: You can’t tolerate oral medications The drug you need causes gastrointestinal distress Your current medication doesn’t fully control your pain Infusion therapy is a type of intravenous (IV) therapy in which your medical...
If you have gout, your rheumatologist has probably already explained that it’s a form of arthritis caused by an accumulation of uric acid crystals in the tissues of your big toe joint and possibly other joints. Where did those crystals come from? When you eat foods that contain a substance...
Your shoulder is a ball-and-socket joint that takes a lot of wear-and-tear, particularly if you engage in sports, perform manual labor, or play certain musical instruments. About 70% of women and men experience shoulder pain at least once during their lifetime. Our expert rheumatologists at the Rheumatology Center of New...
If you believe your joints are more accurate than your smartphone at telling you what the weather’s like, it’s not in your head. The Arthritis Foundation® even has a weather and arthritis index on its site that warns you if the temperature and weather conditions in your zip code are...
If you’ve ever seen a human skeleton, you might think that your bones look like the ones you saw hanging before you: hard and brittle. But young, healthy bones aren’t brittle like sticks. They’re spongier, more flexible, and very much alive. At Rheumatology Center of New Jersey, our expert rheumatologists...
Doctors use platelet-rich plasma (PRP) to treat everything from sports injuries to sexual dysfunction to hair loss. The reason this regenerative therapy has such widespread application is because it’s made from the healing components of your own blood. Your body uses the concentrated platelets in PRP to prompt or accelerate...
Arthritis is an umbrella term for more than 100 conditions that affect the comfort and mobility of your joints. According to the Arthritis Foundation, more than 50 million women and men in the United States — as well as 300,000 children and teens — have some form of arthritis. ...
It’s no secret that exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays damages your skin. UVA rays are more strongly associated with sunburns and skin cancer, while UVB rays also damage skin and raise your risk for skin cancer. If you have the autoimmune disease lupus, though, you have extra reason...
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is everywhere in the news and in health care these days. Though PRP first came into the public’s consciousness because superstar athletes like Tiger Woods turned to it to accelerate healing, it’s now being used for everything from skin rejuvenation to boosting libido. Our expert rheumatologists at...
Whether you’ve just suffered an injury, you suffer from chronic pain, or you’re undergoing joint treatment, your doctor may recommend a musculoskeletal ultrasound (MSKUS). Isn’t ultrasound used to evaluate soft organs and to monitor a developing baby? If you’re not sure why you need an ultrasound or how it may...
When you suddenly feel a sharp, stabbing pain in your big toe, your first thought probably isn’t gout. After all, gout’s the condition that stereotypically affects rich people who eat rich foods. But if you don’t remember injuring your toe and it throbs painfully, you might be just rich enough...
More than 30 million women and men in the United States have the age- and overuse-related joint disorder known as osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis can’t be cured and tends to get worse as you get older. But that doesn’t mean you have to spend your life downing painkillers that irritate your stomach...
If you have rheumatoid arthritis (RA), you may find that you’ve lost your appetite or only eat a few foods. Medications that stop inflammation can cause ulcers and digestive issues. But getting enough nourishment is more important than ever when you have an autoimmune condition such as RA. Without enough...
Your shoulder joints are the most mobile joints in your body, enabling your arms to move up and down, move frontward and backward, and cross over both sides of your body. But that degree of flexibility and mobility comes with a cost. The shoulder joint itself has to be shallow...
Your knee is one of the largest joints in your body, and it takes a beating. Not only does it support most of your body’s weight, it’s a complex joint with a lot of moving parts that can become injured or torn. Jumping, stopping short, or landing wrong when you...
More than 5,000,000 women, men, and children around the world have been diagnosed with the autoimmune disease lupus. With so many people affected, you might assume that the disease is well understood by the general public. But many myths still surround this disease, and these myths can affect the way...
Osteoporosis is a silent, gradual loss of calcium and other bone minerals that leads to less dense, more fragile bones that are prone to breaking and shrinking. In the United States, about 8 million women have osteoporosis, compared with only 2 million men. Most women and men don’t even know...
About 30% of women, men, and children with the autoimmune skin disease psoriasis may develop a complication called psoriatic arthritis (PsA), according to the National Psoriasis Association. Rarely, you can develop PsA without having skin-related psoriasis. There’s no cure for psoriatic arthritis, but it can be managed. Our expert rheumatologists...
If you have osteoarthritis — the gradual wearing down of your joint bones’ protective cartilage — or rheumatoid arthritis — in which your immune system attacks healthy tissues in your joints — you’ve probably relied on drugs to manage your pain so you can get through your day. But if...
A normal, healthy immune system attacks pathogens such as bacteria and viruses that could compromise your health. When you have lupus, though, your immune system is overactive and mistakenly attacks your own healthy tissues and organs as if they were pathogens. Though lupus is a serious autoimmune disorder and there’s...
Whether you injured your knee through playing sports, an accident, or just developed knee pain with time, knee osteoarthritis can make getting through your day a painful chore. Your knee may be difficult to move, stiff, or even locked. In a normal, healthy knee joint, each end of the joint...
Arthritis is a collection of joint diseases where you feel pain, stiffness, and swelling in one or more joints, such as your shoulder, hips, hands, or knees. Whether you have osteoarthritis (caused by overuse or aging), or rheumatoid arthritis (an autoimmune disease), moving your afflicted joint is probably painful and...
The International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) estimates that about 30% of postmenopausal women in the United States and Europe have osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is a disease in which your bones don’t produce enough new bone cells to replace old ones. Your bones become porous, brittle, and are at a greater risk for...
If you’re at all interested in cutting-edge medicine, you’ve probably heard about platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy. Even though PRP first made headlines when athletes like Pittsburgh Steeler Hines Ward used it to accelerate recovery from sports injuries, doctors and researchers seem to find new applications for PRP ever day. Google...
The Arthritis Foundation estimates that arthritis is the No. 1 source of disability in the United States, affecting more than 300,000 children and 50 million women and men. Arthritis isn’t a single disease. Instead, it’s a group of more than 100 joint conditions, the most common of which are osteoarthritis,...
Your knees are among the largest ball-and-socket joints in your body, and one of the most complex, too. Because your knee has so many moving parts and supports most of your weight when you walk, run, jump, or dance, your knee is easily injured. As the population in the United...
Osteoporosis — a condition in which your bones lose density and become fragile and brittle — has no symptoms. In the past, breaking a bone or developing a deformity such as a hunched back were among the few signs that led your doctor to suspect that you had osteoporosis. Today,...
If you’ve already experienced the intense pain and swelling in your big toe that’s a key sign of a form of arthritis called gout, the last thing you want to do is trigger another attack. Thanks to your rheumatologist, you’ve been pretty good about sticking to your diet, avoiding foods...
While the cure for arthritis eludes medical science, there are many potent treatments for the condition. Chief among these are avoiding foods that exacerbate joint pain and eating foods that reduce it. Here are the five worst and best foods for arthritis and joint pain. Foods to Avoid Trans Fats...
The benefits of yoga for overall physical and emotional well-being are numerous — from increased flexibility and muscle strength to lower stress levels and mental clarity. September is National Yoga Month, and the team of board-certified rheumatologists at the Rheumatology Center of New Jersey, with offices in Princeton, Somerville, Flemington,...
According to the International Osteoporosis Foundation, some 44 million Americans have osteoporosis or low bone mass. If you have osteoporosis, you’re at a greater risk for fractures, hospitalization, and a host of other complications. Taking steps to protect your bone health is an important part of overall healthy living.Although more...
Traveling requires a lot of preparation. Factor in an autoimmune disease like lupus and the thought of traveling can become overwhelming and seem nearly impossible, particularly during a flare. However, patients with lupus can fulfill their travel dreams or obligations. We’ve put together a brief guide to traveling with lupus...
You may not play golf like Tiger Woods or basketball like Kobe Bryant, but that doesn’t mean you can’t benefit from the same revolutionary therapies star athletes use to rehabilitate and repair damaged and aching joints. Whether your joints are creaking from a poorly healed sports injury or because of...
