Arthritis – Alternate Route

I am not going to tell about new miracle cures or what arthritis is, but how to bring about pain relief without getting a prescription filled or making a trip to a doctor.

Lose weight, gain relief. More stress and pressure are placed on the joints of an overweight person compared to a person with normal weight. This increases the stress on the cartilage, which interferes with the bone, thus increasing the incidence of inflammation, swelling and pain.

Stretch gently for strength and mobility. Incorrect moving harms but intelligent moving heals. Don’t baby your joints. Moving hurts but not moving destroys.

I keep that philosophy in mind when teaching yoga for my arthritic practitioners. Yoga teaches movements with proper joint alignment which helps bring deformed joints back to normal position as appropriate muscles are lengthened and strengthened.

Find relief through less stress. Childbirth is very painful but women learn how to deal with that pain by learning how to relax thru’ breathing. If you are hurting and you tense up, you hurt even more.

Use ice to prevent pain and use heat to reduce pain.

Copper bracelet. Studies showed that some people with arthritis seem to have difficulty metabolizing copper from the food they eat, leading to increased pain. The dissolved copper from a bracelet bypasses the oral route be entering the body through the skin (refer to ‘The Copper Bracelet and Arthritis’ by Dr Helmar Dollwet, Ph.D).

Fish for relief, not everyone but some.

Master massage. Work the muscles that are attached to the tendons leading to the painful joints, using a compression technique.

Boost Vitamin C intake. Studies have shown that people with rheumatoid arthritis are deficient in Vitamin C.

Practice food avoidance. In most cases, nightshade family (white potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, and all peppers, except black pepper) and milk products.

Cut back on vegetable oil. Known to contain high levels of Omega-6 fatty acids, which have shown to cause inflammation in those with rheumatoid arthritis. 2 oils are low in Omega-6 are canola oil (made from rapeseed) and olive oil.

Carry on with vegetable juice. Ahhhh…. My favourite.