Arthritis Home Remedies

By Ehren Allen, Certified Manual Therapist/Physical Therapist

Arthritis Home Remedies

Since arthritis breaks down the lining of the joints and may cause poor biomechanics, lifestyle changes and home remedies are critical. Running and other high impact exercises may become a painful way to get exercise. Click here to read about some low impact exercise alternatives.

Low impact exercises like biking, swimming, pool exercises and walking are recommended for you to stay active.  Avoid exercises with high repetitions as well.

Other home remedies with the approval of your physician would be:

• Anti-inflammatories.
• Heat.
• Ice.
• Stretching.
• Massage.
• Whirlpool or spa
• Staying active in any way that is pain free.
• Pool exercises.

What to Avoid with Arthritis

There are certainly some things that you should avoid if you have arthritis.

• High impact activities such as running, stairs and jumping.
• You certainly should not smoke.
• You should avoid being overweight.  This extra weight adds stress to your joints.  You should try to eat a health diet and loss and excessive weight.
• Avoid overdoing things in your life.  A good example would be yard work.  We have all wanted to get our yard work done in one day.  This causes you to become very sore or painful the next few days.  Plan out your yard work for several days and take breaks while doing your tasks.
• Make sure that your mattress on your bed is not worn out.  If you have arthritis of the hip or back, sleeping on a worn out mattress can make your condition worse.  It is important to avoid pressure points while sleeping so that you can sleep without pain.
• Avoid wearing flip flops or shoes with a poor arch support.  To learn more about selecting a good shoe, please read this Article. 

Home Remedies for Arthritis

Some other home remedies for arthritis of the hands is a paraffin bath.  This can be purchased online and can be used by dipping your hand in the paraffin bath according to the instructions included in the purchase of the bath or your physician.  This can be a good way to heat your arthritic hands.

Other home remedies are rice bags.  Typically, a rice bag is heated in a microwave according to the instructions obtained with the purchase of the bag.  Again, another way to provide heat to an arthritic joint.  In both situations, it is important to follow the instructions properly to avoid too much heat or a burn.

Other Remedies for Arthritis

When the home remedies have stopped working, there are certainly other options that can choose to help you.

• Formal physical therapy.  You can ask your physician if physical therapy may help you manage your arthritis.  Physical therapy and hand therapy certainly has many modalities and safe exercises to help you manage your disease.  Improving the muscle strength around your joints without causing them to flare up is a goal of PT.  They can also show you how to do exercises in the correct way as to not cause further injuries.
• Dry Needling- This option is offered at the World Golf Clinic and Nassau Clinic.
• Laser Therapy.  Laser therapy has shown to help reduce the pain and inflammation related to arthritis.
• Massage.  Not only does massage feel great, it also can help in reducing pain and inflammation.  It can certainly help improve your mood and outlook on this disease.

Arthritis

• Overview
• Lifestyle Changes and Home Remedies

The most important aspect of managing arthritis is to stay active.  Some lifestyle changes may be needed to improve your overall health.  We hope that this article has been helpful.  Our goal at JOI and JOI Rehab, is to provide you with all of the medial information that you need to live a healthy lifestyle.

If you want to learn more about RA, please read this article on rheumatoid arthritis overview.

Other related articles: Hand Arthritis and 4 Top Hand Exercises for Arthritis. 

If you need to see an orthopedic physician for arthritis, schedule online or for JOI Rehab at 904-858-7045!

By: Ehren Allen, Certified Manual Therapist/Physical Therapist