Your arthritis may be too painful and advanced for aspirin and other over the counter drugs to take care of. The good news: drugs for arthritis in all its different forms are being developed every day. The question is really which one is right for you and your arthritis symptoms - one of the new arthritis drugs or an old favorite. You might be surprised.

Standard arthritis isn't standard at all. Most of us ignore those aches and pains before and after exercise, when we get up in the morning, or when we go up and down stairs as normal parts of aging. By the time we figure out it's arthritis, the problem has become advanced. The usual arthritis medications work for a while, but eventually you need something stronger. Celebrex and other similar drugs being researched might do the trick, and they have these good benefits without the side effect of being hard on the stomach and other mucosal organs. However, many researchers say that Celebrex isn't any more efficacious with pain than aspirin, so don't expect a miracle drug.

Osteoarthritis medications like arthritis tablets, in fact, may not do as much good as topical and localized treatments like moist heat and analgesic creams. If nothing is working and you can't stand the pain any longer, it might be time to talk to your doctor about a more aggressive treatment, even a joint replacement.

If you have arthritis fingers, you may have more problems. Treatment for arthritic small joints starts with exercise and physical therapy, along with splinting overnight or at work if necessary to protect nerves and other tissues from swelling joints. But if your anti inflammatory drugs aren't working on your finger arthritis and your hands are becoming unusable, it may be time to look beyond arthritis medications and into small joint replacement, a little-known surgery that has been around for decades. While small joint replacement will restore motion to crippled hands, it is not a perfect solution and only restores about 50% of motion to your joints; it should be regarded as a last resort.

Psoriasis medications will not treat psoriatic arthritis. Standard arthritis medications may not treat it either. For severe psoriatic arthritis, you may need to have corticosteroids, either orally or injected, and some of the rheumatoid arthritis drugs to properly reduce the symptoms.

Medications for rheumatoid arthritis are the most unusual of all arthritis medications. Things like gold salts and chloroquinine are used to quiet down an overactive immune system. A very new treatment for both psoriatic arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis is biologics, genetically modified proteins used to block T cell action. These drugs should be taken only when absolutely necessary, as they have very serious side effects.

For most people, the best solution may be to exercise arthritis away. The three best exercises to use for your arthritis are water aerobics because of the very low impact on your joints, walking, and yoga. Continue taking your arthritis medications while working on an exercise program, but talk to your doctor when you find your symptoms decreasing to determine whether you can start taking less.