Joint Pain Relief

As we become older, the cartilage in our joints begins to wear thin. For many people this is a major cause of joint pain. When a joint hurts, there is only one thought in your mind, finding relief. There are several things that you can do that may bring joint pain relief.

Begin with either heat or cold.

Many times an ice pack will bring joint pain relief. Fill a zipper plastic bag with ice and loosely wrap it in a towel. Place this pack on the joint for about fifteen minutes. At first, you may feel additional pain, but in just about a minute, the ice pack will cause the joint to become numb and the pain will be less than it was before. Do not let the ice pack remain in place for more than fifteen minutes.

Heat can also bring joint pain relief. Try a heating pad or even and old fashioned hot water bottle. You can also find heat packs in the adhesive bandage section of the pharmacy aisle.

In addition, you might try a buckwheat pillow that can be warmed in the microwave oven. Since the pillow conforms to your body shape, it is a good source of heat and has the added benefit of not being able to cause a burn unless repeatedly heated and placed back on the joint.

If you have access to a hot tub, a fifteen-minute soak will often relax muscles and also give pain relief. Try both before bedtime and in the morning.

Many people find relief from joint pain through the use of creams that heat up when massaged into the skin. These creams have two advantages. The massaging of the joint helps to relieve swelling and the heat also helps with pain relief.

Keep those joints moving. Even though it may be painful at times, do not allow a joint to become inactive. Moving a joint helps to keep fluids that cause swelling from settling into joints. If you are a member of a gym, see if they offer warm water aerobics. These classes, taught in the therapy pools give your body weight the support of water, so the exercises are lower impact than almost anything that is offered on land. The warmth of the water reduces swelling in the joints and the instructors are generally well taught in helping people like you with exercises that improve joint health.

Some people are finding joint pain relief using Glucosamine. This natural supplement is said to help rebuild damaged cartilage in the affected joints. While not an immediate cure, this treatment may take some time to show any improvement.

Joint pain is not fun. It hurts and can limit your ability to do the things that you love to do. If the above steps do not help with your joint pain, then speak with your doctor. He may have suggestions for other treatments that can give you relief of the pain and help you get back to a normal life.

Joint Pain and Fatigue: The Connection

A lot of things cause fatigue. People get fatigued for a number of reasons. Chronic conditions such as, arthritis, nutrition, thyroid problems, anemia, lack of sleep, and nutrition are just a few issues that may cause fatigue. Treating these issues properly may lead to the elimination or reduction of fatigue.

The common causes of joint pain and fatigue are rheumatoid arthritis, and the other chronic conditions that come with it. Joint swelling, stiffness and abnormalities can increase the erythrocyte sedimentation rate. Positive rheumatoid factor, and increased levels of anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide can also add to joint pain.

Another cause of joint pain and fatigue is Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). This chronic illness affects nearly seven hundred thousand American adults, ninety percent being women. This is often either wrongly diagnosed or not diagnosed at all. Statistics show that a large number of these individuals suffer from SLE without even knowing it. Lupus is the abnormal creation of autoantibodies in one’s blood, these can cause havoc with tissues within the body. SLE is an autoimmune disease.

Aside from the fatigue and joint pain, patients of SLE may get rashes, low-grade fevers, an abnormal blood count, mouth sores, and muscle pain. In serious cases, people with lupus experience severe damage to the brain, lungs, heart, and kidneys.

Diagnosis of such conditions can be determined by clinical studies that result from microscopic laboratory tests. These tests often show high levels of autoantibodies in the blood serum of SLE related patients.

There is no permanent cure for lupus, but there are treatments that can catch the signs and symptoms. This is important in preventing the advanced organ deterioration that so often affects lupus patients.

Treatment of joint pain may include:

• The use of Corticosteroids that will relieve joint and muscle inflammation. This, however, can have serious side effects on patients over time – osteoporosis, diabetes, and glaucoma are just a few.

• Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) provide relief from swelling, but people with lupus are prone to developing gastro esophageal relux disease (GERD) after taking such medications.

• Disease-modifying ant rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) or slow-acting ant rheumatic drugs (SAARDs) are also utilized to treat such conditions. They can be prescribed on their own or in combination with another drug to control due to autoimmune disease caused joint and muscle pain.

• Biologic therapies. Cytokines are targeted by these drugs. They are specific and cellular messengers.

An under active thyroid gland can cause hypothyroidism. This condition does not only cause aches and pains but also leads to fatigue. Dryness of mouth and eyes, memory loss, and other disturbing problems can result. It may be fatal if not diagnosed.

Fibromyalgia is another condition that causes joint pain and fatigue. It may also come with dryness of the eyes and mouth. This disease arises due to a disorder of central neurotransmitter functioning. Joint pain is not the only problem patients experience with this condition. They can experience fatigue, dryness of mouth and eyes, abnormal bowel movement or irritable bladder, chest pain, headaches, and difficulty in breathing.