Two ways to treat arthritis symptoms without medication
Posted on: 13 April 2018
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If you have just been diagnosed with arthritis (a condition which causes stiffness and inflammation in the body's joints), here are two ways that you can manage the symptoms of this disease without medication.
Make some lifestyle changes
There are several lifestyle changes that you can make which can significantly reduce the severity of your symptoms.
If for example, you are overweight and therefore have a high BMI (Body Mass Index), taking steps to lower it can help to minimise the amount of pain and stiffness you experience on a daily basis. One of these steps can be as simple as reducing your food portions and increasing the amount of physical activity you do.
Losing weight is effective at managing the symptoms of arthritis, largely because it reduces the amount of force that is inflicted on your hips, knees and other joints when you run, stand or walk.
Additionally, if your currently smoke or drink substantial quantities of alcohol on a regular basis, you may want to consider quitting or cutting back on these indulgences, as both smoking and excess alcohol consumption are associated with high levels of bodily inflammation; this could make the existing inflammation caused by your arthritis even worse and in doing so, could exacerbate your symptoms.
Consider undergoing osteopathic treatment
If your symptoms are having a negative impact on your mobility levels, it may be worth visiting an osteopath. An osteopath is a health professional who uses massage, stretching and manual manipulation techniques to increase blood flow to, and release tension in the muscles, tendons, and ligaments that surround the body's joints. This, in turn, can help to drastically reduce stiffness, pain, and inflammation.
During your first appointment, the osteopath will carry out a thorough examination, in order to determine which specific areas of your body need to be treated. They may instruct you to perform some very basic stretches or ask you to stand or sit in a certain position so that they can accurately assess your current mobility levels and determine which parts of your body are very stiff and require extra attention during the treatment process.
They will then use their hands to physically examine your body; this will involve lightly touching your soft tissues and bones, in order to gain further information about what type of treatment approach needs to be taken.
Following this, they will perform the above-mentioned massage, manual manipulation, and stretching techniques. Due to the fact that the osteopath may need to apply quite a lot of pressure in order to achieve the desired results, you might feel slightly stiff for a few hours after receiving your treatment.
This is perfectly normal and should subside quite quickly, after which you should experience significant relief from your arthritic pain.