Arthritis Pain Relief : Questions To Ask Your Healthcare Provider

Arthritis Pain Relief : Questions To Ask Your Healthcare Provider
Priya Shah

Copyright 2005 Priya ShahA great place to begin taking charge of you arthritis pain relief and prevention planning is by making an appointment with your healthcare provider and finding out more about your condition and treatment options. Make sure to jot down questions ahead of time, and take them along in your journal or notebook, armed with a pencil to fill in his or her replies. Some questions to begin with may be centered around these:1. Do I have a form of arthritis? If not, what is wrong & what do I do next?2. If so, which type is it? And what can I expect short-term and long-term?3. What pain relief treatments are available? Which have side affects & what are they?4. What self-care solutions do you advise?5. Are there any limitations I should know about; i.e. special dietary issues, special activities to avoid, any OTC meds to NOT mix, etc.?6. What resources do you have to help with my diet and exercise planning?7. What other arthritic and other health resources do you have for my family and me?When you take in your questions, also take in a description of your symptoms so that your doctor can help better understand your situation and health. Make sure to note:- Where you have pain (same joint both limbs?)- When you feel pain – with certain activities, in the morning, when it rains, etc.- How long you have had the pain- If the pain increases or decreases, comes and goes, etc.- The type & intensity level of pain – stabbing, dull, cramping, stiffness – and low, mild or high pain- Note any limitations – can’t bend over too far without pain, can’t get out of car, etc.- Share any family history of arthritis- Tell about any OTC or prescription medications or other treatments you currently take or use.- Discuss any special diet you are on and exercise programs So try the different options available for arthritis pain relief and prevention.Give your joints a break as soon as possible from any excess weight they’re hauling around, even if it’s the weight of excess stress.Lighten up and make pain relief and prevention care part of your normal, everyday routine.For a comprehensive report on arthritis, visit Arthritis Remedies http://www.arthritisremedies.org About the Author
Priya Shah is the editor of
The Glutathione Report andHealth Naturale. This article may be reprinted as long as the resource box is left intact and all links are hyperlinked.

Arthritis exercise – strengthening knees and back

Arthritis exercise – strengthening knees and back
Karri Koivula

Squat, if it can be done without discomfort, is a great exercise for people suffering from hip, knee and back arthritis.

It doesnt do anything to the actual arthritis, but will help to maintain physical fitness and functionality.

Proper function of hip area is very important for pain free backs and knees; the stiffness caused by arthritis hinders this function and creates a situation, where you can end up having even more pain, than what would be caused by just inflammation or joint degeneration.

You want to ease in to squatting; if you dont ease in to it you might end up aggravating your knees/hips and back even more.

Great way to ease in to squat is to pile up some books on to a low chair, and the start to practise sitting down to it.

The chair will help to emphasize the sitting back motion, which is important when you first start to learn this movement.

And as your flexibility and ability to squat deeper increases, you can remove books accordingly.

Use common sense; if it squatting aggravates you conditions dont do it anymore.

Now, its possible that you are unable to squat because the nature of your arthritis just downright prevents that, if this is the case dont force the squat, its not exercise for all.

Important tip Trigger point massage

Before you start squatting, take couple of weeks to massage your back muscles, not forgetting glutes and hamstrings, daily with a tennis ball.

It would be also great to massage your psoas and abdominal muscles.

By doing this, you will increase the changes of squatting pain free.

About the author:

Related resources back at pain relief guide site, quick links below. Also, remember to download trigger point pain charts and tutorial (beta) – available at home page. And always remember to ask permission from a qualified health care professional, before starting to do any kind of exercise Glucosamine chondroitin sulfate for arthritis – Pain-relief-guide.com joint health supplements