Osteoarthritis has an extensive period of unfathomable pain, gradually intensifying when people arrive in their fifties. Even though the impairments can’t be avoided, the pain can definitely be reduced.
It is a degenerative form of arthritis that gradually forms when the cartilage cushioning your joints are weakened. The end result consists of a sharp piercing joint pain worsening with every movement.
A greater percentage of women notice crackling noises with stiff joints during their fifties. People with obesity are more susceptible to osteoarthritis as the joints become stressed with added extra fat.
But no need to panic! Stay tuned to learn different ways you can reduce your pain.
Ways to Reduce Osteoarthritis Pain
Osteoarthritis strikes the focal joints of your arms, hips, and knees, severely wrecking your moments. Here are a few guidelines:
Weight Loss
A proper circadian rhythm can be maintained with healthy lifestyle alterations. Therefore, a positive mindset can help you stay motivated throughout this journey.
Losing that extra weight can relieve your joints from the additional strain. For that, exercise is essential. Although exercise may flare up your agony initially, exercising regularly would assist your muscles to strengthen. This ensures your joints stay flexible.
A balanced diet is also necessary for shedding those unwanted fats. Your daily meals should include low-fat milk products, fish for proteins, whole grains, and lots of citrus fruits.
In addition, pile up your bed with fluffy pillows to relieve any inconvenience to sleep peacefully.
Home Remedies
Continuing small at-home remedies can slowly soothe your osteoarthritis pain.
Applying hot water bags to your joints numbs your pain while relieving the stiffness. Similarly, cold compresses can highly reduce your swelling which in turn relieves your pain.
Your mobility can become smoother using walking supports like canes. It takes up some of your weight, helping you to walk with ease.
Wearing splints on your hands and feet reduces discomfort by guarding your painful joints. Special footwear made of shock-absorbing soles reduces stress on your feet.
Shower chairs and tap turners assist you in completing your daily chores more comfortably.
Physiotherapy
Your physiotherapist will perform some simple exercises and massages to loosen up the stiffness in your joints. This includes stretching your limbs up to a particular extent until they regain their mobility.
Taking a daily jog followed by swimming can also ensure your joints retain their flexibility. Keeping yourself active by incorporating these physical therapies can successfully tone down your pain.
Instant remedies like transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) apply a mild electrical shock to your affected joints to reduce discomfort.
Physiotherapists also provide you with many guidelines to easily carry out your daily chores.
Massage
Massage performed by licensed practitioners reduces the immobility of your joints by making the surrounding muscles to relax.
Putting pressure on your trigger points while massaging can decrease any kind of discomfort caused by osteoarthritis. A medieval Japanese massage named Shiatsu uses special rhythmic movements for applying pressure to certain points.
Again reflexology consists of providing pressure on your palms and foot soles to reduce soreness in other body parts.
Swedish massages include kneading your stiff muscles for better flow of oxygen to diminish the tenderness.
Other than these, cupping therapy improves blood supply in patients with knee osteoarthritis.
Medicines
Apart from physical workouts, drugs can also ease your soreness. But keep in mind not to surpass the prescribed dosage.
For mild pain relief, you can take paracetamols available at your local dispensaries.
However, doctors will initially recommend Acetaminophen such as Tylenol. It acts quickly and provides you with long-lasting relief from minor joint pains.
Your tenderness can be eased using nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. The most popular are Ibuprofen, like Advil, and Naproxen, like Naprosyn.
Ointments are alternatives for oral medications that soothe your joint pains. Diclofenac sodium gel named Voltaren reduces any unnecessary inflammation.
Surgical Treatments
Surgery is usually recommended when the oral intakes and massages don’t cause any significant changes. Moreover, a successful surgery improves your lifestyle.
Doctors first start with injections. Hyaluronic acid-infused injections protect your joints, while corticosteroids relieve your pains.
Now for severe cases, joint replacement surgery is usually performed. Metal bits are infused into your bones, replacing your damaged joint to provide extra support.
To decrease pain, surgeons also fuse your joints in a particular position. Surgeons also perform osteotomy by adding or removing a part of your damaged bone to shift your body weight to other parts.
Light Therapy
Light therapy uses low-level infrared rays to relieve your osteoarthritis pain. It’s emerging as the latest means to combat this disease.
Red light contains anti-inflammatory effects to reduce the soreness in your joints. Moreover, it fights off any kind of autoimmune response that signals your body to damage your joints.
It also boosts the formation of tissues around your painful joints, which in turn cushions the edges. This stimulates your healing and allows you to move your limbs freely.
In addition, red light therapy regenerates your nerves and tendons, strengthening your bones and cartilages.
Bottom Line
Osteoarthritis causes endless suffering to people getting closer to their fifties. However, if you follow any of our recommended remedies, your osteoarthritis pain will be reduced successfully.
In short, osteoarthritis comes with excruciating pain that intensifies with age. But staying active with regular exercise cuts down your weight while rebuilding your bones simultaneously. Supportive measures like using canes and splints can improve your balance.
Different kinds of physiotherapy allow you to perform your daily chores smoothly. New massage techniques allow mobility for your joints. Prescribed medicines and surgeries can help you combat mild to extreme pain.
Additionally, light therapy reduces your inflammation and reforms any tissues needed around your joints. Consult a healthcare professional to get better results by regularly practicing your most suitable remedies.