Know a little about “medicine” | How to choose painkillers for osteoarthritis pain?

In recent years, Mrs. Liu has suffered from recurrent pain in both knee joints and limited mobility. Her daughter bought glucosamine health supplements for her from abroad, but her condition is still intermittent. How should she choose painkillers?

Osteoarthritis (OA), also known as degenerative osteoarthritis, is characterized by stiffness, swelling, pain, snapping, effusion, etc. In severe cases, the shoulders and hands cannot be lifted, and even the joints are deformed and disabled. Glucosamine (glucosamine) is divided into health products and medicines. The one purchased by Mrs. Liu's daughter is a health product, which is difficult to play a curative role. Glucosamine as a medicine can be used for patients with early symptoms of OA to supplement endogenous glucosamine, but it is not suitable for patients with end-stage OA with severe wear of articular cartilage. In fact, OA pain treatment mainly includes weight loss, moderate exercise, topical and oral nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), diacerein, intra-articular injection of sodium hyaluronate and glucocorticoids, medium-frequency physical therapy, etc. The "Chinese Clinical Practice Guidelines for Osteoarthritis Pain Management (2020 Edition)" does not recommend the use of glucosamine or chondroitin sulfate for analgesia in OA patients, nor does it recommend opioids (including tramadol) as first-line drugs for relieving OA pain.