Arthritis is the inflammation of the joints. The wrists, the shoulders, the elbows, feet and knees. There are two types of arthritis, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid. Each has different levels of pain. The rheumatoid arthritis is more of a chronic pain and arthritis is an acute and sometimes chronic pain. But the literal definition and the medical one may vary. Arthritis can affect other parts of the body as well as the joints. They can affect the bones, ligaments, muscles and tendons.

Arthritis is considered to be a chronic pain and the number of people who suffer from this pain is staggering. Over 40 million Americans suffer from this pain. Some people can function normally with the pain and then there are many people who are limited in their activity due to the pain. There are some topical creams that may help the people with osteoarthritis and there are more severe cases of rheumatoid arthritis that require more of a stronger treatment.

The pain from arthritis is caused by many different sources. They can stem from the inflammation of the joints, or the tendons and ligament. There may be muscle strains and overall fatigue. There are many factors that come into play with arthritis pain such as swelling in the joints and the time of day it is. For example, rheumatoid arthritis suffers have more pain in the morning than any other time of the day. Each person has a different tolerance for pain and each has a different threshold for pain as well.

Some people get so upset and so tired of living with the pain that they become depressed or they can suffer from anxiety. There is also a certain amount of hypersensitivity in the area around the swelling. It tends to get worse when it affects the amount of pain the person is feeling around the swollen area.

There is no real cure for the pain of arthritis; the pain can be managed through medications and some physical therapy. For short-term relief there are medications, heat and cold applications, joint protection, TENS or Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, massage therapies, acupuncture may help. For long-term relief, there are the non-steroids drugs, disease modifying anti rheumatic drugs and corticosteriods.

There are some other natural pain relieving effects such as diet, exercise and in some rare cases surgery. These are not cures, just  long-term pain relief.

For additional information and resources on Chronic Pain, visit http://www.PainsWeb.com. The author Sam Carson is a chronic pain patient and publisher of PainsWeb.com. His website specializes in conveying targeted information about all types of Chronic Pain and helps you find associated information, patient resources and forums etc to manage your pain. Authors can submit quality original articles to PainsWeb.com and get a back link to their site.