Home You & your doctor Nutrition & exercise Medication & treatment Mind over matter Practical concerns Insurance Links Texas Children's IBD Center

Managing the pain of arthritis

Main Treating symptoms & side effects Common procedures & labs Arthritis

Although everyone should pay attention to bone health, extra care may be needed to ease the onset of arthritis. Arthritis, an inflammation of joints, is an “extraintestinal manifestation” of both Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis. (An extraintestinal manifestation is a problem caused by IBD not involving the gastrointestinal tract.)

Arthritis can cause pain and swelling in joints such as the knees, ankles, wrists and lower back and may increase with a flare-up and disappear as the flare-up is treated. Morning stiffness in affected joints is the most common complaint among IBDers with associated arthritis. Limiting morning stiffness to 30 minutes or less per day and decreasing pain at other times is a good goal.

For relief, try:

• Hot baths or showers

• Pressing a heating pad to the aching joint

• Changing high-impact exercise for lower-impact activities

• Stretching

• Medication

  • Some over-the-counter drugs used to treat the pain and inflammation are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). These include ibuprofen and aspirin.

  • NSAIDs work well to relieve joint pain and swelling but might cause a flare-up or make a flare-up worse.

  • Prescription drugs such as Vioxx® and Celebrex® also work well for arthritis and are less likely to cause a flare-up.

  • Start by treating the pain with with acetaminophen. Talk to your doctor if you need stronger medication.

If you have persistent, recurrent or severe stiffness or swelling in joints for several weeks, see your doctor for a more comprehensive treatment.

© 2005 Texas Children's Hospital
Terms of Use