Osteoarthritis usually appears in the fingers, spine, neck, hips, knees, and feet.
Your pain at first may be very mild – you might just suspect you’ve knocked or pulled where it aches (I know I did). But if it keeps re-appearing, the chances are it is osteoarthritis.
It’s really important to find out whether it is or not because it will become progressively worse unless you halt it.
There’s lots you can do – there are more osteoarthritis remedies than you can shake a stick at. Some work well. Some are complete mumbo jumbo. The trick is just to find one that works for you.
Here’s what will happens to those dull aches:
The joints affected by osteoarthritis lose their shape and alignment, which prevents normal motion. You become stiff. This in turn weakens and wastes away the surrounding muscles. The pain grows. It really is a vicious circle.
If your osteoarthritis becomes severe it will reduce your mobility considerably – and be painful all of the time. Not pleasant.
So if you suspect osteoarthritis – do yourself a favour and find out. Look out for these usual suspects:
- Joint pain that gets worse with movement – but better with rest.
- Stiffness and loss of flexibility where it hurts.
- The joint swells.
- You can hear your joints crack when you move.
- Your gait (the way you walk) changes, or becomes awkward .
If you’re nodding your head to a few of these, best get yourself an x-ray.
All though there is no cure for osteoarthritis –there are truck loads of natural osteoarthrits remedies. Doctors aren’t much help. They can give you pain killers or injections – or refer you for surgery.
And believe me, if you can avoid surgery, do so…
(Check out the earlier posts for simple osteoarthritis remedies.)