Treating Arthritis

Treating, arthritis is commonly treated by means of over the counter drugs. Though, using pharmaceutical drugs can be effective, however, it can also cause side effects and complications. That is why many people are now turning their backs in using synthetic drugs and instead use natural herbal medicine.

Here are few herbs that are used effectively for the treatment of different types of arthritis:

Yucca – This herbs gives hope to a lot of people suffering from arthritis. The juice extracted from the plant is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis.
Nettle – This is a well-known herb used by Chinese doctors in treating arthritis. They are found all over the world and they boost your immune system. Blood pressure, nosebleeds, eczema, arthritis and rheumatism are just few applications. Nettles contain sulphur, sodium, silicon, potassium, iron, chlorine, and calcium.
Feverfew – This herb is used to treat migraine headaches, tinnitus, dizziness and arthritis.
Chaparral – This native herbs found in Latin America is very useful in treating various types of arthritis. It is also used as a supplement for cancer patients.
Celery seeds – The dried ripe fruits of celery seeds is use as an anti inflammatory and anti-spasmodic. This is great in treating arthritis, rheumatism and gout.
Bogbean –Useful for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, osteo-arthritis and rheumatism. It also has a stimulating effect on the walls of intestine and colon.

Black cohosh – The dried root is an effective treatment for neurological pan, rheumatic pain, osteo-arthritis and traumatic arthritis.
Ginger – Ginger when rub in the affected part helps to relieve pain cause by arthritis. In addition, drinking of ginger tea also has anti oxidant properties that help strengthen your body.

These herbs are available at your local health food store or through the Internet. On the other hand, make sure to ask advice to your dealer on how to prepare them for use. Some herbs are used to ingest, drink or apply topically to the affected part. However, no matter what natural remedies you choose, please consult your doctor to ensure your safety. Treating arthritis with herbal plants should always have a doctor’s prescription.

Traumatic Arthritis

Traumatic arthritis is an inflammation of the joints or bone and occurs as part of the body’s reaction to injury. This type of arthritis is usually temporary; it is the body’s way of protecting the injured bone or joint. However, there are certain points that this type of arthritis may occur with or without a trauma. For example, in the shoulder, arthritis may occur by itself without any impetuous injury to adjacent structures. The joint gradually stiffens due to inflammation and the subsequent formation of scar tissue within the joint casing. This is known as frozen shoulder and usually resolves without treatment.

In most joints, traumatic arthritis is a result of the damage ligaments and other structures within the joints. The injury activates the body’s inflammatory response. For instance, if ligaments in the ankle are sprained, the joints swell. If treated correctly, the joint swelling will be gone when the main irritation to the joint is eliminated, or the injury is addressed and successfully treated. It may take a period of time before it heals. However, if the main injury to the joint or the precipitating is not treated, the inflammation may remain even longer, damaging the joints for a lifetime.

There are several ways to handle traumatic arthritis once you have acquired it. One thing you should do is to take anti-inflammatory medicine or painkillers. Painkillers help to alleviate pain in the joints cause by injury. After you have taken your medicine, try to apply a cold compress in the affected part. This helps soothe the inflammation and swelling for faster recovery of the joints to the injury. In addition, you can try to use oil such as olive oil or coconut oil to massage the affected part. There are also herbs that you can take to alleviate the pain. If you’re interested in taking herbal medicine, seek an herbalist. Herbs are proven to fight certain type of arthritis.

In case the pain persists for a week or two, it’s time for you to seek medical help. Consult your doctor for proper diagnosis and medication. It is important that you treat your arthritis as soon as possible. Traumatic arthritis that is left untreated can be dangerous and may lead to other similar complication.

Spinal Arthritis

Spinal arthritis is a type of arthritis affecting the spine. It can be very painful especially when standing or lifting objects. This is due to the worn out cartilage in the spine. The cartilage in the spine may break, become inflamed and swell. In addition, it may lead to osteoporosis, a type of bone disease occurring in old people.

Most common cause of Arthritis of the spine:

1. Trauma or accident – If you had a history of accident especially of the spine. The damage cartilage on your spine, even if it’s healed already can develop into arthritis. In research studies most spinal arthritis is cause by spinal accidents.
2. Aging – Arthritis of the spine may occur due to aging also. The lack of specific nutrients in the bone may lead to arthritis.
3. Lacks of nutrition’s – People who have calcium deficiency are much prone to have this type of arthritis.
4. Genetic History – You may develop this form of arthritis if you have a medical history of this in your family. This is inevitable; you may develop and passed this degenerative disease in your offspring.
5. Obesity – People who are obese or overweight are prone to develop spinal arthritis. The weight of the body puts much stress on the spine causing the cartilage to worn out and eventually swells. The more weight a person is, the more he may develop arthritis.

There is also treatment for this type of arthritis. Just like other form of arthritis, analgesic, anti inflammatory, and painkillers are the best remedies for this. There are also ointments and oils that you can use topically. This can alleviate the pain of arthritis. Herbs and other medicinal plants can also relieve pain. Most of the herbs are ingested to the body.

However, arthritis is incurable, there is no specific cure for arthritis. What doctors can do is to lessen the symptoms only. For severe cases, however, surgical procedure is the best option in relieving some of the symptoms of arthritis. Nevertheless, the effect of the surgery still depends to individual. Spinal arthritis is a life threatening degenerative disease that needs proper consultation and check up.

Shoulder Arthritis

Shoulder arthritis is a type of ostoearthritis, which affects the ball socket of the shoulders. It is also called tear and wear arthritis or degenerative joint disease characterized by gradual wearing away of the cartilage of the joint. As the protective healthy cartilage surface of the joint is worn away by arthritis, bare bone is exposed causing swelling and pain. However, the other form of arthritis in shoulders is rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatoid arthritis is a condition that causes inflammation of the lining of the joints. This inflammation can cause severe pain and destroy the cartilage, the joints and the bones.

Shoulder arthritis normally affects patients over 40 years of age. It is more common in patients who have a family history of the disease; meaning to say it is genetically inherited. However, it can also be acquire through injury, trauma or accidents. Another factor is due to the process of aging. When a person grows old, the natural lubricating fluid in the ball socket of the shoulder erodes causing stiffness and swelling of the joints.

The most common symptoms of arthritis in shoulders are:

Pain with Activities – You may experience pain in your shoulder during such activities like lifting or even a normal hand movement.
Limited motion – Shoulder arthritis affects your mobility or movement.

Treatment for this type of arthritis includes applying oral ointment to massage the affected part. Others use natural herbs as supplements. These herbs such as the black cohosh when taken as a tea along with the ointment can reduce pain and swelling of the joints. In addition here are other type of treatment that is available at present day.

Anti-Inflammatory Medications – This medication are also known as pain killers. It can reduce the swelling and pain cause by arthritis. Consult your doctor before taking any anti-inflammatory drugs.
Cortisone injections – This may help decrease the inflammation and reduce paint within the joints. While this condition is not curable, it may lessen the symptoms and help control the pain

Nevertheless, if painkillers, cortisone injection and other medication don’t work, then your last option will be shoulder replacement surgery. It is a procedure that replaces the damage cartilage using a metal and plastic implant. Shoulder arthritis can find relief using reverse shoulder surgery, which is a total replacement of the ball socket in the shoulder.

Neck Arthritis

Neck arthritis is also known as cervical spondylosis, which is a degenerative joint disease of the neck. This condition mainly affects older people, usually over 50. Men are prone to have this disease compare to women. There is no well-known cause of this disease; even scientists and doctors cannot explain why arthritis of the neck occurs in most people. However, doctors can minimize and alleviate the pain cause by this type of arthritis.

Initially a person having this type of disease may encounter shoulder pain or neck, stiffness of the neck and headaches. In certain people having neck arthritis may encounter numbness, weakness or pan in the arm. Two or Both sides may be affected. Often it makes the hands to become clumsy. In addition, some individuals will have weakness or numbness in their legs. A lot of people with this condition will have decreased vibration sense in their legs. They may be shaky while walking. In fact, spondylosis is a fairly common cause of shakiness in the elderly.

The primary treatment for arthritis of the neck is to restrict neck movements. This is done using a cervical collar. If a cervical collar is not enough for your neck arthritis, then a rigid brace for the neck may be necessary. If cervical collar and brace does not work, then surgery to stabilize the nerve and decompress the neck may be necessary.

Nevertheless, you can try this alternative treatment for arthritis in the neck:

Stress relief – Perform stress relief. Gentle yoga, meditation and can be beneficial treatment to relieve neck pain.
Physical therapy – You can seek a physical therapist in order to perform some low range motion which can relieve neck pain.
Use a neck pillow – Try purchasing a special neck pillow designed for arthritis sufferers.
Self massage – Consider purchasing a massager for home use. Infrared massagers distribute heat to the tissues, relieving pain in the neck.

Alternative treatment for arthritis in the neck is essential in alleviating the pain. Nevertheless, it is very important to consult your doctor for proper treatment. If not treated as early as possible may affect the spine and can lead to stiffness and fusing of the rib cage. Neck arthritis is really a pain in the neck if you will not take proper action against it.

Hip Arthritis

Hip arthritis is a common type of osteoarthritis that is also called the wear and tear arthritis or degenerative joint disease characterized by progressive wearing out of the cartilage of the joints. As the defensive cartilage is worn away by ostearthritis, bare bone is exposed within the joint.

This type of arthritis commonly affects patients over 55 years of age. It is more typically in people who are overweight and obese. There is also a genetic tendency of this condition; meaning arthritis tends to run in families. Other factors that may contribute to developing this type of arthritis include traumatic injuries to the hip, bone and joints.

Hip arthritis symptoms tend to grow as the condition worsens. What is interesting about this type of arthritis is that the symptoms do not always continue steadily in time. Often patients report bad months and good months or weather changes and symptom changes.

The most common symptoms of hip or osteoarthritis are:

Pain when doing such activities such as lifting objects.
Limited range of motion especially pain when running or standing.
Stiffness of the hip due to the loss of cartilage in the hips.
Painful back and in some cases in ability to walk or stand.

Treatment of hip arthritis should start with the most basic steps, and progress to the more involved, possibly including surgery. Take note, not all treatments are suitable in every patients, and you should have a conversation with your doctor to establish which treatment are suitable for your condition.

Most common remedies and treatment for arthritis:

Weight loss
Activity modification
Physical therapy
Anti inflammatory medications
Joint supplements
Hip replacement surgery

There are also food supplements that you can try to alleviate the symptoms of osteoarthritis. Herbs such as ginger, oregano, yucca and alfalfa are one of supplement that can help alleviate pain cause by arthritis. The best thing about herbs is that it can reduce some of the symptoms of arthritis. It is also cheaper unlike arthritis supplements that are found in the market today. Hip arthritis can be so deliberating if not treated early.

Gout Arthritis

Gout arthritis is a painful inflammation and swelling of the joints caused by injury, heredity, obesity and build up of uric acid. Certain foods can cause gout so diet plays a role. In addition smoking and alcohol can cause arthritis. Treatment of gout can be achieved through proper diet and medication.

The most common gout symptoms are sudden tenderness, redness, and severe attacks of pain, warmth and swelling in some joints. It usually affects two joints at a time, especially the joint of the small toe, but can also affect the elbow, wrist, foot, ankle and knee. Deposit of uric acid, cause gout arthritis that can appear as swells and lumps under the skin around the joints and at the rim of the ear. In addition, crystals from uric acid can also collect in the kidneys and cause kidney stones.

Although there is no cure for this type arthritis, a lot of people with gout keep it under control. Treatment may consist of painkillers or anti-inflammatory medicines. There are also injections of corticosteroid, which replace the damage cartilage. In addition, surgery is one of the best treatments for gout.

On the other hand, you can try this alternative remedy for gout arthritis:

1. Purchase celery seed and cherry seed and used it as a supplement. This can decrease the build up of uric acid crystals in your joints.
2. Remove foods that are high in cholesterol in your diet. Avoid fried and animal meat this is because it contains more uric acid.
3. Avoid products that contain preservatives especially canned foods
4. Avoid drinking carbonated drinks such as soft drinks. In addition try to quit smoking and alcohol and avoid caffeine.
5. Drink water to detoxify your body and eliminates uric acid.

These alternative remedies can help you alleviate the symptoms of gout. On the other hand, it is still best to consult your doctor for proper diagnosis before trying any alternative remedies. It is important that you ask advice to your doctor on what you should do. Gout arthritis can be life threatening and deliberating if not treated early.

Do I Have Arthritis

Do I have Arthritis? This is a common question of a lot of people when they are experiencing pain in their joints. In order for you to know if you have arthritis, it is important that you have knowledge about arthritis. You should be able to know what are the causes, symptoms and treatment.

Arthritis is a disease that causes loss of movement and pain of the joints. The word arthritis literally means joint inflammation and refers to more than hundreds of different diseases. However, the most common types of arthritis are rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis and Psoriatic arthritis.

When you feel pain in your joints, you usually ask, do I have arthritis? Well, there are many symptoms of arthritis. Common signs are joint pain, stiffness, tenderness and gelling. If you ever experience these symptoms, visit your local physician for proper diagnosis and treatment.

There are many factors why people get arthritis. The most common reason is in your diet. In recent studies doctors have found out that people who are fond of eating meat are prone to have arthritis. The meat contains uric acid, which is one of the primary causes of arthritis especially rheumatoid arthritis. So if you love to eat meat such as pork then you don’t need to ask this question do I have arthritis?

In order to avoid arthritis, one should follow proper eating habit and that is eating the right kind of food such as fruits and vegetables. Animal meat such as pork, beef etc. should be avoided, however fish meat is allowed. It is also advisable to start a healthy diet as early as young to avoid arthritis when you reach adulthood. Nevertheless, it is not too late to fight arthritis.

Lastly, besides eating fruits and vegetables, you should also have to exercise. Exercise helps to make your cartilage and joints to be flexible. In this manner, stiffness of joints and joint pain will be avoided. Remember also that aging is another factor of arthritis so it is best to have a regular exercise. If you don’t start changing your lifestyle then you will really have arthritis and there’s no need to ask do I have arthritis?

Degenerative Arthritis Of The Spine

Degenerative arthritis of the spine is also known as osteoarthritis, which is very common with almost all aged persons. However, it can also occur among younger people such as those in their early teens. There is no definite answer what causes osteoarthritis up to this day, nevertheless scientists and doctors know that worn out cartilage, hereditary and poor nutrition are the contributing factors of osteoarthritis.

The problem with this type of condition is that it cannot be cured, because there are now ways to replace the worn out cartilage. The only thing that doctors can do is to alleviate the pain and focus on relieving the symptoms of this type of arthritis.

These are the following remedies for degenerative arthritis of the spine:

Avoiding stress on the joints – In many cases, the indications of osteoarthritis are cause by certain activities that put stress on the joints like playing tennis and running. Avoiding these activities may prevent these indications.
Non-impact exercise – Regular non-impact exercise of joints accomplishes two things: It can prevent the joints from becoming stiff, which can lead to pain and it helps keep the muscle strong. Swimming is an example of this type of exercise.
NSAIDs – non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) can also be helpful for treating osteoarthritis.
Hryaluronic Injections and Cortisone – Cortisone, a corticosteroid, can alleviate pain and swelling with degenerative arthritis of the spine when injected. Another treatment, hyaluronic acid, also helps by replacing the loss fluid in the joints.
Surgery – When all other treatment options have been tried and are found to be insufficient then surgical intervention is your last option. This involves replacing the joint with an artificial implant. This will reduce and alleviate the pain and symptoms of osteoarthritis.

These remedies can help alleviate and reduce the pain cause by this type of arthritis, however, lifetime treatment and consultation to your doctor is necessary. Remember, osteoarthritis cannot be cured by can only lessen the symptoms. It is best that an early age, people should do regular exercise and proper eating habit in order to avoid this type of condition. Degenerative arthritis of the spine can be prevented if you have a good lifestyle.

Chronic Arthritis

Chronic arthritis cannot be treated, but they can be managed. There are many different types of arthritis but the two most common are osetoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Almost 85 percent of people in the world today are affected with arthritis. Nevertheless, even though arthritis is incurable, there is still hope for people suffering from this type of condition. Here is the list of modern remedies to alleviate arthritis and its symptoms.

Disease-Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs and Biologics – This type of drugs is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, mostly the severe type of it. It is also used in treating severe chronic arthritis such as basal joint arthritis. The drug function is to slow down the immune system. When the immune systems are slowed down, it preserves the joints and does not attack the cartilage of the bone. The most common Disease modifying antirheumatic drugs include Plaquenil and Trexall. On the other hand, Biologics are used in conjunction with antirheumatic drugs. They are used to counter attack the patient’s immune system and are genetically engineered.
Analgesics and Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are commonly used treatment for chronic arthritis. Analgesics are a type of medication that is used to alleviate pain. Commonly used analgesics include drugs such as Tylenol, Vincodin and Percocet.
Counter irritants – This type of drugs is used to alleviate pain. They come in the form of creams and topical ointments that are massaged onto then affected joints. They often contain menthol or capsaicin.
Therapy – Physical therapy can be essential to those suffering from arthritis. It helps patients learn and execute bone strengthening and ranges of motion improving exercise.
Surgical procedures – The last option that you will do if medication and therapy doesn’t work together. Arthritis surgical procedures includes the used of cartilage replacement and insertion of artificial corticosteroid.

It is best that you consult your doctor if you have more questions about arthritis. Arthritis can be a life treating if not treated early that is why proper and regular check up is necessary, if you want to make your life normal as possible. Chronic arthritis remedies are the best way for your condition.

Arthritis Relief