How to ease pain without meds for arthritis in knees

[slmurph3]

Hi, I have arthritis in my knees (the left is worse than the right) and fibromyalgia. Using prescription medication specific for my illnesses has caused other issues, so I'm looking to find alternative ways to ease pain, stiffness and aching. Keeping as active as possible helps, but my energy and physical capabilities are very limited, due to the illnesses and changing my diet to vegan and avoiding processed foods (I'm already diagnosed coeliac, so have to eat gluten free) have definitely helped too, along with meditating regularly and practising Qi Gong, but I'm still struggling. Any advice is welcomed. Thx!

[Arthritis Action]

You are right in that keeping as active as possible is very helpful for arthritis pain, not just because movement helps with joint stiffness, but because exercise releases painkilling natural endorphins and is helpful for sleep, mood and weight control. Distracting your mind from the pain with a hobby, relaxation or meditation can also help as can trying to improve your sleep quality as people with arthritis pain often have disturbed nights. Counting your blessings is an effective but underused pain management technique and getting some fresh air every day, especially if you can be in a green space can also really help.

Dr Wendy Holden
Medical Advisor to Arthritis Action and Consultant Rheumatologist

Artritis Action
56 Buckingham Gate
London SW1E 6AE

020 3781 7120
www.arthritisaction.org.uk

[Matthew Rogers]

I’d definitely agree that keeping physically active is very important for people living with arthritis. Strengthening the muscles in the front of the upper leg (the Quadriceps) has been proven to reduce the pain of knee arthritis in many people. In fact, there is an exercises programme called ‘ESCAPE-Pain’ (http://www.escape-pain.org/) that has over 12 years’ worth of high quality research supporting it. This programme has been proven to reduce pain, improve your ability to perform daily activities and help with some of the psychological symptoms of arthritis such as low mood. It also includes self-management education sessions to enable you to understand your condition and take control. Importantly you can do as much or as little as you are able and can build up at your own pace. You can even download a free App from the App store to allow you to try it out at home. I highly recommend it.

Obviously you will have some days where you are better and some where you are worse. Pacing your activity and gradually building up can help with this and you can find out more at https://www.iosteopathy.org/osteopathy- ... -yourself/

The charity Arthritis Action also provides some useful free factsheets https://www.arthritisaction.org.uk/livi ... actsheets/