Osteoarthritis, By: Brad Walker
Eight Tips to Beat Your Osteoarthritis
This month we're going to have a look at an article that was written by The Arthritis Resource Center. Osteoarthritis, and other joint pain problems are a common concern not only for athletes, but also for health and fitness enthusiasts. If you feel you have Osteoarthritis, or joint pain make sure you check out The Arthritis Resource Center.
*******************************************************
Tip 1: Make Sure You Really Have Osteoarthritis
While to some of you, this tip might be very basic (the powerful info comes in tips five through eight), it is absolutely essential that you make sure your diagnosis is correct before you begin wasting money on treatments that are not designed to help your specific situation.
Do you really suffer from osteoarthritis? That question needs an answer before you embark on a course of treating it. All too often when you have joint pain, a doctor will be quick to say, "Well Jean, you know you aren't getting any younger and those joints are just starting to degenerate." Well first of all, the aging process is not what causes osteoarthritis.
All you need to know is that there is only one way to know for certain that you are suffering from osteoarthritis. (OA) The diagnostic tool is a CT-scan and if you have not had the affected area scanned, any broad, sweeping statement from a physician that you have osteoarthritis is simply the wrong way to approach it.
All I am saying is this. Since there are approximately 100 different types of medical conditions that can affect your joints, don't start treating any pain and discomfort as OA unless you are certain.
Tip 2: Searching For Just Pain Relief? You Shouldn't Just Look For an End To Pain.
Doctors are very quick to address your joint pain with what has become a "standard" response; by telling you to take what are commonly called "NSAIDS." (Aspirin, Advil, Motrin, Ibuprofen, Acetaminophens, etc.)
Are these kinds of products going to give you pain relief in those affected joints? Yes, you will obtain some pain relief using them. However, they also can cause a wide range of undesirable side effects such as ulcers and liver damage. Even more importantly, (and you need to consider this fact) the use of these "over-the-counter" painkillers does not treat the disease itself.
Tip 3: Exercise Your Joints!
Since your body has 143 different joints that are in motion every day of your life, this next piece of advice may be a little difficult to describe. The favorite targets of osteoarthritis are your hands, hips, knees, feet and spine. That does not mean that any or all of those other joints are immune from attack. It is not unusual for doctors to say things like, "take it easy on (that) joint." (In other words, they are really saying they don't want you to exercise the affected area. Their intentions may be good but it is also not good advice. As best you can, try to keep painful joint areas in motion, even in a limited manner. For lack of a better word, exercise is actually good for joints affected by osteoarthritis.
Tip 4: Keeping Your Weight in Balance is Key To Taking Control of Your Osteoarthritis!
This is a difficult subject to approach but one that is key to understanding one of the best ways to handle osteoarthritis, but in this case it applies more specifically to what are called load-bearing joints. If your osteoarthritis is affecting these particular areas, keeping your weight within normal ranges is important. Load-bearing joints of course refers to any portion of your body that would be affected by excessive weight. (Hips, knees, feet and spine for example)
Excessive weight is a tough issue for some. There are those of us who have always been a little overweight and have never been able to lose it. Don't give up on doing exactly that. It becomes a much more important issue when osteoarthritis is affecting your ability to function without excessive pain on a day-to-day basis. All we are suggesting is that you make efforts to watch your diet and try your best to engage in productive activities that will assist you in losing weight such as walking. Believe me, it is well worth the time spent.
Tip 5: There Are Effective Alternatives to Surgery
In the most severe cases of osteoarthritis, a doctor almost certainly will be telling you that you will require steroid treatments and unfortunately, in the more severe cases they will often be quick to say that terrible S word. (Surgery is NOT your only alternative.) First of all, let's discuss steroids.
Injections such as cortisone and opiates are not only dangerous, they can even be life threatening. We don't mention this to frighten you but rather, to inform you. Likewise, when you are talking about joint surgery. (Typically, we are talking about hip and/or knee replacements.) There are usually two end results here, not to mention the fact that any surgery carries with it some measure of risk. First of all, no matter what you are told you will experience limited mobility.
Secondly, these replacement surgeries do have a failure rate. Generally, they will last about 8-10 years at most and the surgery will have to be repeated.
New research has shown that there are some very effective alternatives to research. If in the right form (we recommend liquid) and in the right quality (do not buy anything that is not pharmaceutical grade) this new research has proven that glucosamine coupled with the right complementing ingredients can be very effective. We have extensive information on these latest advances at our website.
Tip 6: Promising New Research Has Helped Many. But beware, there are many things to consider when selecting among these new products.
Glucosamine/Chondroitin compounds have opened up an entirely new avenue for all of you who suffer from osteoarthritis. As we have already said, there is nothing new about the use of glucosamine as an arthritis treatment. (Look at all of the years that it was used in Asia and Europe while the U.S. medical community virtually ignored it.)
However, you have to approach product purchases with caution. You must consider ingredients, method of delivery to body, quality of ingredients, and of course price. We believe we have found a product that is best in all these areas.
Tip 7: Evaluate Products Carefully. Do they end pain and fight the disease?
What's the primary issue when you are treating osteoarthritis with a glucosamine and/or glucosamine/chondroitin product? If you are results-oriented, obviously you are seeking very rapid pain relief. In a great many cases, your pain can actually disappear completely. In cases when you have extremely severe pain, it is not unreasonable to expect that your pain can be brought down to a level where it no longer is troublesome.
You should always be considering one other factor. In addition to losing your pain, you should be concerned about the rehabilitation of damaged cartilage as well. (It does you little good to have no pain if your osteoarthritis is actually progressing. That's nothing more than an invitation to problems in the future.) For those of you who are using NSAIDS or COX-2 Inhibitors see, Tip Number Two in this series.
You should also understand that price is not always the factor where quality issues are concerned. You can be paying as much as $40-50 a month for glucosamine products that are actually very poor in quality. Simply be aware that your choice of a product is going to have a significant effect on whether or not glucosamine is going to actually treat your osteoarthritis.
There is one product that I highly recommend for osteoarthritis sufferers. I have used it very successfully for two years to treat my back and neck pain and osteoarthritis. You can learn about this here.
Tip 8: Talk to your friends about glucosamine, then your doctor
We are taught from the time we are children to trust what our doctor has to say. Of course, as we become adults we become a little less trusting at times. Unfortunately, there is one area where many doctors are not fully up to speed.
Medical schools do not teach prospective physicians about nutrition and the important role that it plays in our lives. So where does that leave you when you want to talk to your doctor about using a glucosamine product to end osteoarthritis? Well, the doctor may not know about the latest research and may not know about the benefits of liquid glucosamine or the leading liquid glucosamine product on the market.
In spite of the fact that the clinical evidence is now a matter of public knowledge and widely publicized, it is still common for doctors to say things like, "Well, you can try it if you want to but it isn't going to do you any good."
Many doctors insist on using NSAIDS for pain management. As I have already made clear, while you may gain some pain relief there is evidence that it will actually cause your osteoarthritis to progress and puts you at risk for dangerous side effects. Their second approach, (reserved for severe cases) is to prescribe steroids and/or opiates. Neither approach is truly an acceptable solution. You need something that will provide both pain relief and halt the progression of your disease.
Glucosamine has been known to overcome the most debilitating joint problems even while they are telling their patients that surgery is their only solution. The point is, don't be discouraged by what doctors have to say. I can only encourage you to give glucosamine every opportunity to overcome your problems.
For the best advice on what to do, I recommend talking to your friends that have successfully beaten their Osteoarthritis. Ask them what they use and if it works for them.
If you have Osteoarthritis, I would highly recommend learning more about Syn-Flex. Syn-Flex is a fast-acting, high-quality osteoarthritis treatment that works for humans and pets. Formulated with pharmaceutical grade liquid glucosamine sulfate, glucosamine hydrochloride, chondroitin sulfate, and eleven other arthritis-fighting ingredients, Syn-Flex is will not only end your pain quickly, it will halt the progression of your osteoarthritis, without the dangerous side effects of NSAIDS or COX-2 Inhibitors.
