Contributed by: Healthians Team
What is rheumatoid arthritis?
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune illness that causes stiffness, discomfort, and inflammation in the joints of your body, mostly your hands and legs. It generally affects both sides of your body at the same time. RA is a chronic condition for which there is no treatment, but it may be managed by reducing inflammation and slowing the spread of the disease.
Joint discomfort, more than 30 minutes of morning stiffness, irregular swelling or sensitivity, and pain in common joints like the fingers or toes are some of the most frequent rheumatoid arthritis symptoms. Before we discuss the remedies for rheumatoid arthritis, let us first know what an autoimmune disease means and why it occurs.
What is an autoimmune disease?
Your immune system is responsible for protecting your body from several diseases and infections. A strong immunity may decrease your chances of getting afflicted by any illness, while also supporting your body’s growth. But a scenario may occur when your immune system decides to go against its natural functioning and aid in developing ailments rather than protecting you from them. This condition of disease development is termed an autoimmune illness.
To be more precise, this situation occurs when your immune system detects an illness or virus harming you and responds to defend you. During this process, the immune response system may inadvertently target healthy tissues and cells, resulting in autoimmune disorders.
How to control rheumatoid arthritis?
Controlling RA entails a variety of techniques, including regular exercise, yoga, stress management, lifestyle modifications, a balanced diet, and more. Some over-the-counter medications can help manage rheumatoid arthritis pain.
Let us discuss the top 7 remedies to control rheumatoid arthritis progression:
Get sufficient sleep:
Sleep is the most important but commonly overlooked portion of the routine when it comes to health. Researches have proved that not getting sufficient sleep or irregular sleep periods may result in influencing arthritis pain and affect your bodily movements. Doctors recommend that you should take 7-8 hours of continuous and sound sleep to control the effects of rheumatoid arthritis.
Regular yoga and exercise:
It is a proven fact that performing yoga and exercising regularly increases the strength of your muscles and bones. It also helps you in getting better sleep and improves bone mobility. Now the most essential thing to consider is which yoga and exercises are truly helpful for you.
For this, you should get advice from a physical therapist or yoga teacher before choosing one because strenuous physical activities can harm your bone joints. Iyengar yoga, brisk walking, swimming, resistance band training, and adopting low-impact activities are some of the exercises that might help you improve your RA condition.
Regular massages:
Getting regular massages from a trained specialist or any family member can also prove beneficial for you in controlling the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. The pressure applied to the area of pain relaxes the joint and reduces inflammation.
Follow a healthy diet routine:
Numerous studies have proven that following a healthy diet not only improves your overall health but also controls the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. Including food with antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties reduces the effects of RA. Raw vegetables, turmeric, ginger, berries, broccoli, avocados, mushrooms, and grapes are some of the foods that you can include in your diet to reduce RA symptoms.
Cold and hot packs:
Applying an ice pack to the inflamed region might help relieve the pain. The cold treatment relieves pain and calms muscular spasms. If you have an aching muscle, a warm bath or a heated cloth applied to the region of discomfort might help to calm and relax the pain.
Use of assistive devices:
As the name suggests, assistive devices are the equipment to support and ease the area of pain. Shoulder caps, crepe bandages, wrist splints, and neck collars are some examples of the same. As the name implies, assistive devices are tools that help to support and relieve pain in a specific region. Shoulder caps, crepe bandages, wrist splints, and neck collars are a few examples of the same.
Increase supplements intake:
Fish oil contains omega 3 fatty acid supplements that block the inflammatory receptors and help ease the pain. Fishes like salmon, mackerel, and tuna are rich in omega 3 supplements.
Probiotic supplements should be consumed to improve the health of beneficial bacteria in your stomach which increases your immunity. Probiotic intake for eight weeks has been shown to reduce joint inflammation in studies. Yogurt, kefir, pickles, tempeh, and kombucha are some examples of foods that contain probiotic supplements.
Curcumin, a naturally occurring antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, is found in turmeric. Turmeric, whether consumed with food, water, or milk, has been proven in studies to increase immunity and aid in the management of rheumatoid arthritis due to its chemical characteristics.
