Arthritic Pain Treatment Treat The Inflammation – Kill The Pain.

Treatments for Arthritis – Acupuncture

Easing arthritis pain isn’t simple; arthritis is a long-term debilitating disease that affects millions and prevents normal lifestyles. For those who operate a keyboard on a daily basis, carpel tunnel is a great example. But you don’t necessarily have to rely exclusively on pain pills and/or steroids; there are a handful of alternative treatments available, including acupuncture.

Acupuncture is a sixteenth century Chinese practice that uses stainless steel needles to stimulate the body’s 14 major meridians or "energy-carrying channels." These 16th century Chinese doctors believed acupuncture to be the solution to an imbalance of energy within the body, or what they also referred to as illness. Ultimately, acupuncture is used to overcome illness by correcting such imbalances. On another note, the practice of stimulating these energy points with needles is also responsible for releasing endorphins into the body, which are chemicals that block pain. These morphine-like chemicals are sent to these near-nerve "acu-points," which is a natural bodily response to pain or stress. Along with other neurotransmitters, endorphins effectively block the message of pain being relayed to the brain.

The process is quite simple; the acupuncturist inserts a number of needles into various points of the body, some deeper than others. From then on, the practitioner twirls the needs as to electrically energize the accu-points. The warming of the points helps to intensify the treatment. This is typically done in a series of visits, whereas the needs are placed differently during each session as to motivate new sources of healing. Performed under clean, sterile conditions, acupuncture is highly safe and typically doesn’t hurt. Those reporting pain suggest a "slight soreness or numbness after the needles have been pulled. The insertion process is comparable to a regular blood withdrawal with less pain (thinner needles).

Traditionally, acupuncture is used to treat the following:

• Headaches
• Menstrual cramps
• Low back, neck or muscle pain
• Arthritis
• Facial pain
• Shingles
• Colon conditions

Most of these are chronic conditions, having to be treated on a regular basis. A family physician or doctor will typically prescribe pain relief medication for those suffering from arthritis. But, by regularly visiting a licensed acupuncturist, you can decrease your levels of pain by up to 70 percent for weeks at a time. Despite high costs, acupuncture is one of the best alternative treatments to relieve chronic pain. It’s also regularly used for things Fibromyalgia and autoimmune diseases.

It’s important to still visit your doctor prior to setting up an appointment, but remember to openly discuss these things so that you may have a chance to gain the benefits of acupuncture.

By: Rachelle Holmes of MetropolitanMD, a Chicago Plastic Surgery Center located in Chicago IL specializing in Chicago Rhinoplasty.

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Treatments for arthritis are nothing but the management and application of therapies to achieve set goals. These goals would remain the same irrespective of the type of arthritis, its diagnosis or severity.

The immediate concern of any treatment regime is set against achieving the first goal of reducing inflammation and consequently pain. All else takes off when there is a fair amount of success in achieving this primary goal.

If the treatment successfully addresses inflammation and reduces it and the pain it triggers without any unfavorable or harmful side effects, two more important goals are achieved.

The progression of the disease is automatically retarded, and the risks of therapy are also minimized.

It is this approach to arthritis pain management that is making the use of systemic enzymes, homeopathic herbal formulas and other natural herbal supplements quite popular.

The use of these treatments have proven to act as analgesics because of their anti-inflammatory abilities, but without the harmful side effects of conventional nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and analgesics, and meet the three basic needs that are part of the goals of treatments for arthritis.

• Reduce inflammation and pain
• Minimize the risks of therapy, and
• Retard the progression of the disease.

Treatments for arthritis does not stop with the effective use of these alternative treatments, but if used in conjunction with judicial change in the patients lifestyle which would involve changes in dietary and food habits, adequate rest and exercise, and weight loss, it would greatly contribute to overall joint health and protection, working in the direction of retarding any progress in the disease.

Arthritis is the primary cause of disability in the United States. There is no known cure or documented definitive causes of arthritis, but there are some very effective ways to prevent and reduce the pain of osteoarthritis – the most common form of arthritis.

Much too often, too many people erroneously believe that the aches and pains that accompany osteoarthritis are an inevitable part of aging that they have to live with it.

Movement is the best medicine. Losing weight and keeping active are two simple but very effective ways of combating osteoarthritis pain.

A very important part of any approach would involve the provision of adequate patient education with the ultimate aim of preventing work disability and enhancing the quality of life through functional independence.

It is also of importance that factors involved in decision making always include the diagnosis, the type and severity of disease, and last but not the least is the history of the patient’s response to previous therapies.

While the goals remain the same, there is likely to be variations in the approach depending on the diagnosis.

In conclusion it must be remembered that things change and what initially was felt to be an effective arthritis treatment may no longer be effective.

Technorati Tags: Arthritis Treatments, homeopathic pain relief, systemic enzyme formulas

Posted under Arthritis Treatments