Do you find yourself often sick and tired of consuming medications for arthritis often riddled with a variety of potential side effects?
Arthritis is often caused by the wear and tear of many joints in the body, usually affecting adults 40 years and older in age. A multitude of painful effects then floods different parts of your body, thereby weakening your immune system making you more prone to developing diseases. Arthritis can also be a major impediment to physical activity, sometimes making it extremely difficult to perform certain bodily actions, making even the slightest daily movement around the house a chore.
Fortunately, there are many natural ways for you to help relieve your symptoms of arthritis. Even if you don’t have arthritis, these tips will help prevent and significantly help your body feel stronger and healthier. We’ve listed four different ways for you below:
- Doing Exercise
Did you know that light to moderate exercise on a daily basis can actually help increase flexibility and resilience in your body, especially your joints? Instead of doing intensive, weight bearing exercises like running, light aerobic exercises such as bicycling and swimming that are less impactful to your joints can actually help ease pain and strengthen the muscles around the affected areas. Other exercises such as walking and yoga are recommended for your body as well.
Love playing a specific sport and can’t let arthritis stop you? There are many products out there that help lessen and prevent the risk of inflammation and pain in areas affected by arthritis. For instance, if you wanted to play a sport like golf or tennis, you can now wear an elbow brace. Elbow braces help reduce pain and discomfort from hitting the ball with your club/racket. These elbow braces not only help rid any other injuries when not playing a sport but also provides you with another opportunity to play the sport you love.
Weight loss is another benefit of exercise as it benefits joints targeted specifically located in between the feet, legs, and thighs. Less weight bearing when walking or doing any type of exercise can lessen joint erosion and discomfort in those areas. Putting less stress on parts of your body leads to a healthier and happier you.
- Using Hot and Cold Therapies
Ever put a bag of ice directly on a bruise or enter a sauna to relax? There are many simple ways to relieve arthritis symptoms with hot and cold therapies. Hot and cold therapies should be used simultaneously as they have many similar and overlapping effects.
In order to help combat frequent stiffness near regions where arthritis is present, a warm shower or heated blanket can help loosen up the areas around the joint, reducing muscle stiffness and inflammation. This allows the affected area to relax and improve blood flow to the area, thereby allowing your immune system to lessen any inflammation around the area.
To help soothe pain or discomfort around an arthritis-affected area, you should apply cold therapy treatments. An example of this is applying slight pressure with an icepack around the area to reduce any potential inflammation or swelling causing the discomfort.
You may also use products such as the Icy Hot patch to help mitigate any stiffness or discomfort using Hot and Cold therapies.
- Watching Your Diet
Dieting can also play a role in affecting any problems you may have with arthritis. There are many foods that help boost the immune system and are help reduce inflammation in the body. Here are some foods that are highly nutritious and help overcome symptoms of arthritis:
- Fish
Fish and fish oils are high in omega-3 fatty acids, which are anti-inflammatory and extremely beneficial to the immune system. Examples of fish high in these fatty acids include salmon, herring, tuna, trout, mackerel, and anchovies. These fatty acids also help those suffering from cardiovascular diseases.
- Dairy
Dairy rich items such as milk and cheese are very high in calcium. Calcium helps strengthen and repair bone in your body, making the areas around your joints stronger. Calcium also plays a significant role by strengthening your immune system.
- Citrus
Citrus foods such as oranges help prevent inflammation throughout the body, especially areas ridden with arthritis because they are high in Vitamin C. Likewise, vitamin C helps reduce the healing time of any cuts on the skin.
- Teas
Tea contains polyphenols, which play a crucial part by maintaining immune strength and preventing inflammation caused by arthritis.
- Getting a Massage and Acupuncture
Getting a massage by licensed and experienced physical therapists can really help loosen symptoms of stiffness in areas where arthritis is present. This can help reduce discomfort felt by lessening tightness felt, reducing swelling due to inflammation, and other pain/discomfort you may feel.
Acupuncture is another method that can help treat symptoms of arthritis. Even though the thought of sticking tiny needles into your body may seem horrifying, the results from many that have done acupuncture have been extremely successful at treating symptoms of arthritis. The acupuncturist knows where to specifically place the needle so that any affected areas by arthritis become relaxed and brought back to their normal state. The needles provoke your immune system by synthesizing natural pain relieving hormones in your body
If you have any more tips on natural ways to beat arthritis and would like to share, please leave a comment below!