Coping with Arthritis

Are you one of those who experiences pain in the joints without any known cause at frequent intervals. Arthritis today is not just exclusive to old age individuals since there are a lot of factors due to which even small babies or children be prone to arthritis. Arthritis is known to be one of the leading causes of pain as well as disability found around the globe.

There are plenty of methods to ease the pain caused due to arthritis such as following a proper exercise regime, yoga, meditation, ways to reduce stress and use of medications provided by the doctor. If you are the one suffering from arthritis or know of someone who is going through the pain, then how about going through these tips to better manage arthritis.

• One of the most important tip is to ensure that you have to ensure regular visits to the doctor or an arthritis specialist. Diagnosis on an early basis would be helpful in carrying out the treatment early and also it would help to better manage the issue. No matter what the condition is, it is always better to stay ahead of the pain for which you would need to learn all about the disease or the condition, which can also include as to what type of arthritis you are suffering from and whether any of your joints have been damaged already. Keep your doctor informed about any changes in the pain.

• Keep a watch on your weight and also ensure that you stay physically active. You may not be able to carry out the regime as you used to do it earlier while there was no joint pain hence it becomes important to speak to your doctor about which exercise regime would suit your body during the issue of arthritis. Healthy weight is also known to be associated with being less pressure on the joints. Keep a close attention to your joints whether you are standing, engaged in any activities or whether you are in sitting position. Ensure that the joints are daily in motion based on your limit. Daily carry out gentle stretches which can help in moving the joints through their entire range of motion. With the help of a physical therapist they can show you the correct method on how to sit, lie down, move or stand correctly without injuring the joints. It is important that whatever you carry out it should all be done within the body’s limit. Do not overdo any activity, try to balance out the work of activity and then resting in between. Being obese is also known to increase the problem and can complicate the condition of arthritis thereby leading to increase in the pain. Hence carry out certain changes in your lifestyle wherein you can incorporate a good and health diet which can lead to gradual weight loss and is also considered to be one of the most effective way in managing of weight.      

• Keep your mind and body positive. It may seem to be discouraging or stressful that all of a sudden you are not able to carry out your favourite activity but never the less try to maintain calm. Working closely with the doctor wherein they can help you to adapt to your lifestyle and bring about certain changes to manage the disease well. At the end all that matters is to ease the pain and discomfort caused due to arthritis. Avoid smoking as well since smoking can lead to stressing of the connective tissues which are also contributors of pain caused due to arthritis. Negative thoughts are known to self-perpetuate hence the longer one dwells on those negative thoughts it can tend to escalate the pain thereby increasing the risk of disability. Instead try to distract your mind from such negative thoughts and go in for those activities which you love performing or spend time with people who are supportive or you can speak to a consultant.

During arthritis, movement becomes a major issue due to the pain as well as stiffness in the joints. Movement even though gradual is known to reduce the pain, bring about improvement in the range of motion, helps in strengthening of the muscles and also can increase the endurance of the body. Hence you can mindfully choose the right activity wherein those which help in building the muscles around the joints regions but do not overdo else it can lead to damage of the joints altogether.

Focus on strengthening exercise, range of motion exercises, as well as gradual strength training workouts. You can also include low-impact aerobics, go in for cycling, walking or water exercises for improvement of your mood as well to keep a check on your weight. It is important to avoid certain activities since it can flare up the symptoms and those activities would include any kind of high impact and repetitive motion ones which can include running, tennis, jumping, or repeating any of the activities again and again.

Also there are various kinds of medications made available for providing relief from the arthritis pain. Most of them are safer ones but a point to note is that there are no such medications which can be free from any kind of side effects. Hence do not just go with any pain relieving medicine instead opt to speak to your doctor for formulating a proper medication plan for treating the specific symptoms caused due to arthritis.

Certain over the counter medicines such as acetaminophen, ibuprofen or naproxen sodium are known to help out in providing relief from occasional kind of pain which gets triggered by the activity carried out by the muscles as well as the joints which are not used to. There is a cream containing capsaicin which can also be applied on the skin over the painful joint to get relief from pain.

It can be used alone or with an oral medication. You can check with the doctor if the over the counter medications do not help in providing any relief from the pain.