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Joint Pain Causes & Relief With Natural Treatments

Table of Contents

What is joint pain?

Joints are the parts of your body where your bones meet. Joints permit the bones of your skeleton to move. Joints include shoulders, hips, elbows, and knees. Joint pain means discomfort, aches, and soreness at any of the body’s joints. Joint pain is a frequent complaint. It does not typically require a hospital visit. Occasionally, joint pain is caused by an illness or injury. Arthritis is also a frequent cause of joint pain. However, it may also be a result of other conditions or variables. 

Joint pain may arise out of any portion of a joint – such as cartilage, bone, ligaments, tendons or muscles. Most commonly, however, joint pain means arthritis or arthralgia, which is pain or inflammation from inside the joint itself. Joint pain may be mild, causing soreness only after particular actions, or it may be severe, making even restricted movement, especially bearing weight, extremely debilitating.

Pain that appears to be coming from joints can sometimes be coming from structures out the joints, like ligaments, tendons, or muscles. Examples of these disorders are bursitis and tendinitis. True joint pain (arthralgia) may or not be accompanied by joint inflammation (arthritis). The most common symptom of joint swelling is pain. Inflamed joints may also be warm and swollen, and less frequently the overlying skin may be red. Arthritis may involve just joints of the limbs or additionally joints of the central area of the skeleton, like the spine or pelvis. Pain may occur only when a joint is moved or may be present at rest.

What causes joint pain?

Among the most frequent causes of joint pain is arthritis. Arthritis is a catch-all term that simply means inflammation of the joints and there are over 100 different types of arthritis.But the two main types of arthritis are osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

According to the American College of Rheumatology, OA is most common in adults over age 40. Normal wear and tear of the cartilage causes OA, among the most common kinds of arthritis. A disease or injury to the joints may exacerbate this natural breakdown of cartilage tissue. Your risk of developing OA might be higher if you’ve got a family history of this disease. It progresses slowly and will influence commonly used joints such as the wrists, hands, hips, knees. Joint pain due to OA results from a breakdown of the cartilage that acts as a cushion and shock absorber for the joints.

The second type of arthritis, RA, is an autoimmune disease. It happens when your body’s immune system attacks the cells of the body. These attacks affect the synovium, a soft tissue on your joints which produces a fluid that nourishes the cartilage and lubricates the joints. It may eventually lead to the destruction of both cartilage and bone within the joint. It may deform and debilitate the joints over time. RA causes inflammation, pain, and fluid buildup in the joints because the body’s immune system attacks the membrane that lines the joints.

What are the symptoms of joint pain?

Joint pain may be discomfort, pain or inflammation arising out of any portion of a joint — such as cartilage, bone, ligaments, tendons or muscles. Most commonly, however, joint pain means arthritis or arthralgia, which is pain or inflammation from inside the joint itself. Joint pain may be mild, causing discomfort only after particular actions, or it may be severe, making limited motion, especially bearing weight, extremely debilitating.

Joint pain is rarely an emergency. Most cases of mild joint pain can be successfully managed in the home.

Make an appointment with your doctor if your joint pain is accompanied by swelling, redness, tenderness and warmth around the joint.

Home treatment for joint pain

Doctors believe both OA and RA to be chronic ailments. There is no treatment currently available that will completely eliminate the joint pain associated with arthritis or keep it from returning. But, there are ways to manage the pain:

• It might help to use topical pain relievers or take nonsteroidal anti inflammatory drugs to decrease pain, swelling, and inflammation.

• Stay physically active and stick to a fitness program focusing on moderate exercise.

• Stretch before exercising to keep a fantastic variety of movement in your joints.

• Maintain your body weight within a healthy variety. This will lessen strain on the joints.

• If your pain is not because of arthritis, you can try taking a nonprescription, anti inflammatory medicine, getting a massage, taking a hot bath, stretching regularly, and getting adequate rest.

Medical treatment for joint pain

Your treatment choices will depend on the cause of the pain. Sometimes, your doctor will have to draw out accumulated fluid in the joint area to check for disease or gout or other causes of the joint pain. They may also recommend surgery to replace the joint.

Other nonsurgical treatment methods may include lifestyle changes or drugs that may potentially cause your RA to enter remission. In the case of RA, your physician will first address inflammation. When the RA enter remission, your medical treatment will concentrate on maintaining a tight rein on your condition so you avoid flare-ups.

Early detection and identification can allow for effective treatment of the underlying cause of your distress.

Natural treatments for bone & joint pain

Most alternative remedies for joint pain aim in reducing inflammation, pain, and stiffness. Persons experi encing longterm or acute joint pain should consult a doctor to ascertain the underlying cause.

a) Ayurveda and Herbal Remedy

Several herbal remedies are suggested to alleviate joint pain. Some treatments are used externally, but some involve internal usage of herbs.

These herbs can relieve joint pain and/or related symptoms when used externally:

• basil and sage oil rub for joint pain

• comfrey oil rub to help joint stiffness and aching joints

• eucalyptus essential oil rub to reduce swelling

• ginger root hot compress or tub for reducing joint stiffness, arthritis, and degenerative joint disease

• lavender essential oil rub for joint stiffness and aching joints

• mustard powder tub or glue (with alcohol) to relieve joint pain

• red pepper cream to reduce arthritic swelling and pain

• St. John’s wort oil rub for joint stiffness and aching joints

• wintergreen oil rub for chronic pain relief

b) These herbs can relieve joint pain and/or related symptoms when used internally:

• celery decoction or tincture: swollen joints and gout

• chamomile for spasms and swelling

• deadly nightshade plaster for swollen joints

• devil’s claw pills for swollen joints

• flaxseed oil to lubricate joints

• geranium for chronic pain

• Jamaican dogwood to relieve swelling and pain

• lemon juice for swollen joints

• prickly ash tea for joint pain relief

• white willow pills or decoction for reducing swelling in joints and joint pain

• wild lettuce for swelling and pain relief

c) Other Holistic remedies

Various other remedies that can be helpful in relieving joint pain include:

• Acupressure. Pressing the Stomach 36 point situated below the knee caps tones muscles and relieves joint pain anywhere in the body. Pressing the Spleen 9 points located below the kneecap on the inside of each leg alleviates joint pain.

• Acupuncture. Inflammation and pain could be relieved by acupuncture. The large intestine meridian is the very best channel for pain relief. A National Institutes of Health consensus panel found that acupuncture may be an effective treatment for osteoarthritis pain.

• Aromatherapy. Aromatherapy with essential oils is occasionally advised. The essential oil of pepper mint relieves pain and reduces inflammation. The es sential oil of rosemary relieves pain and relaxes muscles.

• Traditional Chinese medicine. Knee sprain and contusion (bruise) are treated by application of Shang Ke Xiao Yan Gao (Relieve Inflammation Glue of Traumatology) and ingestion of Die Da Wan (Contusion Pill). Once the ini tial swelling and pain have been decreased, the individual may use Shang Shi Zhi Tong Gao (Relieve Damp Inducing Pain Medicinal Plaster).

• Exercise. Regular moderate exercise can decrease pain by enhancing the strength, tone, and flexibility of muscles. The endorphins released while exercising may also be helpful.

• DIet therapy. Following a detox diet can restore nutritional balance to the body and relieve joint pain. Animal proteins may cause joint pain brought on by such inflammatory ailments as arthritis, so following a vegetarian diet may be helpful.

• Homeopathy. Rhus toxicodendron is suggested for arthritis and joint pain which is worse in the morning and relieved by warmth. Kali bichromium is indicated for persistent, severe pain. Other homeopathic remedies can be made for particular instances by a homeopathic practitioner.

• Hydrotherapy. A warm compress can alleviate joint stiffness and dull pain. A cold compress or ice pack can alleviate sharp, intense pain.

• Magnetic therapy. Magnetic fields may increase blood circulation and prevent pain signals.

• Massage. Joint pain may be relieved by massaging the region above and below the painful joint. Massaging with ice packs may interfere with pain signals and replace them with fever signs.

• Reflexology. Joint pain can be relieved by working the knee reflex points.

• Rolfing. This deep, occasionally debilitating, massage therapy may speed healing and reduce pain.

• Supplements. Joint pain may be alleviated by taking vitamin C to promote recovery, the B vitamins to balance the nervous system, which reduces pain, and calcium to improve bone strength.

Summary

Joint pain is often due to the harm that occurs through normal wear and tear. However, it may also be an indication of an infection or possibly debilitating RA. You should see your doctor if you have any unexplained joint pain, particularly if it does not go away on its own after a couple of days. Early detection and identification can allow for effective treatment of the underlying cause of your distress. Even though joint pain may be a normal part of aging a number of natural reatment options exist that can provide relief from the pain and symptoms.

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