Can Lyme Disease Affect Your Joints? Orthopaedic Surgeon Answers

 Lyme Disease - Overview

The number of tick (small spider-like insects that attach to the skin of humans and other animals) bites and cases of Lyme disease increase as the weather gets hotter. Lyme disease is caused by microorganisms called Borrelia burgdorferi, a bacteria that is transmitted by a deer tick bite. According to the best orthopaedic surgeon, early Lyme disease symptoms include fever, tiredness, and, in some cases, a bullseye rash called erythema migrans.

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How does Lyme Disease affect Joints

If an early infection is undetected or is asymptomatic and untreated, the disease can progress to the heart, nerves, brain, and even the joints, resulting in Lyme arthritis (joint inflammation).

Lyme arthritis most usually affects one joint, generally the knee, and appears as pain and swelling without any injury or damage, explains the orthopaedic specialist in North Kolkata.

According to the orthopaedic specialist, as Lyme disease spreads, patients experience heated, swollen joints with greater pain when the knee or joint is fully straightened or bent. The doctor also states that the joint swelling can increase and decrease, travel across joints, and become highly painful, limiting one's ability to walk at times.

Diagnosis and Treatment

Lyme disease is diagnosed through laboratory testing. Antibiotics, fortunately, can successfully treat the disease. Patients may require orthopaedic surgery to treat fluid build-up, if joint swelling worsens.

When you're in a public place (e.g., wooded or tall grassy landscapes), it's crucial to examine your body for exposure from head to toe on a regular basis. To reduce the risk of long-term degenerative changes in the joints, early detection and treatment are critical.

If you have tiredness, joint discomfort, and a fever, or if you detect a tick on your body, contact your orthopaedic practitioner right away. Save the tick, if you can, so that your orthopaedic doctor may examine it.

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