Arthritis – What home remedies can be used to relieve pain
Home remedies for arthritis pain relief
Again and again one hears about the so-called home remedies. But they can be used even for arthritis, polyarthritis or gout? If so, how do I apply it and for what?
We show you what they must pay attention to use home remedies in this case correctly and effectively.
How do I know if I have arthritis??
In the inflammatory, chronic disease, pain occurs in the musculoskeletal system. The pain can be pulling, flowing, tearing, or just localized and very severe in one or more joints.
Before using home remedies, you need to know the causes and nature of the pain. Joint pain is often accompanied by redness, swelling and overheating.
Rheumatism or gout – pain in joints manifests itself differently
If the pain is flowing, pulling or tearing in the musculoskeletal system, it is referred to as rheumatism or rheumatoid pain.
The disease process takes place in the supporting and connective tissue in joints, tendons and muscles.
If the pain is not fluent, but only locally limited to one joint, on the other hand, it is referred to as gout pain.
Different pains, different causes
While research into rheumatoid joint inflammation is based on several facts, in the case of gout pain the cause is a metabolic disease.
Home remedies for joint inflammation caused by rheumatism
In this chronic inflammatory systemic disease, antibodies and phagocytes attack the body’s own tissue in a misdirected manner. This causes the inner skin of the joints to become inflamed which leads to pain.
Cold, wet and change of weather aggravate the pain. The course of the disease manifests itself in acute or latent phases.
If active relapses occur, the doctor must be consulted. The natural remedies, which you have in your medicine box at home, are only to be used as an adjunct here.
Anti-rheumatic drugs and immunosuppressants must be taken to minimize joint deformation. Home remedies are also useful during periods without attacks.
Relieving joint pain and stiffness with acupressure
For the relief of joint pain and joint stiffness acupressure has a great importance. Affected persons press their hands, hips and knees at special points for one or two minutes in the morning and evening each day.
On the hands, the point at the end of the skin fold between the index finger and thumb should be pressed firmly in the direction of the finger bone. On the sides of the hip, you press hard into the indentation between the pelvis and leg.
Pressure points on the knee are the notch under the kneecap and a point located about five centimeters below the kneecap in the depression on the outer edge of the shinbone.
If you have arthritis, pay attention to your diet
The holistic recommendation for arthritis is to change the diet to a mostly vegetarian whole food diet with lots of salads and steamed vegetables.
Lean chicken, fish and few eggs are definitely preferable to fatty red meat. Goat cheese and goat milk are recommended instead of cow’s milk and white flour products.
Local fruit, paired with nuts, represents a sensible enrichment of the daily menu. Study results provide evidence that the vegetarian diet can alleviate a rheumatic flare-up.
The studies are based on the hypothesis that avoiding the arachidonic acid contained in meat reduces the inflammatory processes in the synovial membrane.
Because from the fatty acid the body forms inflammatory mediators, so-called prostaglandins. If you reduce their production, the inflammatory reaction in the joint is less severe.
Instead of salt, you can add spices to your diet. Because herbs contain essential oils and pungent substances, such as turmeric, chili or ginger. These counteract the inflammation.
But also garlic stirred into yogurt, with living cultures, is attributed an anti-inflammatory effect.
Use herbal salt and avoid refined sugar. Sweeten with honey instead and avoid products that contain food additives if possible. Drink daily fruit and vegetable juices such as celery, carrot, cucumber and beet juice.
Apple cider vinegar and cod liver oil are traditionally used in empirical medicine for chronic joint inflammation (arthritis). Drink a glass of water with one to two teaspoons of apple cider vinegar and a little honey every morning after getting up and at mealtimes.
Willow bark – an ancient rheumatic remedy
What should not be missing in any medicine cabinet is preserved willow bark. To make this ancient rheumatism remedy, peel the bark from medium willow branches. After being crushed and dried in the shade, it should be bottled and stored in dark jars.
As a tea preparation it provides valuable, natural acetylsalicylic acid, which has an anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving effect. Infusions of stinging nettle, bittersweet nightshade and birch leaves can also have a supporting effect.
The homeopathic remedies Rhus toxicodendron, Bryonia, Arnica montana and Pulsatilla are particularly recommended for the pharmacy cabinet at home.
Rubs and ointments
Rubbing with oils is also recommended. Chamomile oil or homemade massage oil made from almond, rosemary, marigold and lavender oil can be used.
An ointment made from arnica can also provide relief. Remedies that cause the inflamed joint to heat up should not be used, as they further fuel the inflammation.
Definition of rheumatism and rheumatoid joint inflammation
In the medical sense, rheumatism is a systemic disease. Not only the musculoskeletal system is affected, but often also the connective tissue of the internal organs and blood vessels.
Rheumatoid arthritis, on the other hand, also known as chronic polyarthritis, is a chronic inflammation of the joints. It mainly affects women.
Is against gout also a herb grown?
In an acute attack of gout, the pain in the affected joint can be so bad that even light contact with the bedspread is avoided.
The cause of this defense behavior is an elevated uric acid level in the blood, known as hyperuricemia. The body deposits excess uric acid in the joints as crystals as a result of the breakdown of purine.
In this clinical picture one therefore speaks of arthritis urica. If the disease manifests itself in the hands, the joints at the base and middle of the fingers are distended or dislocated. swollen.
Bone areas close to the joints, tendons and bursae can show reddened gouty nodules in chronic gout. Primarily men are affected.
Avoid foods containing purine
The disturbance in purine metabolism already gives an answer as to how gout can be treated: Foods with a strong purine content should be avoided.
A high content of purine is found in offal, such as in 100 grams of sweetbreads (525 milligrams) or pork liver (216 milligrams).
The best thing to do is to get a purine chart. In it you can read the content per 100 grams of food. Alcohol should be avoided.
Sloe wine according to Hildegard von Bingen
An effective remedy for gout was developed by Hildegard von Bingen: sloe wine! Twenty grams of cinnamon powder and ten grams of clove powder are mixed with forty grams of sifted sloe ash and then boiled in 1.4 liters of natural wine. After five minutes of boiling add two hundred grams of bee honey to it.
Heat again briefly until boiling and then filter through a cloth while hot. Bottled wine should be stored in a cool and dark place. Drink two small glasses (0.2 liters each) of it daily. Drinking a daily decoction of goldenrod (Solidago virgaurea) to support uric acid excretion via the kidneys is highly recommended.