How to Control Arthritis Pain with Essential Supplements

If you have been following this blog you would have noticed that all of the posts have been written by me personally. What significance does that hold? Well, only this - that I am writing from personal experience - I have had to deal with arthritis pain for over fifty years now. Many of these things are what I have learned for myself as I tried to grapple with daily pain and increasing disability.

Today I would like to discuss a couple of essential supplements that have helped me to control arthritis pain. This will by no means be a comprehensive list, but these are a few that I take on a daily basis. People who have arthritis in one form or another often have low haemoglobin levels and suffer from anaemia so one of the first supplements to start with would be a good B-complex vitamin. In addition add about 100mg of B6 and some folic acid. 

Glucosamine and chondroitin are apparently the third top selling "natural" supplements in the USA. Personally I have found them to be of great benefit. My nails used to split in layers and you could "wave" them up and down with another finger! Nowadays they are strong and firm and my joints are not as painful as they used to once be. I believe this is the result of long standing supplementation with these two substances.

Then lastly, there is vitamin D, which for me has been a recent and joyful discovery. Never before has vitamin D received the press and been the object of the amount of research that is currently going on. According to Dr Stewart B. Leavitt, editor of  Pain Treatment Topics and the author of a recent report, "our examination of 22 clinical investigations of patients with pain, found that those with chronic back pain almost always had inadequate levels of vitamin D. When sufficient vitamin D supplementation was provided, their pain either vanished or was at least helped to a significant extent."

When I read that this in the latest edition of Joint Ability, the official publication of the Arthritis Foundation of South Africa, I had an "ah-ha" moment. After a blood test revealed that my vitamin D levels were low, I started supplementing with 2,000 i.u.'s of vitamin D3 daily. This was about six months ago, at which stage I had terrible pain that manifested itself mainly in the mornings, as a type of spasm, starting in my lower back and going down into the upper part of my leg. I had to arch my back backwards until I got some relief from the spasm. Grocery shopping became a nightmare because the longer I walked around the worse this spasm got and I would often have to stop and try and get some relief. AMAZING!! I stopped reading the article. And it was then that I realised that this pain of mine had completely vanished - just like the article said! There have been other benefits besides the above - a winter season completely free of colds, flu and sinusitis! 

Here is the product right here! Just click on the bottle and you can get it immediately from Amazon.com. It is truly amazing.(Be sure to get vitamin D levels tested on a regular basis.)

Article by:  Des Jackson

How to Control Arthritis Pain with Hot and Cold Treatments

Yesterday we spoke about the importance of a positive attitude to help control arthritis pain. This remains at the top of the list, however, what about those "flare-ups" and times when a particular joint is out of control - red and swollen, hot to the touch and generally very, very painful?

At times like these you might want to use hot or cold compresses, heating pads or cold packs. Remember too that this is when the joint needs to be rested and given special care. A cold pack can be used to reduce the swelling and numb the pain a little, as well as reduce the hotness of the joint. Some people feel horrified at the thought of a cold pack on the joint but it does help to control the pain.

If you have a joint that has been hot and achy for a few days, it is very likely that you have a set of muscles that have been trying to "hold" the joint and stabilize it. When this happens it is not uncommon for those very muscles to become extremely painful and even go into a spasm. In this case a heating pad or hot compress should be used to relieve the muscular tension and spasm. The heat causes the muscle to begin to relax and also to increase the blood flow to the area, and in this way bring relief.

Let's go back to the begining - always remember that a positive attitude is the first step to help to control arthritis pain. When a joint is out of sorts like we described above, a positive attitude is crucial. This will help you to act positively and give the joint the rest and care that it needs and thus help to control the pain.
By:  Des Jackson

How to Control Arthritis Pain

Arthritis affects people from all walks of life and can strike at any age. Whilst it may limit your participation in some activities, the pain does not have to control your life. One of the very first steps toward managing your pain is to have a positive attitude. Your mind will play a very important role in how you react to pain and its debilitating effects. If you can laugh at yourself and keep a sense of humour, you will go a long way to winning in this first line of defense against pain.

There are other ways to help control your arthritis pain. One of the most important of these is exercise. There is the old saying that says "use it, or loose it"! Whilst it is not wise to exercise during times when a joint is going through a "flare-up" i.e. it is swollen, red and painful - exercise does help to maintain a joint's mobility and range of movement. Exercise also helps to strengthen muscles surrounding the joint and to therefore keep it stable. This is extremely important for later stages when, due to wear and tear, the joint itself becomes less and less stable. If the muscles surrounding the joint are kept strong this will go a long way towards stabilising the joint itself and thus controlling pain levels.

Exercise will help to maintain general health, which in turn will help with that all important positive attitude. One of the best forms of exercise for people suffering from arthritis pain is swimming because this allows for movement without the effects of gravity. Even those sometimes swollen joints can be gently moved in water so that there is no loss of range of movement.

The final two things to mention in this short introduction, are relaxation techniques and getting adequate sleep. It is very important to learn some relaxation techniques - simple ones -  like progressive and targetted relaxing of muscle groups. This will help tremendously when muscles have been tensed to try and hold an aching joint in place. The muscles themselves can eventually go into a spasm which will only add to the pain burden.

And then finally, the importance of adequate sleep cannot be stressed enough. Arthritis is a very debilitating condition and this combined with inadequate sleep will only exacerbate the situation and that positive attitude that you have worked so hard at cultivating, can so easily fly out of the window and leave you in a negative frame of mind. This will rob you of the energy that is so necessary to cope with longstanding pain.

By:  Des Jackson