Tips on Managing Arthritis that Will Help in Your Daily Life

Arthritis is a very common health condition, especially among the older population. Here we take a look at tips on managing it.

Arthritis is a medical condition that is very varied in terms of the number of types of this condition that affect people are quite vast. But, in general, it involves conditions that involve inflammation and pain in the joints.

The truly worst part about arthritis is that it is in nature a degenerative condition. What this implies is that the symptoms tend to get worse over time. It might even be a type of arthritis that is a type of autoimmune condition that is associated with extra-articular symptoms. This variety of arthritis has a few particular characteristics in that they have inflammatory flares and also maybe a clinical course that is chronic?

The two types of arthritis are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. OA is mainly the result of wear and tear of cartilage which in turn causes bones to rub together which creates friction, damage and inflammation as well.

On the other hand, RA is a condition that is systemic and it is responsible for triggering symptoms all over the body. It is in essence an autoimmune disease and it occurs when the immune system attacks the healthy tissues of the joint but does so mistakenly.

While doctors will hand out medication to soothe the pain of arthritis, very often they also recommend approaches that are natural as well. It would be a good idea to consult with your doctor before trying out any remedy, it does not matter if the process involves medication or not.

Weight Management

Being overweight and/or obese is one of the worst things that you can put your body through. It is responsible for a plethora of health conditions and it does not do anyone any good. Above all it is not about body shaming at all and it is important to realize that in this climate of political correctness. It is all about being healthy and functioning at the highest potential that you are capable of, that is what weight management is all about and it has absolutely nothing to do with body image.

The weight that you do have, it can have a big impact on the symptoms of your arthritis. The weight that is extra is not only just that. It adds a lot more pressure on the joints of your body, especially your knees, hips and feet as well. Most associations that deal with arthritis in general have all specified very heavily on the importance of losing weight if you are suffering from OA and you are overweight or obese.

The physician that you go to can help you set a proper target weight based on your age and your body type and can also help you design a program that will help you reach those goals.

Just know that reducing weight and thereby reducing the amount of stress on the joints of your body can help with a number of issues. This will improve your mobility, decrease pain and also prevent your joints from future damage.

Exercise

This is such an obvious health and fitness advice that it almost makes you feel guilty that you have to see such a recommendation to get yourself out of your couch and onto the treadmill. Exercise, as Nike would say, just do it. It will do you wonders for your health overall and can make you a much more well rounded individual with proper health and mind. Yes, mind as well. Exercise is also known to help people with their mental health. So not only is it beneficial to your physical health, it is also very much of value to your mental health as well.

When it comes to arthritis, it is the same very obvious case, exercising helps. If you suffer from arthritis, exercising regularly can help you with managing your weight (and we have already discussed the importance of that previously), it also helps keep the joints of the body flexible and finally it also, very crucially, strengthens the muscles around the joints which in turn provides more support for the joints. These are all very desired benefits of regular exercise.

Consider Light Therapy

Light therapy has very quickly become a very preferred method of therapy among many health and fitness circles and it is very definitely not without reason. This type of therapy is beneficial for a number of health conditions and it can help you in a lot of very significant ways. The best part about this type of therapy is that to date, no negative or harmful side effects of this therapy has been found.

Light therapy of the infrared type or the “low-level light” therapy, works in a way that makes use of specific wavelengths that stimulates a natural response in the tissues of humans that has the potential to better the overall cell performance on a microscopic level. The light that is exposed on to the patient’s body during a therapy session can very easily and painlessly penetrate through multiple layers of the skin and it can then reach the muscles and nerves of the body.

As a result of this the cells of the body are able to absorb more energy and become more active as a result, this in turn increases the blood flow to the area of the body to further support the regrowth of cells and also their regeneration. All of the things that are mentioned above have the ability to reduce inflammation that is caused by arthritis (and other injuries as well). Our recommendation is to try Celluma’s red light therapy device if you want to manage your arthritis and reduce the pain you have

So, yes, it must be said that arthritis is a difficult and chronic condition to take care of and to properly manage. It takes a lot of willpower and discipline to manage the condition effectively and also to stop it from progressively getting worse. But if you follow the tips mentioned above, you are already on the right track to keeping the issues of arthritis at bay.