Arthritis is an inflammation of the joints, causing pain that ranges from mild to debilitating. Taking prescription medications helps with the pain of arthritis, but does not address the cause of the arthritis, nor reduce the frequency or duration of any other arthritis symptoms. Natural treatments focus on maintaining function and decreasing pain.
Exercise
The thought of exercise and arthritis do not go hand in hand, but a study published in the "Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation" in May of 2010 followed a group of people with osteoarthritis of the knee, for a year. Exercise programs, such as walking were prescribed and measured, and at the end of the year, most of the people had improved exercise outcome measures, suggesting that increasing activity levels, especially in older adults, leads to increased function of the knees. Activities such as walking, swimming, or even slowly climbing stairs are all helpful forms of knee exercises. The Mayo Clinic suggests tai chi and yoga as gentle exercise options as well. If new to exercising, start with three, 20 to 30 minute sessions a week and work up to five sessions a week.
Weight Loss
According to the Mayo Clinic, losing weight will help to decrease stress and wear and tear on the knee joint, thus decreasing the pain of arthritis. UCLA's weight management page states, one pound of body weight is equal to 3500 calories. A decrease of 500 calories a day, along with burning 500 calories a day through exercise, (approximately 45 minutes of moderate exercise) will lead to a decrease of 2 lbs. a week. Healthy weight loss is 1 to 2 lbs. a week, so if a doctor recommends a loss of 30 pounds to help with knee pain, it will take 15 weeks minimum to lose the weight in a healthy and safe way.
Supplements
Glucosamine and chondroitin have both been recommended for any type of joint pain in the last several years. Other than these two commonly known supplements, there are other naturally occurring substances that help lower inflammation and ultimately decrease pain. According to an article published in the "Nutrition Journal" on August 14th 2009, a combination of phellodendron (cork tree) and citrus extracts have been studied in terms of their effectiveness at lowering reported pain levels of those suffering with knee osteoarthritis. Not only were there lowered pain scores, but there were also decreases in body weight and lowered levels of inflammatory blood markers following the use of these extracts. While the study was short (8 weeks) and on a small group of individuals, no side effects were noted.
Manipulation
Chiropractic has been in the United States for over 200 years. People associate chiropractic with low back pain, but not many associate knee pain with chiropractic care. In 2008, the "Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association" published a study looking at the effects of joint mobilization\manipulation on knee osteoarthritis. A small study group was treated with manipulative therapy for two weeks and compared to a control group that received a sham treatment. Outcomes used to measure effectiveness of treatment were pain levels, crepitus (a feeling of creaking\popping in the knee), ability to move knee and knee function. Compared to the control group, the treatment group had lower pain levels overall. Additionally, twice as many participants in the treatment group felt a decrease in pain and symptoms, and an increase in mobility and function versus the sham treatment group.
Decreasing Inflammation
Icing can decrease inflammation. The Mayo Clinic does not recommend icing if there is poor circulation or numbness in the area, but otherwise, it will help to decrease muscle spasm and pain.
References
- Mayo Clinic: Home Treatment
- Mayo Clinic: Drugs
- "Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association"; The effect of a manual therapy knee protocol on osteoarthritic knee pain: a randomised controlled trial.; Pollard H, et. al.; 2008.
- "Arc Phys Med & Rehab"; Moving to maintain function in knee OA; Dunlop DD, et. al.; 2010
- "Nutrition Journal"; Phellodendron and Citrus extracts benefit joint health in osteoarthritis patients: a pilot, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.; Oben J, et. al.; 2009.
