Practicing Mindfulness Into the New Year
Joint pain affects over 350 million people worldwide that includes osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and other conditions. The symptoms range from mild to severe and can become debilitating over time if not treated or managed carefully.
Here are some things you can do to help minimize or manage the pain associated with your joints.
- Physical activity- exercise using low-impact activities like swimming, cycling or yoga that focus on flexibility and help to strengthen your surrounding muscles. Be sure to stretch before and after exercise to improve your range of motion and decrease any stiffness. Pay attention to maintaining a healthy weight, as this reduces the stress on weight-bearing joints like your knees and hips.
- Adopt a healthy diet- try to incorporate anti-inflammatory foods into your diet like omega 3 fatty acids that come from salmon and walnuts, include leafy greens, and foods that have a high amount of antioxidants like berries or even turmeric. You can supplement as well with glucosamine, chondroitin, omega-3 fatty acid, and vitamin D that are all good for the joints. Be sure to hydrate with water throughout the day, as this helps to lubricate the joints.
- Focus on mind health- Meditation helps to reduce stress. Practices like Tai Chi helps to improve your balance and strengthen your join function. There’s also a practice called biofeedback you can do that helps you to learn to control your pain responses through guided feedback.
- Alternative therapies are great to compliment your other activities- This includes acupuncture that stimulates specific points to reduce pain and inflammation, and massage therapy that eases the tension in your body and around the joints to improve your circulation which is good for joint health.
- Heat and Cold therapy can be done to help manage your pain. Heat relaxes the muscles and stimulates circulation. It can help to go into a hot tub or place a heat pad in the painful area before exercise to relax you. Then after the exercise, it’s helpful to ice the area either with a ice plunge, cryotherapy, or an ice pack in the painful area to reduce any inflammation and calm the affected area.
- Medical support- Physical therapy can help, as professionals can put you on a treatment plan and track your progress. They might suggest certain medications to help with the pain as well.
- Sleep is important for your joints to rest and heal. You can find ergonomic support with certain pillows and mattresses that suit what you need to alleviate strain on the joints.
Whatever you do to help with your joint pain, it is important to tend to your joints sooner rather than later, so you can manage the pain instead of allowing it to get worse.
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