Five Health Tips In Fighting Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative process that will continue at its own pace until its cause and cure is discovered. Until that time comes, maintaining good health can be strong fighter in staying relatively pain-free and active. Here are six health tips worth following:

1. Remember that all of your joint components are made of living tissue. These tissues rely on healthy blood flow and the right nutrients to repair themselves and stay strong and resilent. Eating poorly robs your body of the tools it needs to maintain itself, and smoking constricts your blood vessels, limiting the circulation to these tissues.
2. Daily activities may strain shrunken, stiff and irritated tissues. It may be easy to "over do" it unless you keep your joints limber and resilient with regular exercise.
3. Although osteoarthritis is often called "wear and tear" arthritis, don't be afraid that physical activity will wear you out. On the contrary, joints are designed for motion, and motion helps circulation nourish your joints.
4. Good health and a state of "wellness" means you respect the way all of your body's organs and systems are interrelated. Do everything you can to sustain your vigor and balance in order to ward off anything that threatens it with desease.
5. Choose your pharmacist as carefully as you would choose a physician. Thanks to his/her training and expertise, your pharmacist is a valuable consultant who can advise you about how to get the best results from your medications, potential drug interactions and side affects, possible allergy complications, drug costs, insurance coverage and lower-cost options.

You've got better things to do than let OA rule your day. Maintaining good health habits is certainly part of the right treatment strategy.

Comments

[Craig]

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"You've got better things to do than let OA rule your day. "
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Oh, but it does. Every patient knows that. We have to structure our day and more generally, our lives, in a way that is compatible with our disabilities. That's the bane of disability, it does circumscribe what you can do and what you can be.

Doctors don't respect that.