1: Osteoarthritis

Joint degeneration can lead to osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis in the elderly.

The wearing of the cartilage between bones can cause them to grind against each other, bringing pain and stiffness to joints such as the knees, shoulders, fingers and even the spine.

There may be swelling and stiffness, and movement or carrying heavy items may make the pain worse. Sometimes, crepitus - where there is crackling of the joints - occurs.

In severe cases, pain can occur even when the person is immobile.

In the case of degeneration of the spinal discs, these may bulge and compress the spinal nerves, causing pain that can radiate all the way from the lower back to the feet.

The pain can get worse in cold weather.

Prevention                                                                                                                                                   Largely a wear-and-tear condition, degeneration may be hastened by injury and mechanical stress.

Avoid putting continual heavy stress on joints. One way is to avoid carrying heavy objects.

Practise proper techniques and use appropriate shoes during sports and other physical activities.

As exercise is an excellent way to stave off pains later in life, you should start exercising regularly in your youth to build up strength in your body to support the joints.

Keep a check on your weight. Being overweight puts additional stress on your joints, especially the knees.

Take glucosamine to build up your joints.

Treatment                                                                                                                                                   Doctors will usually prescribe painkillers or nerve medication to reduce the pain and appropriate exercises to strengthen your joint-support systems.

Rest also helps to bring the condition under control.

Anti-inflammatory drugs such as steroid jabs may be given if the painkillers do not work. However, their effect usually lasts for months at the most. Anaesthetic injections are also an option.

Physiotherapy may help and some people go for traditional therapies such as acupuncture.

Joint replacement surgery is the option of choice to treat serious problems but older patients may baulk at it.

Other more novel alternatives include subjecting nerves to radiofrequency treatment.

For example, to treat spinal disc pain, a radiofrequency needle may be inserted into the spine to disrupt the pain nerve fibres in the affected areas by heating them to 80 deg C.

This can diminish the pain but is not a permanent solution as the nerves can grow back after a few months.

2: Shingles

This is a painful rash caused by the varicella zoster virus. The virus would have first manifested itself through a chicken pox attack when the patient was younger.

Once the chicken pox infection is over, the virus remains in the body and may cause shingles in later life, usually in older people or those with a lowered immunity.

During a shingles attack, there may be a painful skin rash with blisters on one part of the body. Even if the rash heals, a stinging or stabbing pain may remain for months because of damage to the nerves that were affected during the infection.

Prevention                                                                                                                                              Doctors say that the best prevention for shingles is to maintain a healthy lifestyle, a balanced diet and a strong immune system.

Treatment                                                                                                                                         Shingles treatment involves pain control through pills, creams or plasters.

Antiviral drugs may also be used to limit the infection.

3: Diabetic nerve pain

Diabetics may, over time, develop nerve disorders. Older people who have had diabetes for decades are most susceptible.

The diabetes may damage peripheral nerves and cause numbness and pain in the hands, legs and feet.

Prevention                                                                                                                                                Watching your diet and maintaining a healthy weight will keep diabetes in check and prevent the nerve pain from occurring.

Treatment                                                                                                                                                    While medication can reduce pain, the main way to treat this is to bring the blood sugar levels back to normal as soon as possible.

Information from Dr Tan Kian Hian, director of Singapore General Hospital's Pain Management Centre; Dr James Low, senior consultant and head of the department of geriatric medicine at Alexandra Hospital; and Dr Jason Chia, consultant sports physician at Changi Sports Medicine Centre and Singapore Sports Medicine Centre.

This article was first published in Mind Your Body, The Straits Times.