5 Tips for LIving With Arthritis

When you have arthritis, every month has its challenges. That said, since May is Arthritis Awareness Month in the United States, we thought we’d take this opportunity to review some effective ways in which you can prevent arthritis from casting a long shadow over your life.

More than 92 million people in the US have diagnosed arthritis or arthritis symptoms, which means that you’re in very good company if you’re struggling with joint pain and inflammation.

To help you maintain a good quality of life, our team here at Pain Medicine Consultants pulled together five tips that every person with arthritis, no matter which kind, should consider.

Enlist the right arthritis team

There are more than 100 different types of arthritis, but the most common include:

• Osteoarthritis
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Psoriatic arthritis
• Gout
• Fibromyalgia
• Lupus

Some forms of arthritis are degenerative while others are a result of an autoimmune disorder or an infection. Our point here is that you need the right medical team when you have arthritis. This might include your primary care provider, a rheumatologist, and specialists in pain management, like our team here.

Our role in helping you manage arthritis is to relieve the pain and inflammation in your joints so you can move more freely. To accomplish this, we can try joint injections, viscosupplementation, or platelet-rich plasma injections.

Get moving

Once we make you more comfortable through our pain-relieving therapies, it’s important that you take advantage of this relief and get moving. Your joints are designed to move, and in doing so, you ensure that resources flow freely through them, and you can also reduce stiffness.

Lose weight, if applicable

If you’re carrying extra pounds, you're placing more pressure on your joints. If there’s arthritis in your joints, the extra weight can exacerbate your discomfort and cause your joints to degenerate more quickly.

One of the best ways to support your joint health is to ensure that you maintain a healthy weight.

Change up your activities

When you have arthritis, your joints let you know which activities are harder on them. We urge you to pay attention and find activities that are more comfortable. For example, running can be hard on hips, knees, and ankles, so you might want to try swimming or yoga instead.

It’s incredibly important to stay active, but in such a way that isn’t harming your joints.

Try new therapies

We don’t believe that there’s a magic bullet when it comes to arthritis, so we urge you to experiment with different therapies. 

For example, you might find that chiropractic care is beneficial, or acupuncture. Or you might consider enlisting a physical therapist to help you strengthen the muscles around your joints and maintain flexibility.

With a few tweaks on your end and some great care on ours, we can help you lead a happy and active life despite your arthritis.

For expert care of your arthritis, please contact one of our offices in Pleasanton, Pleasant Hill, or Corte Madera, California, to schedule an appointment.