Aging can and should be an amazing process, where one can learn more about themselves and in general spend more time relaxing with family. However, aging also means an increased risk for a number of disorders, such as arthritis and osteoporosis.

All too often, these disorders have a very negative impact on the life of the senior, greatly reducing their ability to get around. Of all of the disorders common to seniors, arthritis is the most common and can have a aggressive impact on the life of the elderly.

One of the biggest impacts of arthritis is often the large life change that comes with not being able to stand up without assistance or use your hands to open a jar. There is not a cure for arthritis, so treatment is often more focused on living with arthritis and making everyday tasks easier. For instance, lift chairs are often used to make it easier to stand up and there are a number of helper tools available that can make tasks that require your hands, such as opening jars, easier to do.

Arthritis is used to describe more than 100 different diseases, most of which are characterized by joint discomfort, joint inflammation, and a reduction in mobility. However, for seniors having arthritis most often means having rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis. Both of these disorders have some similarities, but they affect the body differently.

Of all the many kinds of arthritis, osteoarthritis is by far the most common type. One of the major symptoms is that the cartilage around the bones begins to deteriorate. Cartilage acts as a sort of cushion or padding between bones, much in the way shocks work on a vehicle.

In a health body, cartilage is found in between all of the joints and each time you move, the cartilage ensures that the bones are not rubbing together. However, in someone with osteoarthritis, the cartilage is either deteriorating or has completely deteriorated. As a result, it does not act as a cushion and the bones begin to rub together.

One of the major effects of this is that pain, but the loss of cartilage also causes inflammation and can result in a number of very serious conditions. For instance, it is common for pieces of bone to break off inside of the joint, which causes a great deal of pain and can lead to deformities.

Osteoarthritis is classified as a asymmetrical type of arthritis. What this means is that in most cases, when one joint is affected, the opposite corresponding joint is usually NOT affected. As an example, take a senior with osteoarthritis in their right knee. In most cases, if the arthritis is present in their right knee, it would not be present in their left knee. However, as is usually the case with most medical conditions, there are some exceptions to the rule.

Rheumatoid Arthritis is also very common among the elderly and in terms of commonality, it is second only to osteoarthritis. While there are a number of similarities in regards to how the disease affects the individual joints, there are also a number of differences between osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

One of the biggest differences between osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis is that rheumatoid arthritis is a symmetrical type of arthritis. This means that in a senior with their right knee affected by rheumatoid arthritis, the left knee would almost always also be affected.

Another difference is the degree of morning pain. Both rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis can cause joint pain after a nights rest, usually as a result of laying in one place for so long. However, unlike osteoarthritis, the joint pain and discomfort often lasts for longer than an hour.

No matter what type of arthritis is present, it can have a very large impact on the life of the elderly. Living with arthritis is an essential step, which helps to teach the person who is affected by arthritis how to continue to go about their life and complete their daily activities.

There is not a cure for arthritis, but through medication, exercise and diet, the effects can often be prevented from getting worse. One of the most important steps of treating arthritis is ensuring that the senior can continue to go about their daily tasks, without being affected or with as little impact as possible.

A big part of this involves identifying problems and figuring out how to work around them. For example, many seniors with arthritis have trouble cooking. Things like using a rolling pin or even carrying dishes can become much harder.

To learn how to live with arthritis is to learn how to complete these tasks safely and comfortably. In the case of the dishes, instead of trying to hold them with only one hand, pressing them against your chest can often reduce many of the problems caused by arthritis. To help make using a rolling pin easier, the senior can roll it using their palms on the top of the pin, instead of trying to grab the handles with their hands. These are but too examples of how to identify and address the problems caused by arthritis.