Rheumatoid Arthritis Pain Areas
Rheumatoid Arthritis will target your smaller joints such as your hands and feet joints, as well as knees, ankles and wrists and it is not uncommon for R.A. to affect your jaw joints as well.
The pain might cause difficulties moving and using your hands in a “normal”way. You might feel a loss of strength making simple things like opening a bottle or just holding a glass of water very difficult.
R.A. can also affect your mobility as it does cause stiffness. You might notice that you have a harder time getting out of bed or getting dressed.
If you are getting affected in your jaw you can notice a pain when you would be chewing or just opening and closing your mouth.
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Rheumatoid Arthritis Pain Treatment
If you are seeing a medical professional about your R.A. you should discuss pain relief. Most times you will be prescribed regular, over the counter, pain relief. If you are also experiencing inflammation with you pain you might be offered to get a cortisone injection in your affected joints.
Otherwise the pain treatment will be in form of a treatment plan for your R.A. This will include some sort of medication to keep your R.A. in a “resting” state. It does not guarantee for you to never get flare-up but it might lengthen the times in between.
Natural Pain Relief For Rheumatoid Arthritis
The number one thing to try to avoid is changes in the barometric pressure as research is showing that this is a lot of the time what is causing the pain. This might not always be possible but keep in mind that changes in the weather but most likely changes in humidity can increase both your pain and inflammation.
Sometimes keeping your joint in a bandage might help to give it some stability which will decrease the pain. However you do not want to keep your joint wrapped up all the time as this might actually make the pain worse.
Try working out as building muscle around the affected joints will help with the stability and in the long run cause less pain as you will have the muscles holding you “together” and not just the joints. Try to use the elastic bands when you workout as they are kinder to the joints, especially in the beginning.
Eat less meat, dairy, processed foods and sugar. This is also something that will help you in the long run. You can even try to cut out the nightshades like potatoes, bell peppers, chilis etc. as this can contribute to the inflammation.
Increase your intake of anti-inflammatory foods such as ginger, turmeric, hemp oil and algae.
You can also try a pain relief gel as this might ease your pain a bit.
Make sure to keep both heat packs and cooling packs at home. Sometimes a cooling pack will ease your pain and sometimes you need a heat pack. A heat rub can also come in handy as well as a hot bath as this will soften up your tense muscle due to pain.
Sometimes even going to a tanning salon can do the trick. During the colder months I try to go ever week or every two weeks as this will heat you up all the way to your core and it does ease the pain a bit. All you need is 10-15 minutes.
Try floating. The reason is that floating can take the pressure of your joints and it will relax your body and allow for your muscles to get a little bit of rest from tensing.
Acupuncture can also be very beneficial. Make sure that you tell them exactly why you are there and allow them to do magic. This is also something that you can work into your regular routine.
Magnesium rub can also work wonders for R.A. pain. I have personally not noticed a great deal of change by using it but I have talked to other people who swears by it. I do however feel a difference when I am taking it as a supplement.
Increase your supplement intake: Omega 3, B-12, Spirulina, Chlorella, Glucosamine, Ginger, Turmeric.
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I always have something like this at home. Just in case I would start to feel any pain, it does not have to be a flare-up but just that you have over used your joint a bit. A bandage can really help to allow your joint to rest for a little bit.
A wrist support is also something I have at home. It is specially designed just for the purpose of R.A. pain and it fis both your right and left hand. I like to use wrist support when I know I will be using my wrists a lot, like when I am writing or doing boxing etc.
A knee support is also something that I frequently use. It is not so much that I always have knee pain but I know that if I tend to workout or put too much pressure on my knee without a knee support I might anger the joint which will cause pain.
I have one of these at home and they are great. If I would be in pain I would just use a lighter band, which will still allow me to workout. I can bring them with me everywhere I go and they are kinder to my joints.
These are lifesavers. Just holding these are putting them on the area where you are experiencing pain can be amazing. It will allow for blood flow to increase which makes it feel a bit better.
I almost like these more than the hot packs. In my early years of having R.A. the heat packs worked well for me, they still do but the cold packs are even better. Definitely worth a try.
Magnesium is also a natural pain relief. With the oil spray you spray it onto the area where you are hurting and massage it in. Like I previously said, I haven’t noticed a major difference from using the oil, but then again I wasn’t very consistent with it either. I do notice a difference from the supplements tho so perhaps the rub does work if you use it daily, which you are supposed to. I have been recommended this by so many people who say they really noticed a difference when using it.
Workout For Rheumatoid Arthritis
If you have never worked out before you should not over do it. Instead ease into it with only 10-15 minutes a day. You do not want to push your joints to much, instead you need to allow for the muscles around the joints to get strong.
Try going for walks as this will help the circulation and it will also help you with the fatigue that comes with R.A.
Try a short beginners yoga class on YouTube. It does not have to be longer than 10-15 minutes but it does build muscles and it will allow for your body to ease into it.
Go to the gym. Tell a trainer about your R.A. and allow them to create a program that is suited for your level.
Try a dance workout like Zumba. Once again you do not need to go to the gym to do this, you can do it in the comfort of your home thanks to YouTube.
Swimming can also be very beneficial, especially if you are in pain, as it takes the pressure of your joints.
Final Thoughts
It is important to remember to do all of these things even when you are not currently in pain. The most important thing you can do is keep up with a healthy lifestyle, supplements and training for when you will get a flare-up. That way you have already prepared your body for any pain and your body, as it is stronger and healthier, will be able to handle it in a pain that is less painful.
If you have any questions or comments then please drop them down below.
