The stereotypical image of someone with arthritis is an old, bent over and suffering from pains in the knees and other joints. The truth about arthritis, however, is that it is something that can affect the wellbeing of young people, too. It is commonly thought of as an old people’s affliction, and is therefore not taken into consideration by young people when they are thinking about protecting their wellness.
It is, in fact, the number one cause of disability and pain in the UK and affects people of all kinds of different ages, ranging right through from toddlers, to children, to teenagers and young adults, as well as the middle-aged and elderly.
Arthritis is a painful condition where swelling in the joints, in between bones, causes long-term pain and discomfort and affects the mobility of the joints. This can have all kinds of negative effects on the sufferer.
As part of National Arthritis Week, leading charity Arthritis UK aims to bust some of the common misconceptions about the disease. In amongst this, they hope to raise awareness of the fact that the condition affects 10 million people in the UK, 15,000 of whom are children.
They also aim to increase awareness of what arthritis actually is, steering away from the commonly held belief that it simply means ‘aches and pains that older people get’ and highlight the fact that it is a general term used for over 200 conditions.
The charity also wants to highlight the treatment that is available to arthritis sufferers, as a recent piece of research found that a worrying two thirds of those surveyed thought that there was nothing much that you could do about arthritis. It is feared that this common misconception actually increases a lot of unnecessary suffering as people do not seek medical advice, thinking that their condition is not at all treatable, when in fact there are a variety of treatment options for arthritis.
Comments are closed.