What plaster is effective in preventing arthritis?

There is really no plaster that is suitable for everyone to prevent arthritis. Even the use of plasters to prevent arthritis is only an auxiliary means and cannot be used as the main method. At present, among the regular over-the-counter plasters that everyone can buy on their own, the most commonly used are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory, traditional Chinese medicine, blood-activating, and temperature-sensitive analgesics. The scenarios they are suitable for are very different, and the academic community has not yet reached a completely unified conclusion on their preventive effects.

In the past two months, I met Aunt Zhang from the community. I heard from the old square dancing sisters that a certain Tibetan ointment can be used to prevent old cold legs. I gritted my teeth and bought a treatment pack worth more than 3,000 yuan. I stuck to it and applied one on each knee every day. In less than a week, both knees developed dense red rashes.

Speaking of this, someone must ask, is the plaster completely useless? No, you have to choose the right situation and use it. For example, if your knees occasionally get cold and sore, and there is no clear cartilage wear or joint degeneration in the X-ray, and you are going to hike a mountain next week, then apply a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory plaster such as flurbiprofen gel patch around the knee one day in advance, which can greatly reduce the inflammatory stimulation caused by cartilage friction during exercise and reduce the probability of subsequent pain and swelling. This is also recommended by many sports medicine doctors. However, many orthopedic doctors do not recommend casual use of this type of plaster without symptoms. After all, long-term use may cause local skin irritation, and a very small amount of transdermally absorbed drugs may also have an impact on the gastrointestinal tract of sensitive people. It has not yet been determined whether it can be used routinely for prevention.

If you have a weak and cold constitution, your joints will become cold and stiff in autumn and winter or when the air conditioner is turned on. If you do not meet the diagnostic criteria for arthritis, many Chinese medicine doctors will recommend that you apply a warm plaster such as Yunnan Baiyao Ointment or Huoxue Analgesic Ointment when you cool down or stay in a low temperature environment for a long time. This plaster can promote local blood circulation and help dissipate accumulated cold moisture. Many elderly people feel that their joints feel warm and comfortable after applying it, and feel that it can greatly reduce the probability of arthritis attacks. However, some Western medicine studies have pointed out that this type of plaster is more about improving local body sensation, and has no clear effect on delaying joint degeneration. Whether it can really be "prevented" or not, the views of the two sides have not yet been clarified.

In fact, to put it bluntly, applying preventive plaster to joints is like wrapping insulation cotton on exposed water pipes in winter. It does not mean that wrapping them will never freeze and crack. It just reduces the probability of problems when encountering extreme situations such as low temperature and overuse. If the water pipe itself is already rusty and almost bursting, then just wrapping insulation cotton is of no use at all, and you have to find a doctor to repair it quickly.

There is another pitfall that must be mentioned. Don’t believe the three-no plasters that are advertised by WeChat merchants and live broadcast rooms as “one patch will cure arthritis” and “three months of application will last a lifetime.” Last month, an uncle came to our community for consultation and said that after two months of applying the “magic ointment” that cost tens of yuan a patch, the knee did not heal. Instead, the skin ulcerated where it was applied. Only when I went to the hospital for examination did I find out that a large dose of hormones and analgesics were added illegally. I thought it worked at first, but in fact it did no good to the joints at all.

If you really want to prevent arthritis, you should squat less and climb high buildings, control your weight so as not to put a burden on your joints, and put on knee pads when you cool down. It will be more effective than spending a lot of money to buy various plasters every day. If you already have joint pain and stiffness in the morning, don't stick to plasters on your own, go to the orthopedic department first to take a X-ray to see what the problem is, and don't drag a minor illness into a major problem that requires surgery.