Saturday 30 April 2016

Exercise benefits arthritis sufferers

By Debra Pugh


“You want me to exercise!? But my body hurts to move!” No matter what type of arthritis you suffer from, you can still gain health benefits from exercise. I understand for I have had a type of arthritis (fibromyalgia) for more than 30 years.


The Kansas Medical Center researched people with arthritis and explained that “the people on an exercise program experienced improvements in flexibility, less pain, less fatigue, increased aerobic capacity, and some also showed improvements in blood tests for measurements such as sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, and interleukin-6, which are indicators of inflammation and disease activity.”
 

Following are some helpful hints on exercise for people who suffer from arthritis.

Extended Warm-Up
People with arthritis should have a longer than normal warm up period. The warm-up and stretching increases tissue temperature, which in turn increased range of motion, flexibility, circulation, which means increased nutrients to the tissues. This can reduce and prevent pain during exercise. Stretches should be performed slowly and with good control.
Cardiovascular Exercise
The cardiovascular exercise needs to include a low impact exercise such as riding a stationary bike, swimming, water aerobics, elliptical trainer, recumbent stair stepper, rowing . . . etc. “Weight bearing exercises increases bone mass, which helps reduce your risk of developing osteoporosis over time,” explains American Council on Exercise. Examples are walking, rebounding on a mini trampoline, climbing stairs and dancing.
Weight Training
Strength training exercises increase the muscle tone. If the muscles are stronger, it is easier to do your daily activities such as yard work, house work, unload the groceries, walking up and down stairs, picking up your children or grandchildren … etc. Increased strength can also improve your golf game, bowling, wood work, gardening and other hobbies.
Cool Down
The “cool down” is what needs to happen at the end of each “work out.” It is very important to gradually slow down the intensity of your exercise. When your workout comes to an end, you must stretch your muscles once again in a long, static, and relaxing stretch. This can help to prevent muscle soreness the following days.
Proper Form
Always consult with a doctor before you start an exercise program. Then consult with a qualified personal trainer or physical therapist to ensure proper body mechanics, appropriate alignment, good posture, and the right amount of weight and repetitions for your health condition. Poor posture fatigues the body and can cause joint stress, which can contribute to more pain. If you experience excess pain during any form of exercise, listen to your body and stop the activity.
Nutrition
Eating sugar can cause inflammation in the body and can make the symptoms of arthritis worse. Many pain medication can damage the liver so it is important to research natural anti-inflammatory products. The one that has helped me the most to reduce arthritis symptoms, pain, and fatigue is a “whole food” (not a supplement) called BarleyLife.

No matter what type of arthritis you suffer from it is possible to still reap many benefits of an exercise program and good nutrition. There are more than 100 types of arthritis so the exercise program that works for one person might not prove beneficial for another person. Keep trying different combinations of exercises and healthy foods to see what will work with your type of arthritis.

http://www.myplainview.com/news/article_a34dd1c0-0e0e-11e6-9103-5f97bf990f4c.html

Thursday 28 April 2016

Using Joint Denervation to Treat Arthritis in the Hand, Wrist, Elbow

By John Flint MD

Physicians and surgeons are continually looking for ways to improve patients’ lives and solve medical problems with less invasive and less painful techniques. Just as important to patients, however, is minimizing the recovery time after medical procedures. In many ways, orthopedics has made great gains in reducing the invasiveness, pain and recovery time in orthopedic surgeries. For example, many of the orthopedic surgeries performed today are done arthroscopically, or through very small incisions with the aid of specialized tools and cameras. Additionally, hip replacement surgery is being done with smaller and small incisions and less and less trauma to the patient’s tissues during the surgery.
Hand surgeons have also made great progress in minimizing their surgical incisions and techniques to improve pain associated with surgery. One of the most common diagnoses treated by a hand surgeon is arthritis. Arthritis is most commonly the result of loss of cartilage at the joint surface, which leads to decreased range of motion, increased friction at the joint surface and most notably pain and discomfort. Orthopedists in general have made great strides in treating arthritis with therapy, injections and joint replacements. Joint replacements are very effective at reducing most of the symptoms of arthritis and solve the arthritis problem at their source – replacing the worn down cartilage surface with metal and plastic. However, joint replacements are major surgeries, are invasive and often require extensive rehabilitation and recovery time.
Given the hardship that patients face having a joint replacement, many hand surgeons have pursued other avenues of solving the problem of pain associated with arthritic joints without addressing the cartilage issues or requiring invasive joint replacement surgery. One of the pioneering procedures to reduce the pain associated with arthritic joints is called denervation. In a denervation procedure, the physician finds the nerves that send the painful signal from the joint back to the brain and disconnects the nerve. This doesn’t affect the sensation of the nearby fingers or skin, but only the nerves that transmit joint pain to the brain. Thus, with the joint nerves disconnected, the patient feels substantially less pain. The joint is still arthritic, and doesn’t move as well as a perfect joint, but the pain is greatly relieved. Moreover, the recovery after a denervation procedure is rapid, in terms of weeks, with very little in the way of restrictions, as compared to joint replacement surgery, which requires several months of recovery.
Joint denervation procedures have been performed extensively in the wrist for wrist arthritis with generally good results. More recently, as interest in denervation has increased among hand surgeons as a good option for many patients, they have performed denervation in other joints of the hand including the thumb joint and elbow joint. Most patients with wrist denervation experience substantial but not complete relief of their pain. With time, in the order of five to 10 years, most patients experience pain of the arthritic joints again. Thus, the denervation procedure gives good pain relief, rapid return to function, and doesn’t burn any bridges to future surgical treatment if they are needed. With the success in wrist denervation procedures, surgeons will continue to improve their techniques for joint denervation of other joints, such as fingers, thumbs and elbows in an effort to treat arthritis pain and speed up the recovery after surgery.

http://www.flagstaffbusinessnews.com/using-joint-denervation-treat-arthritis-hand-wrist-elbow/

5 factors that increase your risk of arthritis in future

By Debjani Arora
2. Being overweight: This coupled with an inactive lifestyle is a hallmark for arthritis. ‘It’s your knees and ankle joints that have to bear the brunt of your weight and slowly the wear and tear gets to them. They start deteriorating and that’s when joint pains and fatigue sets in. The best way to avoid arthritis is to lose weight and tone the muscles around your joints as they provide adequate support to the joints. Also, low-impact activities like cycling, elliptical trainer or swimming can keep your joints healthy,’ says Dr Monoot.
3. Morning stiffness: If there is a pain in your joints and muscles and it makes you immovable for the first few minutes after you wake up, take note of this situation. Morning stiffness is quite common in people. ‘It can also happen when you sit cross-legged on the floor for too long, which you should be avoiding,’ mentions Dr Monoot. Pain even after sitting for too long on a couch or lying down is also a sign of danger. ‘However, if it is muscle stiffness you are suffering from, you would need to do a proper blood teas and x-ray to ascertain the condition of your joints and know whether it is the onset of arthritis. Sometimes it could also be due to vitamin B3 deficiency,’ says Dr Monoot.
4. Pain in joints: This is a given — pain in your joints while walking, climbing the stairs and even sitting idle are signs of arthritis. Sometimes the pain can be so severe that it can affect your sleep.
5. Fatigue: This is another subtle sign of arthritis. Fatigue coupled with fever or pain in even non-joint tissues can be a sign of inflammation that you are mistaking for flu. If this happens often, ask your doctor whether your bone health needs an evaluation, along with an overall health check-up.

http://www.thehealthsite.com/diseases-conditions/factors-that-increase-your-risk-of-arthritis-in-future-d0416/

Wednesday 27 April 2016

4 Top Exercises for Older Adults and Others With Arthritic Joints

By A B Fraser, MD

If you're an older adult, or anyone else, with arthritic joints and the stiffness that goes with it, high impact exercises probably won't work. However, if you know the value of exercising, you must adapt and overcome by doing no impact/low impact workouts. Here are four of the top exercises for anyone with arthritic joints:
Water Aerobics
Doing aerobics in a pool is probably the most beneficial of all. Not only can you get a good cardio exercise, but you'll also build strength. Using the natural resistance of water, you'll get a total body workout that is very joint friendly. Exercising in an outdoor pool is best as you will also get the recommended daily allowance of Vitamin D with just 5 to 10 minutes of sun exposure.
If you are in an area with inclement weather in the winter, find an indoor pool at a local health club, YMCA/YWCA or gym.
Cycling
Whether you cycle indoors on a stationary bike or outdoors, cycling is a good lower body workout. To get the maximum benefit, choose a route with varied terrain, but nothing that is beyond your capabilities. Of course, be careful, and always wear a helmet.
Elliptical Trainer
Friendlier on joints than a treadmill, elliptical trainers work both the upper and lower body without the constant joint pounding of walking or running. Most have a variable resistance adjustment so you can get as good and challenging workout as you want.
Yoga
Not only is yoga joint friendly, it actually improves joint range-of-motion by increasing their flexibility. This means less pain and stiffness. Two other benefits from yoga are increased breathing capacity, (meaning you get a better transfer of oxygen in and carbon dioxide out of your blood), and a better outlook on life from the meditation part.
Just be sure to take a class geared to your age group and physical ability.
All of these exercises, except the elliptical trainer, can be done outside where your body can soak up Vitamin D and you can breathe in fresh air. On the other hand, when the weather isn't so great, they can all be done indoors.
The older we get, the harder it is for us to process the sun to make an adequate amount of vitamin D, so be sure to get your level checked. If your vitamin D level is low, consider taking a Vitamin D supplement.
Vitamin D deficiency is common in older adults. Without enough Vitamin D, your body will not be able to make use of the calcium you take in each day, thus increasing your risk of osteoporosis through the loss of bone density.

http://ezinearticles.com/?4-Top-Exercises-for-Older-Adults-and-Others-With-Arthritic-Joints&id=9381593
 

The Link Between Pain Relief And Alternative Remedies

By Dot Cully

Natural Pain Relief without Pills
Arthritis aches and pain can affect your daily routines and your entire life. But there are simple ways to protect your joints, reduce strain and improve how you function each day.
Living with the pain of arthritis can be challenging, but you can do it, by finding strategies to relieve arthritic pain and how to deal with it.
The stress and tension that is often suffered can add to physical discomfort and worsen joint symptoms. A little research and proper planning now offers hope in reducing pain and anxiety and makes life more bearable.
It is often advisable to learn more about the weather forecast, and the weather-pain connection, whether it's arthritis, asthma or migraines getting you down.
Non-Drug Treatments
Education and self-management. Many organizations, including the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), recommend patience learn all they can about their arthritis and its treatment. However, it is often discovered that a patient's information gained from a self-management course, does little to improve pain, stiffness or physical function. Interventions from group educational sessions and telephone based advice have often proved impracticable.
Taking a variety of exercises, such as strength training, aerobics, range of motion and Tai chi, can help with both pain and physical function in knee Arthritis, Water-based exercises are often used to improve function in both knee and hip joints, but offer only minor benefits for pain.
Warm water work wonders for pain, so turning your bath into a powerful weapon against aches, stiffness and fatigue, can be an easy means of overcoming pain.
Reviews have found that losing a moderate amount of weight in overweight patients resulted in reductions in pain and disability. The effective treatment recommended is to aim for a weight loss of 5% within a 20-week period. However the benefits of weight loss on hip Arthritis have yet to be proven.
Acupuncture. A form of traditional Chinese medicine involving the insertion of thin, sharp needles at specific points on the body, has been recommended as a treatment for osteoarthritis pain. Recent analysis of controlled trials found the effect did not reach the threshold for clinical significance.
Osteopathy and joint-preserving surgery for young, active people with hip or knee osteoarthritis, osteopathy (a procedure in which bones are cut and realigned to improve joint alignment) is used constantly to delay the need for joint replacement.
If you have chronic arthritis joint pain, get the help you need to understand what causes it and what you can do to ease it.
You can treat your arthritis pain without pills, by finding out how alternative remedies like meditation, topical medication, electrical stimulation and more that have been used effectively to relieve distressing pain.
Electromagnetic Field Therapy was originally developed by scientists working behind the Iron Curtain 60 years ago. This therapy has been used successfully in Eastern Europe for decades treating a wide range of pain causing conditions.
This Pulsed pain relief therapy was only available at few specialist, private clinics.
However a Pioneering small company called Painsolv has made this drug-free therapy available to the masses by condensing its powerful healing properties into nothing larger than a simple, portable, pocket-sized device you can carry with you. Pulsed Electromagnetic Field therapy is an extremely complex science.
This device is very easy to use, it has a unique pain-relieving power, as soon as PainSolv is placed against the affected areas, it releases short bursts of low-level pulsed electromagnetic energy, very similar to those used in clinical trials around the world, a ten minute usage of it twice a day can bring relief to any and all painful parts of your body, and can help you to discover a means of reducing your pain level and your reliance on pain killing drugs.

http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Link-Between-Pain-Relief-And-Alternative-Remedies&id=9391226

Don’t let arthritis put a crimp in your travel plans

By The Arthritis Society

Summer is just around the corner and one word comes to mind – vacation! For people living with arthritis, travel can be tricky business. Many people with reduced mobility say they don’t travel – or will miss out on significant life events – because they’re concerned that the equipment they need to get around won’t be available, or will be too expensive to ship.
But living with reduced mobility from arthritis doesn’t have to spell the end of your globetrotting ways. It starts with doing your research.
Check with your travel suppliers to ensure that doorways on rail or cruise are large enough for your mobility vehicle. When traveling by bus, show up early to make sure your mobility vehicle will be accommodated in the cargo hold.
Keep medications you may need in an accessible place and make sure that you aren’t without the prescriptions you need if a flare-up strikes. Keep yourself moving while traveling for long periods of time to make sure that you aren’t encouraging stiffness in your joints. Pack comfortable shoes and most importantly, pace yourself.
Finally, consider leaving behind the stress and worry of transporting your mobility device, and rent one on vacation. Services like scootaround offer mobility rentals at many popular trip destinations. From the Las Vegas Strip to Times Square, you should never need to feel like your arthritis is limiting your mobility.
There’s a big world out there to explore – if you travel smart, you can travel with confidence.

https://arthritis.ca/news-and-media/news-stories/don-t-let-arthritis-put-a-crimp-in-your-travel-plans