Joint Pain Relief - What You Can Do

Joint pain relief is a topic of import for people of all ages. At one time, the phrase joint pain brought to mind images of granny squatting down in her garden to pull weeds. This is no longer the case.

Victims of such pain are increasingly of all ages. In children, this is mostly due to the computer age. Kids who spend a lot of time on computers and playing video games are getting neck pain at a very young age. But what can you do to relief the pain of your joints?

The first thing to focus on for the pain of your joints, as with any medical condition, is prevention. Many doctors recommend reducing as much as possible the repetitive strain by taking frequent breaks from whatever physical activity, whether work or play. While taking these breaks, they say it's a good idea to take time to stretch the muscles around the joints as well.

Massage therapists often have to deal with clients who are looking for joint pain relief as well. While they work the muscles around the joints, there is not much they can do for the joints themselves. They often recommend using herbal topical ointments such as ones containing arnica, which seem to help decrease the pain.

Several people I know have tried acupuncture and have had good results. A coworker once twisted her ankle but had acupuncture immediately and was right back on her feet. A friend of mine suffered from rheumatoid arthritis for years and was able to decrease many of her drugs because she got more joint pain relief from acupuncture treatments.

Particularly when knee and hip pain comes from degenerative problems, such as osteoarthritis, the condition can't be cured. At the very least, there are topical creams and treatments like acupuncture that may decrease the pain and therefore improve the quality of life for people with these conditions.

There is a lot of arguing back and forth over whether cold or heat is best for joint pain relief. Generally, people with rheumatoid arthritis report feeling their affected joints are hot, therefore, cold may help with this condition. With osteoarthritis, these people report that the condition is worse with cold, therefore, they tend to feel better when heat is applied.

Also worth looking into is dietary changes. It appears that certain foods may affect the symptoms of joint conditions. Therefore, some people say that they have experienced joint pain relief merely through modifying their diet.

The good news is, with more and more people being affected by such pain on their jointsw and earlier in their lives, more note is being taken. It is no longer a condition that is treated as being inevitable with age. This means that, in the future, we will continue seeing more alternatives to joint pain relief become available.