Do you have difficulty in bending your arms and knees? How about in moving your shoulders and legs? If so, then you may be suffering from arthritis. It is a condition wherein moving the joints creates severe pain.
There are many different types of arthritis. The most popular of them all is rheumatoid arthritis. This type affects most of your joints in the body. It makes it difficult to move because of stiffness. Osteoarthritis, on the other hand, usually results to swelling of the joints especially those in the hip, knee and finger area.
Although arthritis can happen to almost anyone in this world, it can be prevented. If you know how to do this, you will not have to suffer from this painful condition. Some ways to prevent it is through protecting your joints from any type of physical injury. You should also keep your body as fit as possible in order to make your joints and muscles stronger. Controlling your weight is also essential to avoid putting too much pressure on the joints.
If you are already putting up with arthritis, here are the things you can to relive the pain.
Get rest. There is no better way to alleviate the pain than to rest. Resting allows your joints and the muscles around it to relax. It also allows the body to repair any damages. You can do this by not overworking too much on the physical and by getting a good number of sleep hours per night.
Become flexible. When you were younger, you were still very flexible because the joints and cartilages had not hardened totally yet. However, as a person ages, flexibility also decreases. This is why it is very important to stay flexible for as long as you can. You can increase your flexibility by joining activities such as yoga or stretching.
Become physically active. Exercise is as important as the abovementioned methods of relieving arthritis pain. Walking for at least 20 minutes to 1 hour a day is important to make the joints and muscles stronger. It will also be advisable to do exercises involving water such as swimming. This is because swimming is not too vigorous for the joints.
Apply compress. This can either be hot or cold compress. Use heat applicators three times a day while massaging the area experiencing pain. The heat will make the muscles loose and it can relieve the stiffness in the area. On the other hand, you can use cold compress for about 20 minutes only when the joints are painful. This will numb the area so you will not feel so much pain.
Avoid staying in one position. If you have joint pain, be sure to move your body once in a while. Staying in only one position for a long time can increase the pressure on the joints. This can also cause stiffness for that area. You need to stretch and relax your muscles every now and then. Be sure to move around to exercise your joints. This way, they will not feel pain that often.
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