Spices for Winter Joint Health

The cold winds of winter bring snow and fun, but they can also cause joint pain to worsen. When joint pain becomes difficult to deal with it's easy to miss out on all the joy and love this wonderful season has to offer. Changes in the atmosphere's barometric pressure can cause minor joint and arthritis pain to become worse. Be sure to take time to nurture your joints this winter. A fantastic way to do this is to use Indian spices like turmeric, cayenne pepper, and ginger. Adding these spices to a curry (or any other dish for that matter) makes for a delicious meal that will help relieve and prevent arthritis and joint stiffness and pain. These ingredients are powerful cleansers as well as pain relievers, making them a beneficial addition to your diet throughout the year.

Turmeric comes to us from shrubs grown in India. It's bright yellow in color and gives food a bit of a bite. India's traditional Ayurvedic medicine considered Turmeric to be a symbol of prosperity and was used to cure digestive problems, fever, liver ailments, and arthritis. Today we have learned that this spice has a knack for lowering histamine levels, which in turn will lower the inflammation that comes with arthritis. This reduces the amount of pain that joints experience. Turmeric is also chock-full of antioxidants, making it a smart addition to almost any meal.

Cayenne pepper has long been known as a spice with a kick. This spice is often added to spicy foods for some extra flavor and bite. It's great for making spicy foods hotter, but it can also help reduce the pain you might feel from achy joints. The reason for this is capsaicin. Capsaicin is the compound that makes cayenne so spicy. It also lowers the levels of a chemical that communicates pain to your brain. Capsaicin creams are available, but I'd recommend adding cayenne pepper to a curry to make for a delicious, healing meal.

Ginger is another spice used in Ayurvedic medicine to address joint pain and inflammation. Today's research backs up what Indian medicine has known for centuries - people with arthritis who take ginger daily experience less pain than those who take prescription medications. This is great news, and it's made even better by the fact that ginger is so versatile. You can add it into so many soups and stews (or even a turmeric and cayenne pepper curry)! You can even try ginger tea for a soothing finish to a cold winter day. There's no end to the creative ways you can add this healthful herb to your diet.

One of my favorite ways to add these spices to my diet is to make a curry. At the most basic level a curry is a spicy dish that's filled with vegetables or meat. Curry is flavored with a mixture of spices called curry powder (easy to remember, no?). They're one of those meals that are easy to make exactly how you like it. Just add in the spices and vegetables you like the best and serve over your favorite rice. It's also the perfect meal to house all those joint healthy spices. Turmeric, ginger, and cayenne are all common spices in curry. They give the dish so much flavor and character it's almost as if the joint benefits are an added bonus! Curries are delicious, wholesome and so easy to put together - they're perfect for a blustery, busy night.

It's easy to get caught up in all the activities that winter brings and forget to nourish your body. It's more important than ever to fill yourself with healthful foods. Go the extra step to give your favorite foods some personality by adding the spices I've talked about here. Give curry a try for a stress free dinner, or add some kick to your favorite dishes. Your joints will thank you for it, and you'll be ready to embrace everything the season has to offer.

How to Prevent Hip Dislocation After a Total Hip Replacement

After having a total hip replacement there are strict precautions that must be followed to prevent dislocating the hip. Prior to surgery your surgeon may have discussed these with you but for the most part they will not come into discussion until you have either gone through a joint replacement pre-operative class, or have begun your physical therapy.

There are three cardinal rules that are followed in rehabilitation of your total hip replacement.

1. Do not cross your legs.

2. Do not bend at the hips past 90 degrees

3. Do not turn your affected foot inward or internally rotate your hip.

There may be several others that are mentioned during your rehabilitation, but these are the three main precautions that will always be discussed. These precautions are generally followed for the first six weeks after surgery however, you want to discuss that with your orthopedic surgeon as they may have you follow these precautions longer.

By following the above precautions you can be assured that you are reducing the chances of a dislocation. When sitting be sure that you also are sitting in a chair that does not rock or move in any way. Be sure that the seat height does not allow you to sink deep enough that your knees rest or in other words are higher then your hips. If you find your knees higher then your hips you are breaking the 90 degree plain.

Do not cross your legs when you are sitting. this something that is easy to do. Now in my estimation the leg you want to avoid crossing is the leg and hip that were operated on. Nursing or doctors will tell you to avoid crossing either leg due to the possibility of compromising blood circulation in your lower extremities however and this is a good rule to follow. If you cross the leg and hip that were operated on then dislocation is possible. Crossing the strong leg over the operated leg will not result in dislocation.

Avoid turning your operated leg inward to where your foot is turned inward as well. By internally turning your foot this movement is generated at the hip causing the possibility of dislocation.
This is easily done when you are walking for instance and when turning while using a walker or cane, you pivot on the affected leg instead of picking it up. When you pivot on the affected leg you will in turn internally rotate the hip possibility causing the head if the femur to jump out of the socket.

Now for the most part I have found it takes two of the three precautions to be broken at once before dislocation will take place but this is not a hard fast rule either. This will depend on the integrity of the surrounding soft tissue around the hip and the type of hip prosthesis used.

The first six weeks of your rehabilitation will be vital to strengthen the surrounding muscles, tendons, and ligaments so that they will do their job in supporting the hip joint and locking in the prosthesis.

There are roughly 250,000 or more hip replacements done a year in the US, the dislocation rate is somewhere between 1-3%. Dislocation is something not to be fearful of but to respect during the rehabilitation process.

Check with your surgeon for the exact time frame to follow the precautions then once that time has expired and the hip sufficiently healed, you will be back to living the life you expected and deserve pain free at last.

Richard Haynes
Punta Gorda, Florida

Magnetic Therapy for Arthritis Pain Relief

There are over 100 forms of arthritis and other rheumatic diseases. These diseases may cause pain, stiffness, and swelling in joints and other supporting structures of the body such as muscles, tendons, ligaments, and bones. Some forms can also affect other parts of the body, including various internal organs.

Many people use the word "arthritis" to refer to all rheumatic diseases. However, the word literally means joint inflammation; that is, swelling, redness, heat, and pain caused by tissue injury or disease in the joint. The many different kinds of arthritis make up just a portion of all rheumatic diseases.

Rheumatoid arthritis, the second most common form of arthritis, affects other parts of the body besides the joints. It begins at a younger age than osteoarthritis, causes swelling and redness in joints, and may make people feel sick, tired, and (uncommonly) feverish. Rheumatoid arthritis affects people differently. For some people, it lasts only a few months or a year or two and goes away without causing any noticeable damage. Other people have mild or moderate forms of the disease, with periods of worsening symptoms, called flares, and periods in which they feel better, called remissions. Still others have a severe form of the disease that is active most of the time, lasts for many years or a lifetime, and leads to serious joint damage and disability.

Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis, especially among older people. Sometimes it is called degenerative joint disease or osteoarthrosis.
Osteoarthritis is a joint disease that mostly affects the cartilage. Cartilage is the slippery tissue that covers the ends of bones in a joint. Healthy cartilage allows bones to glide over one another. It also absorbs energy from the shock of physical movement. In osteoarthritis, the surface layer of cartilage breaks down and wears away. This allows bones under the cartilage to rub together, causing pain, swelling, and loss of motion of the joint. Over time, the joint may lose its normal shape. Also, bone spurs(small growths called osteophytes) may grow on the edges of the joint. Bits of bone or cartilage can break off and float inside the joint space. This causes more pain and damage. People with osteoarthritis usually have joint pain and limited movement. Unlike some other forms of arthritis, osteoarthritis affects only joints and not internal organs.

Magnetic treatments for arthritis

All types of arthritis respond to magnetic treatments because the arthritic disease process involves inflammation. Magnets reverse the inflammatory process, which in turn alleviates the main symptoms of arthritis which are:

1.Swelling

2.Pain

3.Stiffness and immobility

Magnetic therapy is not a cure for arthritis as there is currently no known cure, but it is an extremely effective drug free treatment for the chronic symptoms for all types of arthritic conditions.

However having said how well arthritis responds to magnetic therapy, it can be a little bit tricky to treat a person who has arthritis in multiple locations in the body. The reason for this is that as discussed in chapter 2 for the magnetic field to be effective it must be placed as close to the area of injury as possible. When a person has, for example, arthritis in the knees, hips, back and hands, it is not possible to reach all the area with one magnetic device. The person would need to place magnets on each area of pain to fully relieve the arthritic symptoms.

Possible treatments for this person would be:

1. To wear high strength magnetic straps around the knees, back/hips ( usually one strap will reach both areas) and wrists. Straps are both functional and comfortable, plus many contain lycra to give the joint additional support.
2. To wear super strength shoe insoles, that have a magnetic field that is strong enough to reach the knees, a high/super a strength bracelet for each hand and use a magnetic pad behind the back whilst sitting or lying. If the person does not feel comfortable in straps these are suitable alternatives.
3. To sleep on a magnetic mattress. The mattress will reach all areas of the body at once and the strength of the magnetic field is so immense that the magnetism will last for up to 16 hours after getting out of bed. This is the easiest way to treat large areas of pain and does not necessitate the need to wear additional magnets during the day.

Luckily there is a vast array of magnetic devices available today and most areas of the body can be reached with an appropriate magnetic device. There is often more than one solution available fort he treatment of multiple areas of pain and a trained therapist will be able to advise while treatment regime will fit best with your particular lifestyle.

In order for magnets to be effective they must be worn night and day until the symptoms have gone, if you are given a magnetic device that do not feel comfortable wearing or using it is unlikely that you will continue to use the treatment for the required length of time. With out 24 hours, 7 days a weeks exposure to the magnets it is unlikely that all of your symptoms will be relieved and you will feel disheartened and may even believe that magnets do not in fact work.

Juice For Arthritis Treatment

Juicing for joint pain and aches is a good long term solution. It is both effective and devoid of any side effects. One of the advantages with natural cure is that it has a holistic effect on your body. It rejuvenates the whole body. You don't have to worry to about over doing it since even at high doses it is safe. Natural cures can be used both as preventive medicine as well as as a cure for affected joints. You could continue using it as a maintenance dose even after you are cured. Below you will find some of the natural medicines which you can incorporate in your diet.

Pineapple juice is good for your joints. Pineapple juice contains and enzyme called bromelain, which has anti-inflammatory properties. Anti-inflammatory agent in pineapple is effective in athletic injuries, joint pain and post-surgery swelling. Juice is also great fuel for your body. Raw pineapple juice contains just about all minerals and vitamins necessary for the digestive system too. 300-350 ml of raw pineapple juice is recommended for daily intake.

Black Cherry juice if good for arthiritis too. Cherries contain chemicals called the anthocyanin which works as an anti-inflammatory agent which can alleviate pain for arthritis sufferers. Pineapple contains nutrients like beta-carotene and copper that helps in treating rheumatoid arthritis.

Experts believe that the results of drinking cherry juice are specific to a person. While for some relief can in few days, for others it might take months of juice drinking to get. Two glasses of juice twice a day

Raw potato juice is one of the most successful natural cure for arthritic conditions. It has been used for centuries. The traditional method of potato juicing is to cut a potato into very thin slices, leaving the skin on, and place it in a glass filled with cold water over night. Drinking this water in the morning on an empty stomach is great.

Other Juices that are highly effective for joint paint and arthritis pains includes the following:

o Green Barley Juice
o Celery Juice
o Bilberry Juice
o Aloe Vera Juice

So you can start juicing your way to pain relief.

Sacroiliitis and Buttock Pain

Sacroiliitis is a term used to describe an inflammation of either one or both of the sacroiliac joints found in the lower back. These connect your lower spine and pelvis.

Sacroiliitis is one of a number of conditions that can cause buttock pain. It can be hard to diagnose because it resembles other conditions like herniated disks, strained muscles and sciatica. Sacroiliitis can also be mistaken for a disease that causes inflammatory arthritis in the spine called spondyloarthropathies.

A person suffering from sacroiliitis will find it very uncomfortable or painful when they move even a little. The pain and stiffness will be centered in the lower back, buttocks and thighs.

Other symptoms can include inflammation in one or both eyes, an inflammatory skin condition called psoriasis, a fever and a decrease in the person's range of motion.

The pain can get worse when walking because of the strain this puts on the sacroiliac joints. You can also feel pain radiating down your leg and many times the person will walk with a limp.

Causes

There are many causes of sacroiliitis. An accident resulting in a traumatic injury to the spine, pelvis, buttocks or lower back can cause this condition.

Being pregnant will stretch the pelvis which can result in sacroiliitis along with certain types of infections.

Arthritis associated with spondyloarthropathies such as ankylosing spondylitis and degenerative arthritis can also cause this condition.

Treatments Options

There are several options available when it comes to treating sacroiliitis, depending on the severity of the condition.

Treatment normally consists of resting, taking medications and physical therapy. Rest is needed to allow the body to heal because the more you do the more you can make the condition worse. Physical therapy can help to increase the range of motion and reduce some of the pain.

Medications Used for Buttock Pain from Sacroiliitis

The medication used to treat this condition includes Corticosteroids, NSAIDs, DMARDs and TNF inhibitors.

Corticosteroids are used to reduce the pain and inflammation. They also slow joint damage caused by sacroiliitis. Some of these medications include methylprednisolone and prednisone. Corticosteroids can make you feel better but they can't be used for extended amounts of time or they can cause serious side effects.

NSAIDs or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are also options: they're used to relieve the swelling and inflammation. Naproxen and indomethacin are two of these drugs. NSAIDs can cause some side effects such as stomach bleeding, indigestion, high blood pressure and kidney and liver damage. Therefore, they need to be taken under the direct supervision of your doctor.

In some people, stroke and heart attack may also be a side effect.

DMARDs are disease modifying antirheumatic drugs that can help to limit joint damage. These should be used in the early stages of sacroiliitis to help slow down the disease and help prevent permanent damage. These medications include methotrexate and sulfasalazine.

TNF inhibitors are therapies that block a cell protein that can cause inflammation and this can help to reduce stiffness, swelling and pain. These medications can be expensive so they're usually used as a last resort.

If you're suffering from pain and stiffness centered in the lower back, buttocks and thighs, see your health care provider to find out if sacroiliitis is the cause.

Neck Pain Relief

Is most chronic neck pain an autonomically caused condition related to mental stress?

First off, what does the phrase 'autonomically caused' mean? If you have ever been in a situation where you felt nervous, like speaking to a large audience or taking a difficult test in school, you know what an autonomic caused condition feels like. The palms of your hands might have gotten sweaty, your heart might have beaten faster, or you might have even felt like you suddenly needed to go to the bathroom. These are all autonomic reactions caused by being nervous. Stressful thoughts activate something called the autonomic nervous system and cause physical symptoms like sweaty palms. A thought causes an emotion which causes a physical reaction in your body. This is how stressful thoughts can lead to neck pain. Research published in June 1985 in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, showed that mental stress can increase muscles spasms.

This is not a new idea in healthcare, Traditional Chinese Medicine has known about the emotional aspect of health for a few thousand years. More recently, western medicine has established fields around thought causing illness with specialties like, psychoneuroimmunology, psychoneuroendocrinilogy, mindbody therapy for cancer patients, and so on. Of course, mental stress causing neck pain is so common we even use the phrase, "What a pain in the neck" when we're referring to something that's mentally stressful.

Recent research findings published in October, 2011, in BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders Journal, showed that women with neck and shoulder pain that had more mental stress, had higher sensitivity to pain in their sensory nerves than women who did not have as much mental stress. This is a big indicator that mental stress contributes to neck pain. Also, a study done at the Center for Musculoskeletal Research in Sweden actually showed that the autonomic nerves are involved in stress related neck pain. They found that relaxation techniques changed the reaction of the autonomic nervous system and gave the patients relief from their neck pain.

But wait a minute though, couldn't there be other problems besides mental stress causing neck pain? This is obviously the case in some instances, but many times blaming structural problems for neck pain is a mis-diagnosis. By structural problem I mean any type of degeneration or biomechanical dysfunction at the spinal structure level of your neck. Not fractures or tumors, but things like disc bulges, arthritis etc. Structural problems causing pain is actually what I was taught in school studying to be a doctor of chiropractic. However, my experience and the research told me something different. What I saw in my practice was that patient's structural problems with their necks did not always conform to the level of pain they had. Some of my patients complained of severe neck pain and their x-rays and/or MRI's showed very little structural problems and some of my other patients had no neck complaints and they had pretty severe structural problems with their necks. Then I learned about some research that showed that structural problems in the spine do not necessarily correlate with pain problems. One of the more famous studies regarding this was in the New England Journal of Medicine in July 1994. It reported finding spinal disc bulges and protrusions, in other words structural problems, on MRI images in sixty-four of ninety-eight men and women who had NEVER had back pain. Also, doctors at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, reported that they saw no correlation between back pain and people with arthritis of their spine. And, on top of that, the University of Copenhagen compared x-rays of patients with low back pain with those who had no low back pain and found no difference in the levels of degeneration or structural problems. This research may be focused on the back, but it's still your spine and, trust me, your neck is a part of your spine.

The idea that neck pain is an autonomic problem related to mental stress is well established. What's not so well known is the precise mechanism. What happens with chronic neck pain is that mental stress activates the autonomic nervous system and causes your neck to hurt by reducing oxygen to your neck. The May, 1988, issue of the medical journal Pain showed that autonomic nerve activity was involved in low oxygen levels and chronic pain in the muscles. And, in 1986 an article in the Scandinavian Journal of Rheumatology showed decreased oxygen levels in areas of chronic muscle pain.

One of the more interesting aspects of neck pain caused by mental stress is the research that shows that the inhibition of expressing stressful thoughts might actually be what is causing the pain. Research published in the Journal of Behavioral Therapy in 1994 showed that people who inhibited the expression of angry feelings had a higher rate of reporting intense pain and exhibiting pain behavior.

Is the solution to autonomic caused neck pain to become a mean person who always expresses their anger? Or, maybe relief could be found in becoming an enlightened master who has no mental stress? Neither one of these "remedies" seems very feasible. Fortunately, there is a third choice that has been shown to work in clinical situations. I call it information therapy.

One of the clinical studies published in the sept/oct 2007 issue of the peer reviewed journal Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, showed that information therapy works. This is great news because the fact that you can relieve autonomic caused neck pain with mental techniques eliminates the need for expensive therapy, drugs, injections, ice packs, stretches, exercises or any external intervention for that matter. Most people can get rid of their chronic neck pain by using information to reprogram the central control system (subconscious mind) that sends signals through the autonomic nervous system and causes their neck pain. You can still have mental stress without the neck pain as long as you stop the autonomic nerves from causing a physical reaction in your neck.

A big question you might have right now is: If this knowledge is so great why isn't it widely known or used by other doctors? The simple answer to that is obvious, there is little to no money to be made by giving people information and techniques they can do themselves. Let's face it, the health-care industry makes money on sick people visiting doctors, taking medicine and buying expensive treatments. It doesn't make money on people who can treat themselves without any medical intervention.

The good news is, if you or someone you know is suffering from chronic neck pain, relief might just be found in information therapy.

Arthritis Hands Symptoms - Initial Symptoms of Arthritis of Hands

Each hand is made up of 25 bones involving joints in fingers as well as the wrist. Any ailment of the hands leads to difficulty in performing routine functions such as gripping, holding etc. and could also lead to deformity.

Arthritis in hands causes inflammation, swelling, stiffness, pain etc. The two main types of arthritis are:

Osteoarthritis - This occurs generally in older people and pain gradually increases over a period of time. The padding or the natural shock absorbers of the hands - the cartilage is affected, causing pain, restricting movements and reducing strength.

Rheumatoid Arthritis - This is a more severe form and unlike Osteo, the location of pain in the body cannot be predicted. The effect is not only on joints but also on muscles, tendons and other tissues of the body.

Symptoms -

1- Pain - Initial symptoms include pain in hands with a burning sensation. It increases when the hands are stressed with activities like lifting weight, writing, knitting or any continuous and regular movement. Pain becomes so severe that at times, one cannot even sleep at night. Pain increases in humid weather and even small activities such as opening a lock or opening a jar in the kitchen are also hampered.

2- Swelling- with pain, if stress continues for a longer period of time, swelling is caused and restricts

further joint movement.

3- Stiffness- With persistent pain, the stiffness increases. Also, it is more in the mornings and in colder climate.

4- Warmth- The affected joint may feel warm when touched.

5- Increased mobility of other hands- The hands surrounding the affected one may feel more mobile than normal.

6- Cysts - Small cysts may form on the knuckles especially at the end.

7- Deformity- In advanced stages, continuous swelling may cause shape change. Also, the joint may feel loose and crippled. The basic structure of the joint may become weak.