18/12/2020
Basic Lifestyle Changes
• A healthy, well-balanced diet
• Regular, careful use of herbal remedies
• And food supplements
• Use of massage and physiotherapy
• Exercise and deliberate movement
1. Balanced Diet:
The simple principle is that the more excess weight your body has to carry around, the more pressure there is on your joints and the harder they have to work, producing more wear and tear and eventually, pain! It is commonly known that there is a frequent correlation between being overweight and suffering from varied forms of arthritis. A natural, healthy, toxicless diet not only helps you to keep your weight under control, it also maximizes your body’s ability to heal itself.
2. Herbs & Supplements:
Nature’s Healers: You can actually heal your joints naturally, not just control pain. Because the basic symptom of joint trouble is pain caused by inflammation, conventional treatments include anti-inflammatory drugs such as aspirin, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like ibuprofin and steroid drugs such as Prednisone. Sometimes a Cortisone injection (caution!) is prescribed for severe inflammation. While these treatments can be helpful in controlling joint pain, besides being only a quick and often temporary fix, aspirin and NSAIDs are hard on the stomach, intestines, kidney and liver, and actually inhibit the growth of new cartilage! Your cartilage is miraculously resilient. It changes form when under stress, then springs back to its original shape and with care can be rebuilt and regenerated. Cartilage contains up to 85% water, but the remaining substance includes a wide variety of important sulfates that you need to feed your body to keep your synovial fluid rich and nourishing. Since cartilage is a vital living substance, it needs the nourishment it gets from the synovial fluid that surrounds your joints, just like your organs get nourishment from your blood supply. Herbs and Supplements have proven helpful in preventing joint disease, reducing pain and restoring injured or inflamed joints.
These are available in health stores:
DHEA Supplement: stands for dehydroepiandro-sterone, a natural
substance produced by our adrenal glands. It decreases with age and is
linked to age-related joint discomfort, as well as loss of mobility and sleep.
Glucosamine, Chondroitin & MSM: are essential sulfates to help
with joint pain, bone repair, arthritis, and osteoarthritis. This combo
helps heal and restore cartilage and bones (caps, liquids and rollons).
Herbs for Healthy Bones: here are many herbs to improve
circulation, bone strength and help heal broken bones and relieve
tendon and joint pain.
3. Massage and Physiotherapy:
Many forms of massage and physiotherapy can increase vital circulation to help nourish your cartilage, connective tissues and to break up unhealthy, painful deposits in your joints and tissues.
4. Exercise and Movement:
Commonly, those who are already experiencing pain are advised to rest, and this feels appropriate because pain usually means stop! However, studies show that continued activity in spite of pain actually can lessen pain through release of endorphins and strengthen joints as well. Ice and anti-inflammatory creams, DMSO, rollons, etc., can be used to help lessen initial discomfort. Hydro (water) therapy also makes easier, painfree gentle movement possible for many sufferers. Regular practice of gentle Yoga, Pilates, Anderson and Bragg stretching exercises also helps maintain healthy flexibility, range of motion and reduces stiffness. Remember what the Greeks knew and practiced over 5,000 years ago – moderation in all things! The last thing you want to do is overextend yourself and make the problem worse. That’s why it’s important to keep in close contact with your chiropractor and other health care providers. According to Dr. John Bland, professor of medicine at the University of Vermont and one of the country’s leading arthritis experts, the most common form of arthritis, osteoarthritis, occurs because of the dysfunction of the molecules of connective tissue that line the surface of a joint. These collagen molecules can become frayed and irritated by overuse due to obesity, basic disuse, or misapplied pressure from an injury or congenitally misaligned joint. A carefully moderated exercise plan, plus diet helps keep weight down and increases muscular strength, flexibility and endurance in order to protect all your various body joints from these unhealthy pressures.
