Arthrits Relief with Simple Dietary Changes

The best course of action to take sometimes isn’t clear until you’ve listed and considered ALL of your alternatives. The following paragraphs should help clue you in to what changes the experts think are significant when trying to control the pain of Arthritis..

Arthritis is one of the most prevalent health problems facing today’s aging population.

The most common form of arthritis is osteoarthritis, which usually strikes weight-bearing joints such as the ankles, knees and hips. Pain is caused by the gradual breakdown of cartilage, the soft “padding” material that cushions the joints.

About 85% of adults who reach the age of 85 will have osteoarthritis–unless they take a proactive approach to prevent it.

Exercise is very important. But what about diet?

For a long time, doctors doubted there could be any link between diet and osteoarthritis. They saw the disease as a natural result of wear and tear on the joints, something inevitable as we age.

But new research is making them reconsider that idea.

It now appears that nutrition plays a vital role in helping to prevent or ease the effects of osteoarthritis. One key element is vitamin C.

Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant, and may protect the joints from the damaging effects of free radicals (unstable molecules that can cause joint inflammation).

Recent research is showing that vitamin C can help prevent bone loss and cartilage inadequacies associated with aging. Specifically, when your joint has cartilage that needs to be repaired, vitamin C is needed for such repairs. It helps to keep your cartilage “young”.

The information about Arthritis presented here will do one of two things: either it will reinforce what you know about Arthritis or it will teach you something new. Both are good outcomes.

According to Dr. Timothy McAlindon of the Boston University School of Medicine, “Vitamin C may also help generate collagen, which enhances the body’s ability to repair damage to the cartilage.”

When scientists at the Boston University School of Medicine studied the eating habits of people with osteoarthritis of the knee, they found that those getting the most vitamin C–more than 200 milligrams a day–were three times less likely to have the disease get worse than those who got the least vitamin C (less than 120 milligrams a day).

Dr. McAlindon recommends that people get a least 120 milligrams of vitamin C every day. “That’s the amount in a couple of oranges,” he says.

Dr. Michael F. Roizen and Dr. Mehmet C. Oz, co-authors of “You: The Owner’s Manual”, recommend even more. “Shoot for 1200 milligrams of vitamin C a day–spread between your diet and supplements throughout the day.”

Be careful not to overdo it. Some data suggest that more than 2,500 milligrams a day can have the opposite effect and actually increase the risk of osteoarthritis.

Dr. Eve Campanelli, a holistic family practitioner in Beverly Hills, CA, recommends black cherry juice. She advises her patients to drink two glasses, twice a day, of four ounces of the juice diluted with four ounces of water.

Other fruits and vegetables rich in vitamin C include oranges, cantaloupe, broccoli, strawberries, peppers and cranberry juice.

A healthy diet, rich in fruits and vegetables, has been recommended by nutritionists for years. Now there’s another reason to pay attention–it can help your joints to stay young!

Hopefully the sections above have contributed to your understanding of Arthritis. Share your new understanding about Arthritis with others. They’ll thank you for it.

Best Joint Pain Remedies

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Backache: A Common Problem

Back pain Remedies are required as back pain is quite a common phenomenon and generally occurs due to wrong posture or sudden movements. Each one of us is prone to back pain since the lower portion of our back supports a large portion of our body weight. The stability and the fitness of the lower back is dependant on the strength and the position of our vertebral bodies and the inter-vertebral disks.

Back pain is often a short-term phenomenon and can be rectified by exercises or painkillers. However, back pain can also become chronic and recur by even a small movement.

Back pain is generally not associated with an injury or illness and may even go away without any medication. Painkillers, such as Aspirin, Ibuprofen and acetaminophen, can prove to be quite useful in relieving back pain in initial stages. The application of a cold pack on the affected area in the first 24-48 hours is also effective in reducing the pain. Other most commonly available back pain remedies for back pain include a mixture made from Comfrey Root and special massage oils.

Backache is largely caused by sitting, standing or stooping for a long time and is prevalent amongst all age groups. Human physiology has undergone a sea change in the recent years with a large proportion of people spending a majority of their work time sitting in front of computers or desks or cars and other vehicles. The sitting posture puts pressure on our back and the constituent muscles thus resulting in backache.

Our spinal column is constituted in such a way that it provides the necessary stability to stand straight and the flexibility to move around. The spine includes a number of muscles that may get pressurized due to bad postures. Everyone of us is bound to face backache at one or the other point in our lifetime, but women in general are more prone to this problem.

A Woman’s body undergoes a lot of changes during pregnancy. During the last two trimesters of pregnancy, the center of gravity of her back changes due to the position of the fetus thus altering the curve of her spine. Bending and lifting are also a regular part of a woman’s daily routine and are the most common reasons of back pain. Menstrual pain can often result in backache amongst women.

Sudden jerks or movements can also result in back pain. Several conditions such as Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis, Viral infection, Bladder or kidney infection, Gynecological problems in women, tumors and trauma can also cause backache.

Excess weight or the wearing of the wrong type of shoes can also result in back pain. Regular exercises that strengthen our abdominal muscles are the best solution to treat backache. Maintaining the right posture and keeping our body weight in check can go a long way in the prevention and cure of backache.

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Eating Right to Treat Hurting Joints

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When Should I See a Doctor for Pain?

In most cases, it is not necessary to see a doctor for back pain because pain usually goes away with or without treatment. However, a trip to the doctor is probably a good idea if you have numbness or tingling, if your pain is severe and doesn’t improve with medication and rest, or if you have pain after a fall or an injury. It is also important to see your doctor if you have pain along with any of the following problems: trouble urinating; weakness, pain, or numbness in your legs; fever; or unintentional weight loss. Such symptoms could signal a serious problem that requires treatment soon.

Which Type of Doctor Should I See?

Many different types of doctors treat back pain, from family physicians to doctors who specialize in disorders of the nerves and musculoskeletal system. In most cases, it’s best to see your primary care doctor first. In many cases, he or she can treat the problem. In other cases, your doctor may refer you to an appropriate specialist.

How Is Back Pain Diagnosed?

Diagnosing the cause of back pain requires a medical history and a physical exam. If necessary, your doctor may also order medical tests, which may include x rays.

During the medical history, your doctor will ask questions about the nature of your pain and about any health problems you and close family members have or have had. Questions might include the following:

• Have you fallen or injured your back recently?
• Does your back feel better – or hurt worse – when you lie down?
• Are there any activities or positions that ease or aggravate pain?
• Is your pain worse or better at a certain time of day?
• Do you or any family members have arthritis or other diseases that might affect the spine?
• Have you had back surgery or back pain before?
• Do you have pain, numbness, or tingling down one or both legs?

During the physical exam, your doctor may:

• watch you stand and walk
• check your reflexes to look for slowed or heightened reflexes, either of which might suggest nerve problems
• check for fibromyalgia by examining your back for tender points, which are points on the body that are painful when pressure is applied to them
• check for muscle strength and sensation
• check for signs of nerve root irritation.

Often a doctor can find the cause of your pain with a physical and medical history alone. However, depending on what the history and exam show, your doctor may order medical tests to help find the cause.

Following are some tests your doctor may order:

X rays: Traditional x rays use low levels of radiation to project a picture onto a piece of film (some newer x rays use electronic imaging techniques). They are often used to view the bones and bony structures in the body. Your doctor may order an x ray if he or she suspects that you have a fracture or osteoarthritis, or that your spine is not aligned properly.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI): MRI uses a strong magnetic force instead of radiation to create an image. Unlike an x ray, which shows only bony structures, an MRI scan produces clear pictures of soft tissues, too, such as ligaments, tendons, and blood vessels. Your doctor may order an MRI scan if he or she suspects a problem such as an infection, tumor, inflammation, or pressure on a nerve. An MRI scan, in most instances, is not necessary during the early phases of low back pain unless your doctor identifies certain “red flags” in your history and physical exam. An MRI scan is needed if the pain persists more than 3 to 6 weeks or if your doctor feels there may be a need for surgical consultation. Because most low back pain goes away on its own, getting an MRI scan too early may sometimes create confusion for the patient and the doctor.

Computed tomography (CT) scan: A CT scan allows your doctor to see spinal structures that cannot be seen on traditional x rays. A computer creates a three-dimensional image from a series of two-dimensional pictures that it takes of your back. Your doctor may order a CT scan to look for problems including herniated discs, tumors, or spinal stenosis.

Blood tests: Although blood tests are not used generally in diagnosing the cause of back pain, your doctor may order them in some cases. Blood tests that might be used include the following:

• Complete blood count (CBC), which could point to problems such as infection or inflammation
• Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (also called sed rate), a measure of inflammation that may suggest infection. The presence of inflammation may also suggest some forms of arthritis or, in rare cases, a tumor.

It is important to understand that medical tests alone may not diagnose the cause of back pain. In fact, experts say that up to 90 percent of all MRI scans of the spine show some type of abnormality, and sometimes the x rays and CT scans of people without pain show problems. Similarly, even some healthy pain-free people can have elevated sed rates.

Only with a medical history and exam – and sometimes medical tests – can a doctor diagnose the cause of back pain. Many times, the precise cause of back pain is never known. In these cases, it may be comforting to know that most back pain gets better whether or not you find out what is causing it.

Can Back Pain Be Prevented?

One of the best things you can do to prevent back pain is to exercise regularly and keep your back muscles strong. Exercise may help you avoid injury and pain. Exercises that increase balance and strength can decrease your risk of falling and injuring your back or breaking bones. Exercises such as tai chi and yoga – or any weight-bearing exercise that challenges your balance – are good ones to try.

Eating a healthy diet also is important. For one thing, eating to maintain a healthy weight – or to lose weight, if you are overweight – helps you avoid putting unnecessary and injury-causing stress and strain on your back. To keep your spine strong, as with all bones, you need to get enough calcium and vitamin D every day. These nutrients help prevent osteoporosis, which is responsible for a lot of the bone fractures that lead to back pain. Calcium is found in dairy products; green, leafy vegetables; and fortified products, like orange juice. Your skin makes vitamin D when you are in the sun. If you are not outside much, you can obtain vitamin D from your diet: nearly all milk and some other foods are fortified with this nutrient. Most adults don’t get enough calcium and vitamin D, so talk to your doctor about how much you need per day, and consider taking a nutritional supplement or a multivitamin.

Practicing good posture, supporting your back properly, and avoiding heavy lifting when you can may all help you prevent injury. If you do lift something heavy, keep your back straight. Don’t bend over the item; instead, lift it by putting the stress on your legs and hips.

What Are the Causes of Back Pain?

It is important to understand that back pain is a symptom of a medical condition, not a diagnosis itself. Medical problems that can cause back pain include the following:

Mechanical problems: A mechanical problem is a problem with the way your spine moves or the way you feel when you move your spine in certain ways. Perhaps the most common mechanical cause of back pain is a condition called intervertebral disc degeneration, which simply means that the discs located between the vertebrae of the spine are breaking down with age. As they deteriorate, they lose their cushioning ability. This problem can lead to pain if the back is stressed. Other mechanical causes of back pain include spasms, muscle tension, and ruptured discs, which are also called herniated discs.

Injuries: Spine injuries such as sprains and fractures can cause either short-lived or chronic pain. Sprains are tears in the ligaments that support the spine, and they can occur from twisting or lifting improperly. Fractured vertebrae are often the result of osteoporosis, a condition that causes weak, porous bones. Less commonly, back pain may be caused by more severe injuries that result from accidents or falls.

Acquired conditions and diseases: Many medical problems can cause or contribute to back pain. They include scoliosis, which causes curvature of the spine and does not usually cause pain until middle age; spondylolisthesis; various forms of arthritis, including osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and ankylosing spondylitis; and spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the spinal column that puts pressure on the spinal cord and nerves. Although osteoporosis itself is not painful, it can lead to painful fractures of the vertebrae. Other causes of back pain include pregnancy; kidney stones or infections; endometriosis, which is the buildup of uterine tissue in places outside the uterus; and fibromyalgia, which causes fatigue and widespread muscle pain.

Infections and tumors: Although they are not common causes of back pain, infections can cause pain when they involve the vertebrae, a condition called osteomyelitis, or when they involve the discs that cushion the vertebrae, which is called discitis. Tumors also are relatively rare causes of back pain. Occasionally, tumors begin in the back, but more often they appear in the back as a result of cancer that has spread from elsewhere in the body.

Although the causes of back pain are usually physical, emotional stress can play a role in how severe pain is and how long it lasts. Stress can affect the body in many ways, including causing back muscles to become tense and painful.

Back Pain

Back pain is an all-too-familiar problem that can range from a dull, constant ache to a sudden, sharp pain that leaves you incapacitated. It can come on suddenly – from an accident, a fall, or lifting something too heavy – or it can develop slowly, perhaps as the result of age-related changes to the spine. Regardless of how back pain happens or how it feels, you know it when you have back pain. And chances are, if you don’t have it now, you will eventually.

How Common Is Back Pain?

At some point, back pain affects an estimated 8 in 10 people. It is one of our society’s most common medical problems.

What Are the Risk Factors for Back Pain?

Although anyone can have back pain, a number of factors increase your risk. They include:

Age: The first attack of low back pain typically occurs between the ages of 30 and 40. Back pain becomes more common with age.

Fitness level: Back pain is more common among people who are not physically fit. Weak back and abdominal muscles may not properly support the spine. “Weekend warriors” – people who go out and exercise a lot after being inactive all week – are more likely to suffer painful back injuries than people who make moderate physical activity a daily habit. Studies show that low-impact aerobic exercise is good for the discs that cushion the vertebrae, the individual bones that make up the spine.

Diet: A diet high in calories and fat, combined with an inactive lifestyle, can lead to obesity, which can put stress on the back.

Heredity: Some causes of back pain, including disc disease, may have a genetic component.

Race: Race can be a factor in back problems. African American women, for example, are two to three times more likely than white women to develop spondylolisthesis, a condition in which a vertebra of the lower spine – also called the lumbar spine – slips out of place.

Side View of Spine

Normal Vertebra

The presence of other diseases: Many diseases can cause or contribute to back pain. These include various forms of arthritis, such as osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and ankylosing spondylitis, and cancers elsewhere in the body that may spread to the spine.

Occupational risk factors: Having a job that requires heavy lifting, pushing, or pulling, particularly when this involves twisting or vibrating the spine, can lead to injury and back pain. An inactive job or a desk job may also lead to or contribute to pain, especially if you have poor posture or sit all day in an uncomfortable chair.

Cigarette smoking: Although smoking may not directly cause back pain, it increases your risk of developing low back pain and low back pain with sciatica. (Sciatica is back pain that radiates to the hip or leg due to pressure on a nerve.) For example, smoking may lead to pain by blocking your body’s ability to deliver nutrients to the discs of the lower back. Or repeated coughing due to heavy smoking may cause back pain. It is also possible that smokers are just less physically fit or less healthy than nonsmokers, which increases the likelihood that they will develop back pain. Furthermore, smoking can slow healing, prolonging pain for people who have had back injuries, back surgery, or broken bones.

What Are the Causes of Back Pain?

There are many causes of back pain. Mechanical problems with the back itself can cause pain. Examples are:

• Disc breakdown
• Spasms
• Tense muscles
• Ruptured discs

Injuries from sprains, fractures, accidents, and falls can result in back pain.

Back pain can also occur with some conditions and diseases, such as:

• Scoliosis
• Spondylolisthesis
• Arthritis
• Spinal stenosis
• Pregnancy
• Kidney stones
• Infections
• Endometriosis
• Fibromyalgia

Other possible causes of back pain are infections, tumors, or stress.

Can Back Pain Be Prevented?

The best things you can do to prevent back pain are:

• Exercise often and keep your back muscles strong.
• Maintain a healthy weight or lose weight if you weigh too much. To have strong bones, you need to get enough calcium and vitamin D every day.
• Try to stand up straight and avoid heavy lifting when you can. If you do lift something heavy, bend your legs and keep your back straight.

When Should I See a Doctor for Pain?

You should see a doctor if you have:

• Numbness or tingling
• Severe pain that does not improve with rest
• Pain after a fall or an injury
• Pain plus any of these problems:
  • Trouble urinating
  • Weakness
  • Numbness in your legs
  • Fever
  • Weight loss when not on a diet.