Tag: gout

5 Sure-Fire Tips For Treating Your Arthritis

5 Sure-Fire Tips For Treating Your Arthritis
Susan Easton

The numbers can rattle you down to your bones if you let them. Millions upon millions of American adults suffer from arthritis, and that’s not including folks around the globe in other countries. In fact, arthritis tops the list as one of the most common chronic conditions in the United States and most other Western nations.
The numbers are much worse when you consider that arthritis pain and other arthritis symptoms are so hard to live with many times. Arthritis symptoms can include debilitating pain in your joints and in your bones. It can lead to the inability to move certain limbs, or extreme stiffness in others.
Arthritis pain could steal you ability to feed yourself with utensils, to be able to pick up your grandchildren, or to even get out bed in the morning. Other arthritis symptoms can include swelling, burning sensations in your joints, aches and pains in indiscriminate parts of your body, and redness.
Arthritis is actually a family of a whole host of different disorders. And to find the arthritis pain relief and treatment for you, you must know your particular type of arthritis. The two main kinds of arthritis are rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis (OA). There is also gout, and some even consider fibromyalgia a form of arthritis.
Each type has its own arthritis treatment. For osteoarthritis, also known as degenerative joint disease, for instance, to get arthritis pain relief some experts recommend alternative herbal remedies, or even your standard supplement treatments such as vitamin C, vitamin D, and calcium.
The top sure-fire arthritis treatment tips involve a little of such remedies, as well as some physical things you can do to better protect your joints.
1. Be kind to your joints. OA starts as excessive wear and tear in your joints. So one of the best ways to reduce the risk of this is by avoiding repetitive motions, which can include swinging a tennis racket, golf club, picking up packages at work, and other things you do the same way over and over.
2. Lose weight. Another way to be the kindest to your joints is to drop the load they have to bear. In other words, lose weight. Talk to your doctor about what a healthy weight is for you if you’re overweight.
3. Eat right. Some experts believe that calcium-filled dairy foods, and vitamin packed fruits and vegetables, can go a long way as an arthritis treatment and prevention method.
4. Know your drugs. NSAIDs work well against some forms of arthritis pain, but they also come with risks. Remember Vioxx? Acetaminophen, the drug in Tylenol, works well, too, but it can also lead to kidney and liver problems in excessive doses. So don’t take these drugs without your doctor’s advice.
5. Know your herbal remedies. Glucosamine and chondroitin have finally been proven as effective remedies for arthritis pain. But talk with your doctor before you take them.
There is no guarantee that any of these arthritis treatments can help you not become part of that frightening arthritis statistic, but the beauty is, no matter how much they work for your arthritis pain, they will definitely benefit your overall health. So it’s a win-win situation no matter how you look at it.

About The Author

This article about arthritis is submitted by Susan Easton, writing for http://www.arthritisinfosite.com.

Home Remedies For Kidney Stones To Help Relieve The Pain

Home Remedies For Kidney Stones To Help Relieve The Pain

Kidney stones are amongst some of the most painful experiences to have to go through and once you’ve felt that pain, chances are you’re going to be looking around for home remedies for kidney stones so that if an attack hits again, you’re ready.

But first of all what are kidney stones and who is most likely to get them. Well kidney stones are deposits that are left in the kidney that then grow to a size where they cause pain. They can block the tubes that take urine out of the body and make urination extremely difficult and painful. Men in the 20 40 age range are generally more susceptible to kidney stones as are those who suffer with gout. The symptoms can range from sickness, tiredness and fever.

One of the classic home remedies for kidney stones has to be drinking plenty of water at least eight glasses per day if you can. This will help to flush through your system and increase the amount of urine that you pass. What this does is to remove the toxins and the deposits that can accumulate and cause the stones in the first place. These toxins and deposits are formed by a mix of substances but the base of these are uric acid.

What you can also add to the water you drink, is any herb that is a natural diuretic and nettles fall easily into this category. Simply harvest the nettle leaves where no insecticides or other toxins have been sprayed, thoroughly wash them and then infuse them in some hot water for a warm drink.

As you increase your water intake, decrease any foods that will raise the calcium deposits in your body. That means dairy products, such as cheese and vegetables that are high in calcium. For instances cabbage, spinach and cucumber, however remember that some calcium is still needed in the diet because too little can be as bad as too much.

As home remedies for kidney stones go, you should avoid eating any foods that are purine rich. Purine rich foods once eaten will break down as uric acid. Uric acid will then build up and in those who are prone to kidney stones the results will be a painful attack of kidney stones. Purine rich foods are typically red meats, offal and organ meats, sea foods, yeasty foods and of course beer and wine.

Of course hand in hand with all the listed home remedies for kidney stones should be added regular exercise. Not only does exercise foster healthy bones and increase the body’s use of calcium in this way, but exercise also promotes a natural high and all round well being.

Home Remedies For Gout

Gout, that arthritic condition that for so long has been associated with rich old men, is a painful and debilitating condition. Not surprising then that home remedies for gout usually begin and end with managing a diet that does not aggravate the conditions that can bring on an attack.

The home remedies for gout that are centered around diet should start by cutting out those foods which are purine rich. Purine is found in certain foods and in differing levels. When the body breaks down purines, it leaves behind what is called, uric acid. This waste product from purines, is what causes crystals to form around the joints in the body and it is these crystals that causes gout.

Therefore if foods that are not rich in purines are added to the diet and those that are rich in purines are eliminated or lessened in the diet, then this will go a long way as one of the home remedies for gout. Typically red meats, seafood, beers and wines all are rich in purines and should be avoided.

Foods that should be encouraged in the diet as a form of home remedies for gout includes the common apple. Apples that are prepared and cooked into a preserve are a great way to combat the conditions that often lead to gout attacks. Yes, a simple apple preserve, made without sugar, is a easy and simple step to lessen the build up of uric acid that causes gout.

Cherries are another food that should be encouraged in a gout sufferer’s diet. Cherries are pretty much considered a super food for many reasons, not least because they have the ability to remove toxins from the body. It is the removal of toxins that will help with the workings of the kidneys, which for a gout sufferer, who needs to rid the body of uric acid, is going to be key. So eating fresh cherries to lessen the uric acid in the body is especially powerful for the gout sufferer.

Charcoal, in many guises will draw toxins from the body. A poultice can be made and applied to the inflamed joint by mixing charcoal powder and flaxseed with enough water to form a paste. The paste is then smeared over the affected joint and a clean cloth is wrapped around it to keep the paste in place.

Often times the pain and fragility of a gout ridden joint is so bad that trying to apply a poultice might just be too painful. In that case icing the joint might just be what is needed. Ice will sooth the inflammation and it will also help to numb the area and bring much needed relief the pain of gout should never be underestimated!

As with many home remedies, plenty of drinking water should be added to the diet and body weight kept to a healthy level.

Gout Home Remedies

Gout is one of those diseases around which there has grown myths and half-truths and it is no wonder then that gout home remedies have themselves too become the stuff of misinformation.

Once considered the disease of aristocrats and rich old men, gout has since thrown off that guise and is now recognized as an arthritic disease of the joints that can affect anyone regardless of social background.

Basically gout is caused by a build up of uric acid in the tissues around the joints. Uric acid is the waste product from the purines found in some foods and this acid goes on to form crystals that are deposited around the tissues and joints. It is these crystals that cause the intense pain, typically in the big toe, that the gout sufferer endures.

Most of the gout home remedies then are centered around minimizing the effects of a gout attack and then controlling the frequency of attacks.

Keeping a close eye on the diet is a great foundation on which to base all gout home remedies. A low fat, low cholesterol diet is key and should be introduced once gout has been diagnosed. That means avoiding sugary foods and processed foods. But above all eradicating from the diet those foods rich in purines is a great way forward. These kinds of foods are typically, but not exclusively: red meats, seafoods, yeast based foods and liver and kidney meats.

Alcohol, particularly yeasty beers should also be reduced or even cut out of a gout sufferers diet. This is because beer encourages the body to produce uric acid which for anyone looking to manage and reduce their attacks of gout, is not something that should be encouraged.

Cherries are pretty much seen as the champion fighters of gout and many a gout sufferer is urged to include cherries into their regular diets because they so effectively reduce the levels of uric acid that causes the painful crystals to form underneath the affected joints.

Applying an ice pack to the inflamed joint is also one of the gout home remedies that has been proven to work and give ease to the gout sufferer. The ice pack will help to reduce the swelling and can even be wrapped in a towel around the affected joint for prolonged relief. In the same way, the affected joint can be held under a running cold tap for a couple of minutes as this has been shown to give some ease.

Overall what has been proven to be a winning home remedy for gout is to keep the body weight down to a healthy level, cut out those foods listed, keep well hydrated and take as much regular exercise as is at all possible.