You probably guessed it—nearly nine million American adults report living with an arthritis condition, more than any other disability. And the numbers are growing:

A new CDC study shows that 47.5 million US adults (21.8%) reported a disability in 2005, an increase of 3.4 million from 1999. Arthritis or rheumatism continues to be the most common cause of disability, while back or spine problems and heart trouble round out the top three causes.

Among adults reporting a disability, the most commonly identified limitations were difficulty climbing a flight of stairs (21.7 million, 10.0%) and walking 3 city blocks (22.5 million, 10.3%). That means that 1 in 10 adults have trouble walking a distance equal to walking from the parking lot to the back of a large store or through a mall.

The lesson?

You’re not alone. As frightening and frustrating as the pain and loss of independence can be, you’re part of an enormous American community that’s in it together. That means more than eight million people, plus countless more doctors, researchers and care providers are all working together to make life better for arthritis patients.

And the upshot of this is that there’s an enormous amount of attention being paid to your plight, from researching advanced medications to widespread sharing of simple home treatments.

At Castiva, we’re doing what we can to contribute, both with our warming arthritis pain relief lotion with capsaicin and our cooling arthritis pain relief cream, plus the wealth of arthritis information as well as tips for living an active lifestyle with arthritis available on our website to help you live confidently.

For many arthritis patients, cold weather can, in theory, lead to increased pain, joint stiffness, and other symptoms. Whether via the cooling weather itself, or the oft-coinciding drop in barometric pressure that can swell inflamed arthritic joints and stretch the inflamed joint lining and capsules, almost 93 percent of arthritis patients report fluctuations in pain levels alongside seasonal weather changes.

According to a study done at Johns Hopkins University of 151 people with osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia, patients in all three groups dealt with increased pain on low temperature days. Additionally, rheumatoid arthritis patients reported increased pain alongside high humidity and high pressure; osteoarthritis patients blamed high humidity; and fibromyalgia blamed high pressure.

Time to consider a career in meteorology then, right?

Unfortunately, another Hopkins study of elderly patients in Florida matched arthritis pain levels with daily temperature, barometric pressure and precipitation for two years, and found almost no significant association between weather factors and arthritic pain.

Conflicting science like this can be maddening, especially to people for whom the symptoms — especially pain — are all too immune to debate.

Thankfully, the meteorologists at Accuweather.com launched an arthritis index, making it easy for patients to monitor factors like temperature, atmospheric pressure, precipitation and humidity that many people believe directly influence their symptoms. (Also check out The Weather Channel’s section on weather-influenced pain).

The best idea is to use tools like Accuweather’s to track weather factors, and then figure out what most effects you. Then consider our warming arthritis pain relief cream with capsaicin or cooling arthritis pain relief cream for times when pain increases, and preventative methods like regular stretching and exercise when pain decreases again.

Check out our joint health guide for more information.

But the first step to living comfortably with arthritis is understanding what exactly has happened in your body, and what to expect in the future. So here are some of the basic elements of three of the most common types of arthritis:

Osteoarthritis

You’re probably familiar with this type. As the most common form of arthritis, osteoarthritis happens when the cartilage at the end of your bones wears away over time. The result is a painful condition where bones rub against each other, causing friction and swelling.

You can feel it in any joint, although you’re most likely to be affected in high-use joints like your hands, or weight-bearing joints like your knees and hips. Since osteoarthritis usually happens as a gradual process over time—and therefore disproportionately affects elderly patients—it’s also sometimes called “degenerative joint disease.”

Rheumatoid Arthritis

This form can affect joints anywhere on the body, but is also most commonly found in the hands, wrists and knees. Instead of a physical and measurable reduction in cartilage, the problem happens within the immune system. The body mistakenly attacks itself, resulting in swelling in the joint lining.

That inflammation can spread to tissues in surrounding parts of the body, and will often damage cartilage and bone over time. Rheumatoid arthritis can even damage other, non-bone areas of the body in extreme cases, causing painful damage to parts like the eyes and skin.

Gout

Goutic arthritis happens most often in the big toes, knees or wrists. Basically, the body simply stops eliminating uric acid—a natural substance in the bloodstream normally discharged through urine. When this process fails, the excess substance forms pin-like crystals on cartilage attached to many joints. The result is swelling and severe pain, and gout patients sometimes even become afflicted with uric kidney stones.

Gout has often been common among affluent societies, where high-purine content wines like champagne and port, and foods like lobster and crab, are more likely to be consumed. As such, gout has also been known throughout history as “Rich Man’s Disease” or “The Disease of Kings”

And more…

Unfortunately, arthritis can happen in several different forms—all featuring some painful combination swelling, stiffness, joint inflammation and tenderness. Learn more about all types of arthritis—and all about achieving arthritis pain relief through Castiva—at our arthritis resources page.