Self Care For Arthritis Health: What can you do to make an arthritis friendly environment?
Minimize stairs; Keep it warm, but not too hot; get a lift chair; drink more water; buy a chlorine filter for your shower; develop a hobby that will keep you moving, but not stress the joints; get outdoors.
Living with arthritis is really a challenge. For the best arthritis health, even mild cases need to take precautions and care. The more you know, the more you do for yourself, the better you will do. Don’t leave it all up to the doctors to keep you comfortable. Do what you can. Together you can affect the effects of arthritis.
• Watch your posture. It is easy to slump, shuffle, and limp. Poor posture only adds to muscle strain, inflammation and stiffness.
• Respect your pain. The body doesn’t hurt for no reason. When there is pain, there is something wrong. Arthritis is wrong. Swelling and inflammation are wrong. Unlike a broken bone or pulled ligament, not moving because of arthritis pain (or discomfort, because there is a difference) is not the answer.
• Learn to use hot or cold packs. Experiment and find what works best for you. Inflammation often responds better to cold, stiffness does best with heat.
• Learn your limits. Slow down your movements. Stretch, walk, take time to extend muscles. Take off unnecessary pressure from joints and back. Yoga and essential oils can work wonders for keeping arthritis from freezing joints.
• CM Complex Cream and/or capsules go a long, long way to relieve stiffness and pain caused from arthritis and reduce the risks of ibuprofen or other NSAIDs.
For more tips of what you can do for arthritis health, The Arthritis Foundation published a very good article on self treatment, “How to Care For Yourself”. This is a good list with easy, common sense bullet points. Arthritis is not like other ailments and needs a different approach to management.
