Treatment for Arthritis and Arthritis Pain
There are many different types of arthritis but probably the most commonly mentioned ones are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
Symptoms of Arthritis
Arthritis symptoms include pain, swelling and stiffness. You may also experience other symptoms such as "creaking" feeling in the joint and associated muscle pains. Most of us will develop some degree of osteoarthritis in our lifetime and the degree of development and intensity of symptoms will vary from person to person.
Diagnosing Arthritis
X-rays are a standard way of confirming that arthritis is present.
Rheumatoid arthritis can be detected by blood tests.
How can Osteopathy Help?
Osteopathic treatment has been shown to help reduce the swelling, decrease the stiffnes and therefore reduce the pain in alot of cases. We can help relax the muscles that surround the joint and at Amba Clinic we can give you advice as to the type of exercises that might benefit you in terms of strengthening your muscles and keeping you joints mobile. Osteopathy is there to help with the symptoms. It cannot stop osteoarthritis from developing but it can possibly help make it more manageable. The joints affected with osteoarthritis tend to be the more weight bearing ones such as the knees, hips and spine. Quite often the pain starts on one side but sometimes the other side can become affected due to perhaps it compensating for poor movement on the original side.
Rheumatoid arthritis is a systemic type of arthritis meaning that can it affect connective tissues all over the body. This means the covering of joints can become affected too. The joints involved in the body tend to be the smaller ones such as the ankles and wrists and it is often on both sides of the body. Rheumatoid arthritis can affect larger joints also such as knees.
Non osteopathic treatment of arthritis
These can vary depending on the type of arthritis but the following are some types of drugs prescribed or recommended if you visit your GP:
pain killers
anti-inflammatories
immunosuppressants
Arthritis and Diet
Eat a balanced and varied diet to help you get a wide range of nutrients. Eating oily fish, plenty fruit and vegetables as well as other foods such as breads, rice and pastas (a good balance) is the key. It has been suggested that oily fish is especially beneficial to inflammatory types arthritis such as rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis. Fruit and veg contain anti-oxidants which help protect the joint and reduce inflammation. The Arthritis
Research Campaign website is a good source of information for all aspects of arthritis.