Helpful Tips for Dealing with Arthritis Pain

As far back as you can remember, you’ve been plagued by arthritis pain. Sitting upright, typing at a keyboard and staying in one position for too long all give way to joint soreness and tremendous discomfort. Whether you’re at home, running errands or plugging away at the office, the pain simply refuses to relent. At this point, you’re out of ideas. You’ve tried numerous arthritis medications, both over-counter and prescription, and their effects have been minimal, at best. Sometimes, you think you might have to resign yourself to living with this pain for the rest of your life. However, before throwing in the towel, make a point of familiarizing yourself with some alternative methods of arthritis relief. Even without the help of medication, you can effectively keep the pain at bay and prevent arthritis from controlling your life.

Frequently Adjust Your Position

Whether you’re sitting or standing, make sure to change your position every five to 10 minutes. As any seasoned arthritis sufferer knows, staying in one position for an extended period of time can lead to joint stiffness and pain. The longer your joints remain locked in a certain position, the more discomfort you’ll experience when you attempt to pull yourself out of that position. If your job requires you to sit at a desk all day, take care to flex your joints several times an hour. If possible, get up and walk in place for several minutes every few hours. Instead of leaving the office each day with sore, cracking joints, you’ll be able to go home feeling revitalized and pain-free. These same principles can be applied to your home life, as well. Even if you’re just sitting on the sofa watching television, you should have ample opportunity to get up and stretch.

Maintain a Healthy Weight

In addition to being conducive to a wide range of health problems, being overweight can put a great deal of strain on your joints. This can be particularly painful for people who are already suffering from arthritis. To avoid additional discomfort, it’s imperative that arthritis sufferers maintain a healthy weight. While practicing portion control and eating a healthy diet play a key role in dropping excess weight, the importance of regular exercise cannot be overstated. As an added bonus, engaging in daily workouts will prevent your joints from becoming stiff and inflamed, effectively reducing your everyday arthritis pain.

Practice Heat Therapy

Applying heat to inflamed joints is an effective way to cause the inflammation and accompanying discomfort to subside. With this in mind, always keep a heating pad within easy reach both at home and the office. This will enable you to fight back the instant joint inflammation takes hold. In addition, starting and ending each day with a hot shower will ease joint inflammation while putting you in a relaxed state of mind.

If left unaddressed, arthritis pain can dominate your entire life. In addition to making it impossible to concentrate at work, untreated arthritis can turn your relaxing home life into a living nightmare. Fortunately, by educating yourself on ways to manage this affliction, you can save yourself a considerable amount of pain and discomfort.