Home Remedies for Arthritis

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There are several trusted home remedies for arthritis that are proven to reduce swelling and inflammation, therefore relieving your pain and discomfort. Try these alternative and over-the-counter remedies if you do not want to use arthritis drugs such as steroids and disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs.

Heat
Sometimes a heating pad can do the trick. Heat can be both soothing and healing, since it encourages blood to get to those ligaments and tendons surrounding the joints. Just make sure not to overdo it; fifteen minutes of heat at a time should be plenty. Give your joints a break to make sure you don’t burn yourself, then return to the heat.

Cold
Use a cold pack to ice the joint, especially when aggravated by overuse. After icing, consider switching to heat. The ice will decrease swelling and inflammation; the heat will bring extra blood to the joint to encourage healing. Keep icing and heating sessions to fifteen minutes apiece, then give your joints some time without heat or ice to see how they respond before applying again.

Rest
If your arthritis is from overuse of a joint, rest is a good option. Try finding ways to avoid using the joint—canes, walkers, and other assistive tools are good options. If the issue is related to exercise, find a new exercise, such as swimming, that does not aggravate your joints.

Lose Weight
If you are overweight and have osteoarthritis, you may benefit from losing weight; extra pounds puts more pressure on your joints.

Massage
Massage brings extra blood to the membranes surrounding the aggravated joints, encouraging your body to heal. Massage can also bring relief from pain.

Acupuncture
Acupuncture uses tiny needles to stimulate pressure points on your body to relieve pain and inflammation. Many studies show arthritis sufferers report finding significant relief after acupuncture treatments. The experience is painless and restful; relief is quite tangible.

Nutritional Supplements
Doctors are still conducting studies on the effectiveness of nutritional supplements, but thus far Glucosamine appears to be the favored supplement for treating mild arthritis.

TENS Electrical Pulses
Ask your doctor about TENS (electrical nerve stimulation) therapy; the mild electrical shocks administered during this therapy have brought relief to many arthritis patients.

Over-The-Counter Anti-Inflammatory Drugs
Don’t forget to try the obvious: over-the-counter drugs such as Aleve and Advil can go far to relieve pain and inflammation. Equally helpful are topical analgesic creams marketed to arthritis sufferers. You’ll need to experiment with the options available to find which medications work best for you; different people respond to different options.