Get to the "joint" of arthritis pain!!
What is joint pain?
Joint pain is any pain that occurs in and/or around a joint – the place where two bones meet. In the UK the most common cause is arthritis. According to the Arthritis Research Campaign some 8.9 million British people, that’s 19% of the population, have attended their GP’s surgery for arthritis related conditions. But it’s now believed that this is a considerable underestimate because many people with joint pain do not know that they have arthritis. The two main types of arthritis that people experience are Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis. Osteoarthritis results from the degeneration of cartilage within the joints. Sufferers have a gradual progression of pain that worsens with the use of the joint, and stiffness in the morning. In the usual form of Osteoarthritis, the characteristic joints involved are the very end joints of the fingers, the thumb, the hips, knees and the base of the big toe.
Rheumatoid arthritis is an inflammatory and autoimmune disorder, in which the body’s immune system starts attacking different parts of the body. Unlike Osteoarthritis, in which it is isolated usually to one or two parts of the body, Rheumatoid Arthritis often affects multiple joints, and those joints tend to be warm, red, painful and stiff. Rheumatoid Arthritis is associated with food intolerances and low stomach acid levels.
What to do if you have joint pain?
If you have joint pain – please do not ignore it! Book yourself into see your GP and get a diagnosis. In the vast majority of cases it will be Osteoarthritis, if it is, I encourage you to try the natural approaches I’m about to outline BEFORE taking medications. Research has now shown that anti-inflammatory drugs not only have considerable side-effects, such as ulceration, but they actually accelerate the rate at which joint degeneration occurs. More recently Vioxx, a drug prescribed by Doctors for treating Rheumatoid Arthritis was withdrawn from the market after it was found to double the risk of heart disease and stroke!The food you eat can have a significant influence on your level of joint discomfort and the body’s ability to repair damage. An anti-arthritis diet involves limiting the amount of sugar, salt, cakes, biscuits, processed and fried foods you eat (these can exacerbate inflammation). It also involves increasing the amount of fruit and vegetable servings to at least 5, preferably 8 portions a day, eating oily fish 3 times weekly, limiting your intake of dairy produce to 3 or 4 times weekly, using olive oil on your vegetables/salads and eating one heaped teaspoon of seeds a day (a combination of sesame, flax and pumpkin is best). If you suffer from Osteoarthritis or Rheumatoid Arthritis try excluding members of the nightshade family of vegetables, this includes tomatoes, potatoes, peppers and aubergines, for at least 2 weeks – research shows that this benefits up to 60% of sufferers.
