Praktické lekárnictvo 1/2013

A professional approach in the pharmacy to help patients with pain in joints

With a plea for help in eradicating joint pain experienced by pharmacists in their daily practice. Joint pain is accompanied by a wide range of diseases, the most common of these are, for example, injuries, rheumatoid, psoriatic and gouty arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, osteoarthritis and lyme borreliosis. Knowledge of diagnostic criteria and treatment of these diseases, in addition to knowledge of the mechanisms of action and contra-indications of drugs will help to select the correct analgesic for the patient, or pharmacist to recommend a doctor´s visit. A pharmacist may also inform the patient about complementary and alternative pain treatment options, such as physiological regulating medicine, the use of autologous conditioned plasma, physiotherapy and psychotherapy or acupuncture.

Keywords: pharmacist, joint pain, diagnostics, treatment, arthritis, borreliosis.