What Causes Joint Pain?

Joint pain can describe inflammation, pain, or discomfort that occurs in any portion of a joint. the joints are the places bones connect. The makeup of joints is what allows individuals to move their body freely. In addition to bone, joints are made up of muscles, tendons, ligaments, and cartilage. The cartilage is meant to cushion the ends of bones to keep them from rubbing painfully against each other. Tendons connect muscles to bones, while ligaments connect bones to each other. It's most common for individuals to experience joint pain inside the actual joint. This condition, called arthritis, occurs when the inside of the joint becomes inflamed in some way. Some joint pain is mild enough that the soreness occurs only after physical activity, but other joint pain is severe enough to be disabling.

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Joint Overuse

Joint overuse is a type of injury that occurs when there's repetitive trauma or stress to a joint. The most common reason joint overuse occurs is because of an individual taking on too much physical activity too quickly. This can occur when individuals start a new job that involves more physical activity, take on a new training regimen too fast, or do a one-time project involving a lot of stress on their joints. Training errors and errors in technique are the most common causes of this injury. A training error occurs when individuals increase their physical activity levels too quickly. Exercising for prolonged periods, moving too fast, or doing too many reps of a certain exercise can cause an overuse injury. A technique error occurs when individuals use improper form to exercise or complete other tasks. If individuals don't have the right form when strength training, or if they use the wrong form to throw a baseball or swing a tennis racket, they're more likely to cause strain and pain in their joints.

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Injury

An injury to the joint can cause joint pain and potential inflammation. Multiple types of injuries can be caused by overuse, wear and tear, or direct trauma. The four categories of injury are dislocations, fractures, sprains, and strains. When a joint is dislocated, the bone has become separated from its normal position in a joint. Dislocations cause extreme pain and can also make the joint appear disfigured. Fractures refer to a crack, chip, or break in a bone. A fracture requires emergency medical treatment to stabilize the injury and promote healing. Depending on the severity and location of the fracture, patients may need surgery. Sprains occur when the ligaments that hold the bones together become injured. The most common type of sprain is an ankle sprain. A strain causes similar pain to a strain, but it occurs when the tendons or muscles have become overstretched or torn. If the pain from a sprain or strain is disabling, patients should see a doctor to make sure they don't have a fracture.

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