People seeking treatment for osteoarthritis should ask their doctors about starting out with the most cost effective medications, according to the Alliance for Aging Research.

Responding to new survey findings that most Americans are concerned about the long-term costs of treating chronic conditions such as osteoarthritis, the Alliance has launched Making $ense of Arthritis Pain, a new campaign designed to help seniors talk to their physicians about choosing the most cost-effective osteoarthritis treatments.

The campaign is based on guidelines from the American College of Rheumatology and the American Pain Society and stresses that people with mild to moderate osteoarthritis pain may be able to get the same symptom relief from over-the-counter pain remedies such as acetaminophen as from more expensive prescription arthritis medications.

The campaign is also reinforced by a Harvard Medical School study that found that acetaminophen and other over-the-counter pain relievers are the most cost-effective first line treatments for the joint pain and stiffness of osteoarthritis.

Source: Alliance for Aging Research