Arthritis Self-Management

No one likes getting injections, especially into a painful joint. But some injections can offer dramatic relief from joint pain and stiffness and improve joint mobility. Two types of joint injections commonly used to treat arthritis are corticosteroid injections and hyaluronic acid injections.

Your knees are aching, so you reach for the bottle of Tylenol or Advil, pop a tablet, and wash it down with some water. Easy enough, right? But what happens to that medicine once you take it — where does it go in the body and how does it start to work? Is the process the same in a young person and a senior? Does the fact that older people often take several drugs complicate matters?

Many people think the primary purpose of informed consent is to protect the hospital from lawsuits or to give the doctor or researcher a green light to go ahead with the procedure, treatment, or study. Informed consent does do these things, but its primary purpose is to grant you specific rights and give you the opportunity to make decisions about your own medical care.

Errors related to medicines are all too common, and it's easy to see why. From the writing and filling of a prescription to the drug's daily use, there are plenty of opportunities for human error. If you’re like many people, there will be times when you wonder if you’re doing all you can when it comes to taking your medicines safely. Do you know enough about the possible side effects? Are you sure about the dose?