什么是类风湿性关节炎火光?

经过Lene Andersen, MSW 病人倡导者

A diagnosis of类风湿性关节炎(RA)很像搬到另一个国家。您需要了解新的文化,海关和语言。新的生活中的一个关键短语是耀斑的,因为在“我的ra燃烧”中或“我有一个耀斑。”这可能对以前只用特定的裙子,或者在海上紧急耀斑的人令人困惑。什么是耀斑?你知道你是爆发的吗?什么导致耀斑?

什么是ra耀斑?

ra是一种慢性疾病。它将永远在某种程度上存在。希望你和你的医生发现了一种用作抑制你的Ra并控制你的痛苦的药物,所以你可以专注于你的生活而不是疾病。治疗的目标是帮助您体验长期的RA,相当安静甚至in remission

偶尔一次,您可能会遇到更多活动RA的急性时期。炎症增加的症状可包括肿胀和痛苦的关节,疲劳,低级烧伤,也许是恶心和食欲的丧失。突然间,你记得你第一次发育症状时感觉到的样子。这是一个耀斑。

但并不是那么简单。耀斑有不同的形状和尺寸。有些耀斑不太强烈,在休息几天后消退,对自己有好处。其他耀斑就像森林火灾。他们从一个小火花并燃烧失控,需要更加齐心协力熄灭它们。下周,我将介绍应对耀斑的方式。

什么导致耀斑?

Flares can seem completely unpredictable, apparently triggered by anything and everything, including something as ridiculous as changing the channel on the television. Although operating your TV doesn’t actually cause flares, it can be really difficult to see why your joints are all of a sudden twice their size and hurting. On top of that, triggers can vary from person to person, making it even harder to find a pattern. But don’t despair — there are ways to figure out connections between your symptoms and different triggers.

症状跟踪器是您智能手机的应用程序,可帮助您识别您所做的模式和增加和减少症状之间的模式。通过使用症状跟踪器,您可以从RA开始走向更可预测的生活。有许多症状跟踪器可用,但是两个是专门用于关节炎的。关节炎基础Track + React和新的来自吱吱作响的关节炎力量。后者还允许您匿名捐赠您的数据以用于关节炎研究。

虽然你很可能有一些特定于你的触发器,但是有些人对那些与RA一起生活的人相当普遍。

Stress耀斑我上周的文章中描述的是圣的结果ress. After a period of intense work, I inevitably crash and need to nurse my body through a flare. We live in a stressful world where we are expected to be responsive at all times, packing too much into our days. Burning the candle at both ends isn’t good for anyone, but it can have some serious consequences for people who live with RA.

Weather。The old adage about people with arthritis being able to predict changes in the weather (especially precipitation) is true for many of us who have RA. Research seems to indicate that this may have something to do with气压的变化。另一项研究表明,RA的人们具有低温的特别困难的时间。此外,有些人可以比气象学家更好地预测下雨或雪,而其他人则在天气潮湿时眩光。

食物。常见的食物触发包括糖,加工食品,油炸食品和夜间家庭(西红柿,土豆,茄子)。您可能与改变饮食以帮助控制症状的人交谈。一些素食饮食发誓,有些是素食主义者,其他人坚定的古老或无麸质。没有太多的研究在ra症状中可以发挥食物可以发挥作用,但有证据表明地中海饮食可以有帮助。进入你吃进入症状跟踪器的食物可以帮助您了解您在您吃的内容以及您的感受之间存在连接。

活动。It’s important that you are as physically active as possible to keep your joints mobile and your muscles strong. However, doing too much can trigger a flare. Identifying where your limits are can be a trial and error process. Use your symptom tracker, pay attention, and eventually you’ll start to recognize the messages your body sends you when it’s had enough.

学会说ra的新语言是你对这种疾病生活得很好的第一步。了解耀斑是什么,什么可以触发它是回避你生活的重要组成部分。虽然起初似乎似乎势不一而为一段,但随着时间的推移,您将流利地应对RA。

遇见我们的作家
Lene Andersen, MSW

Lene Andersen is an author, health and disability advocate, and photographer living in Toronto. Lene (pronounced Lena) has lived with rheumatoid arthritis since she was four years old and uses her experience to help others with chronic illness. She has written several books, including Your Life with Rheumatoid Arthritis: Tools for Managing Treatment, Side Effects and Pain, and 7 Facets: A Meditation on Pain, as well as the award-winning blog, The Seated View. Lene serves on HealthCentral's Health Advocates Advisory Board, and is a Social Ambassador for the RAHealthCentral on Facebook page, facebook.com/rahealthcentral. She is also one of HealthCentral'sLive Bold,现在生活英雄 -看着她与ra的令人难以置信的生活之旅。