Arthritis is affecting more than 180 million Indians and is one of the leading causes of disability. It causes crippling pain and disturbs your sleep sometimes. And if you don’t want to take painkillers forever, you’ll have to resort to natural ways to reduce pain.
Before you can start managing your pain, you’ll have to learn as much as you can about arthritis.
Talk to your friends and family about your condition to help them understand it and help you better.
Be mindful of your lifestyle and incorporate these five things to help you reduce arthritis pain without any pain killers.
Meditation
Meditation is potent in reducing the pain caused due to arthritis. It’s a popular choice because it helps relieve the pain by acknowledging it and letting go of the negative thoughts surrounding it.
And the good news is that you can do it just about anywhere. This practice is called active meditation, and all you have to do is be present in the moment and pay attention to how your body moves and feels.
You could be showering, shopping or just walking. But only letting go of everything and paying attention to the scents and sounds while taking deep breaths helps with the pain.
If you can spare a few moments, you can also try guided imagery meditation. You’ll be asked to picture a place you love and asked to feel it with all your senses to help you relax.
You can find plenty of guided meditations to help you ease the pain arthritis causes you.
Hot and Cold Therapy
Hot and Cold Therapy is the most inexpensive and easiest way to treat pain caused due to arthritis.
You can either use a moist cloth or heat pack for your heat therapy. A heat pack in the morning after waking up or exercising can relieve morning stiffness in joints and bones.
While using a moist or dry heat pack, make sure that it’s at the right temperature to provide comfort and relief. It must not be too hot to burn.
Cold Therapy helps to reduce inflammation. You can use cold compresses to numb severe pain.
Although both are potent techniques to reduce pain, it’ll take you a while to figure out what therapy works best for you.
Exercise
Going through arthritis means putting up with a decreased range of motion and increased pain. Although it seems counterintuitive, exercising helps get relief from pain.
Exercise helps build muscles, and when your muscles become stronger, they take some load off your joints. And you don’t experience much pain because of this.
So, you can choose simple sets of exercises that will help strengthen your muscles. Exercises like stretching, walking, and cycling will strengthen your muscles without too much pressure on your joints.
It would be best if you avoided exercises like running, jogging, tennis, and high-impact aerobics so that you don’t hurt your knees.
Healthy Diet
Diet has been shown to play an essential role in relieving pain and inflammation caused due to arthritis.
Some foods increase the presence of inflammatory chemicals in the body, and this leads to increased pain. Other anti-inflammatory foods like turmeric and ginger help in reducing the pain caused due to arthritis.
You can also watch this video where Ms. Muthulakshmi, Nutritionist & Consultant, Chennai Ortho, explains how you can make ginger and garlic a part of your everyday diet.
Processed meats, fried foods, and foods high in sodium increase the inflammation due to arthritis.
They also lead to weight gain and worsen your joint pain because your legs are now bearing more weight than before.
Apart from the pain, they also cause problems like high cholesterol that leads to more health complications.
Lifestyle changes
Health is wealth. If you were drinking or smoking too much before, refraining from both will help you stay free from pain.
Trying to nurture positive thoughts and acceptance of your condition will also help you stay happy and be free from continuous pain.
Conclusion
Arthritis pain is widespread and cannot be beaten by painkillers alone. You’ll have to incorporate some changes to help you get rid of the pain without painkillers. You can do this with meditation, exercise, a healthy diet, and lifestyle changes.
If the pain is unbearable and keeps you awake at night, it would be best to consult an ortho doctor in Chennai.
Dr.S. Arumugam is an experienced orthopedic surgeon & consultant. He has changed many patients’ lives with his treatments and has also appeared on several TV shows and webinars to share bone health tips.
You can either request a face-to-face consultation or a telephonic/video consultation. Visit our website for more details.
