Series of unpleasant packages come with old age, and one of them is arthritis and muscle pain.
Arthritis is an umbrella name for the condition responsible for pain and joint inflammation. This condition affects over 50 million adults and a few children in the United States.
Osteoarthritis is the most common type, which causes the cushion between the joints to wear away. As a result, it leads to swelling, pain, and stiffness.
There are many ways to manage and relieve pain from arthritis and muscle pain, even though science is yet to find a reliable cure. This article will shed light on seven ways you can get relief from this nagging pain.
1. Hot and Cold Therapy
With hot and cold therapy, you can relieve inflammation that causes muscle pain and inflammation.
Heat treatment: this involves taking a long warm shower to soothe the stiffness. Alternatively, overnight, you can also use an electric heating pad to reduce discomfort.
Cold treatments: With this, you can relieve swelling, inflammation, and joint pain. It involves wrapping an ice pack inside a towel and applying it to the affected joints and muscles. Using ice directly on the skin is not recommended.
Capsaicin: Many topical creams and ointments over the counter contain capsaicin obtained from chili pepper. The warmth from these products can soothe joint pain.
2. Try Herbal Products Like Kratom
According to the FDA, kratom can interact with the mu-opioid receptors in the body. Activation of these receptors provides relief from all sorts of pain, including muscle pain and arthritis.
Kratom is beneficial for its ability to address various pain, including neuropathic pain.
The compounds inside kratom leaves can bind to the body’s pain receptors available in the central nervous system. The Bali or red vein strain is a good choice for analgesic effect. You can read more about it.
3. Acupuncture
This ancient Chinese medicine is one of the oldest and most effective pain remedies. It involves the use of tiny needles to induce energy at strategic places in the body called meridians. The idea is that pain comes from an imbalance of energy, and these needles can help correct them.
There are not many scientific studies to support acupuncture for arthritis and muscle pain. However, there are indications that it lowers chemicals in the body responsible for inflammation. As a result, it soothes body pain, joint pain, and muscle pain.
According to a review of some studies, acupuncture can relieve rheumatoid arthritis without any side effects.
4. Swimming
While swimming, users experience gentle resistance, which is easy on the joints because of the low gravity applied to the body’s movement.
Severe muscle pain and arthritis could make some chronic sufferers avoid moving the affected parts and joints. However, continued inactivity of the affected joint is not a good idea. It might trigger muscular atrophy in which the ligaments will lose some motion.
When you exercise in water, it provides a way to move the affected body parts and keep muscle strength. A review of some scientific publications revealed that exercise in water that capitalizes on stress, balance, endurance, and stretching could lead to an impressive relief in pain, especially in seniors.
5. Consider a Healthy Diet
Everyone, especially seniors, should concentrate on a diet rich in vegetables, fresh fruits, and whole foods to boost the overall health and immune system. There are indications that smart dietary choices can help people with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Osteoarthritis.
Concentrating on a plant-based diet is a good idea as it reduces free radicals in the body. This also reduces inflammation, which limits pain from arthritis and muscle.
However, one needs to avoid and limit processed foods, red meat diet, salt, and added sugar to support inflammation, setting the stage for arthritis.
Such food choices can also support other health issues like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, and other health complications, making them a wrong choice for people with arthritis.
It might seem convenient to buy fish oil supplements or vitamin D to treat arthritis. However, the best idea is to consume foods rich in vitamin D and fish oil and make them part of your meal.
6. Maintain a Healthy Weight
Excess weight is one of the factors that make it easy for arthritis to thrive. Yet, many Americans need to work in this area. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed that of the 54 million US adults living with arthritis, around 72% have obesity.
According to a report from the Arthritis Foundation, every pressure exerted on the joint is approximately 1.5 times the person’s body weight for every step taken on a flat surface. For people with arthritis, this weight increases to four times their body weight.
As a result, a significant reduction in body weight can take the pressure off your joints. With this, as little as 5 pounds reduction can reduce the joint’s stress by 20 pounds. This translates to colossal pain reduction, which will also help preserve the cartilage.
The excess body fat triggers the release of cytokines in the body – protein-triggering inflammation. This can worsen arthritis, which makes weight management crucial.
7. Yoga
One of the forms of yoga suited for arthritis and body pain is Iyengar Yoga. This yoga form revolves around the proper alignment of the body’s anatomy and employs props to relieve tension and inflammation.
A 2013 study examined how effective the Iyengar yoga program was for 26 young women living with Rheumatoid Arthritis. The subjects were divided into two parts
- 11 subjects had six weeks of yoga class twice a week for 90 minutes
- 15 were not subjected to any yoga class
The control group who had the six-week yoga class reported an overall quality of life, mood, and a better ability to cope with pain.
Conclusion
Muscle pain can make life unbearable for people with arthritis. However, there are a series of natural and effective means to treat this.
Those were the seven proven methods for users to get relief from such pain.