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Pain Management
Arthritis Pain Relief Tips
Arthritis is almost a certainty, but pain and disability need not.
Most people can and should take care of Arthritis on their own.
There are quite a few easy skills that you can learn and show pain
who's the boss.
We have broadly classified Arthritis pain management tips into four
categories - Mental, Physical, Therapies and Surgery.
Mental Ways to Psyche Out the Pain
1. Disengage your mind. Distract yourself from the pain when
performing painful activities. Think about a plan or a strategy
when walking or count the steps when climbing stairs.
2. Cope with the pain by relaxing through deep breathing.
3. Stay aware of the muscle tightness which commonly takes place
with arthritis pain and try to loosen your muscles.
4. Guided imagery is another technique for pain management which
involves imagining a setting that gives you calm and relaxation.
Think of a garden, a beach, a hot water bath etc. and picture
yourself in it.
Physical Ways to Move Pain Out
1. Stretching exercises will improve your overall flexibility and
improve your circulation, both of which will help with your pain
relief measures.
2. Work hard to build strong knee muscles to cope with knee
arthritis. Exercises like squats, lunges etc. are helpful but you
will need to consult a trainer in order to ensure that you are
doing them correctly.
3. Walking and aerobic exercises improve your mood and energy
levels and are extremely helpful in reducing arthritis pain.
Therapies for Pain Relief
1. Heating pads and ice packs are cheap and easily available
options for arthritis pain.
2. Capsaicin cream is helpful if applied regularly for a couple of
weeks.
3. Paracetamol is recommended by the American College of
Rheumatology as the first drug to try for mild to moderate
arthritis.
4. For more severe pain, you might consider a non-steroidal
anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) such as ibuprofen but by exercising
caution such as taking the lowest effective dose for the shortest
time period and should be taken along with food.
Surgical Solutions for Arthritis Pain
Surgery is not required for everyone suffering from arthritis pain
but if all else fails, you might need to consider surgery for
immediate pain relief. Joints can be replaced with synthetic joints
with operations that require a small incision and ensure a rapid
recovery.
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