Arthritis is a word that refers to conditions that result in joint inflammation and pain. You can treat these conditions using various methods like PRP Hair/Joints/Facials, lifestyle changes, home remedies, and medical treatments.
Types of Arthritis Conditions
There are multiple forms of arthritis and related conditions. The most experienced one is osteoarthritis, which is a progressive condition that affects the cushioning between the joints, and it causes stiffness, swelling, and pain.
Another type is rheumatoid arthritis that sees the immune system attack your joints and other body parts, leading to uncontrolled inflammation. Any arthritis can cause pain and lead to long-term damage to your joints.
Let us now look at the dos and don’ts of arthritis:
1. The Basics
It is easier to manage your arthritis if you do the following things:
- Learn about the type of arthritis you have and whether there is a damaged joint.
- Enlist your family, friends, and doctor in managing your condition.
- Inform your doctor if you experience any change.
- Pay attention to all your joints when standing, sitting, or engaging in other activities.
- Ensure that your joints move by doing daily stretches – stretch them to their full range.
- Use the right posture when sitting, standing, or moving – you can consult a physical therapist.
- Balance your activities and get enough rest – know your limits.
- Change your lifestyle to suit your condition and ease the pain.
- Watch your weight to prevent the complication that occurs if you gain weight.
- Quit smoking as it can lead to stress on various tissues and increase the pain.
2. Exercise
Regular exercises can reduce the pain caused by arthritis, strengthen your muscle, reduce stiffness, increase your endurance, and improve your range.
Things to Do:
- Pick the best type of activities: You should concentrate on exercises that strengthen the muscles around the joints, but they should not damage them. Let your therapist advise you when it comes to choosing the workouts.
- Focus on stretching: Start by doing motion range exercises and later graduating to strength training. Here you can add low-impact activities like water exercises, cycling, and walking to control your weight and enhance your mood.
Things to Avoid:
- High impact exercises: Avoid activities such as jumping, running, tennis, and high-impact aerobics.
- Repeating the same movement: Keep off activities that are repetitive like a tennis serve.
3. Medications
You can find different types of medications that can relieve your arthritis pain. They are safe, but you can always expect one or two side effects.
You should consult your doctor about developing a medication plan that can suit your needs.
Things to Do:
- Take Over-the-Counter Pain Relievers: Medications such as ibuprofen (Motrin UB and Advil), acetaminophen (Tylenol), and naproxen sodium (Aleve) might relieve pain. You should consider them if the problem gets worse due to things such as gardening.
- Apply Cream: Creams with capsaicin can be applied over the joint to ease the pain. You can combine it with oral medications or use them alone.
- NAD+ IV: It is a therapy that can provide you with the nutrients your body desires to remain in good condition and heal itself.
Things to Avoid:
- Overtreatment: It is time to consult your doctor if you feel you are over-using the over-the-counter medications.
- Undertreatment: You should not ignore prolonged or severe arthritis pain. It might be a symptom of joint damage or inflammation that requires daily medication.
- Focus Only on Pain: People with arthritis often suffer from depression. Treating depression can also lead to reduced pain.
3. Emotional and Physical Integration
Research shows that arthritis can hurt a person’s mood. You can get discouraged if you feel pain from doing everyday activities.
The pain can get worse if your normal feeling escalates and lead to a life of hopeless and fearful thoughts.
Things to Do:
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: It is an effective combination of behavior modification and talk therapy that helps to identify and break the cycle of self-defeating actions and thoughts.,
- Relaxation Therapy: Deep breathing, doing yoga, meditating, being in nature, listening to music, and writing in a journal can help you to relax. There is no side effect of relaxing, and it can help you to relieve pain.
- Acupuncture: You can seek the services of a professional acupuncturist who inserts hair-thin needles in your body to reduce the pain. It can take weeks before you get free of pain.
- Use Heat: Applying heating pads on the aching joints, immersing the joints in warm paraffin, or taking hot showers can help to relieve the pain. Use these pads for about 20 minutes.
- Use Cold: You can also apply ice packs on sore muscles to reduce inflammation and relieve pain.
- Massage: It is possible to reduce the stiffness and pain through massage.
Things to Avoid:
- Smoking: Tobacco is counterproductive as it causes stress that can result in severe joint pain.
- Negative Attitude: Negative thoughts can quickly escalate your pain.
In Conclusion
You can manage your arthritis pain by following the above things. The vital thing is to seek the services of a professional who can guide you all the way.
