Coping with Arthritis
Did you know that Arthritis effects over 400,000 people in the UK? What exactly is arthritis and what should you do about it? Arthritis itself means joint inflammation and can affect you in many ways throughout your body. We’ve provided some background information on what arthritis is, common types and how to lessen its impact on your activities for daily living.
What is Arthritis?
Arthritis can technically be referred to as over 100 different conditions that affect your joints. Although it can often affect muscles and other tissues within your body. Although there are a lot of variations of Arthritis, there are two types that are more common than others:
Osteoarthritis - This is the most common form of Arthritis, and occurs due to the breakdown of tissues inside the joints.
Rheumatoid arthritis - This is an auto-immune disease. It’s when your immune system attacks the cells that line your joints, which makes the stiff, swollen and painful.
Warning signs of Arthritis
Listed below are some of the most common warning signs of Arthritis. If you feel that you have one or more of these signs, please visit your doctor.
Joint swelling
Lasting joint pain
Joint stiffness
Tenderness or pain when touching a joint
Problems moving a joint
Warmth or redness in a joint
Luckily, there are plenty of things you can do to combat Arthritis.
How to deal with Arthritis
Healthy Eating
Eating a healthy, balanced diet is essential to helping your Arthritis. Eating healthy will give you all the nutrients you need to maintain a healthy weight and keep unnecessary stress off your joints.
Your diet should consist of a variety of foods from all 5 food groups. These are:
starchy foods – such as bread, rice, potatoes and pasta
If you're overweight, losing weight can really help you cope with arthritis. Too much weight places excess pressure on the joints in your hips, knees, ankles and feet, leading to increased pain and mobility problems.
Exercise
Exercising can seem like a daunting task when your joints are hurting, but getting yourself moving (to an extent) will actually help your Arthritis. Daily stretching will help keep muscles loose around your joints, and regular exercise can also help improve bone strength.
Some of the benefits of regular exercise are:
improve your range of movement and joint mobility
increase muscle strength
reduce stiffness
boost your energy
As long as you do the right type and level of exercise for your condition, your arthritis won't get any worse. Combined with a healthy, balanced diet, regular exercise will help you lose weight and place less strain on your joints. Your GP can recommend the type and level of exercise that's right for you.
Joint Care
Looking after your joints is essential to ensure that you do not get further damage. Try to take the stress of your joints when performing every day tasks like moving items or lifting things up.
To help loosen the load on your joints, try the following as suggested by the NHS:
use larger, stronger joints as levers – for example, take the pressure of opening a heavy door on your shoulder rather than on your hand
use several joints to spread the weight of an object – for example, use both hands to carry your shopping or distribute the weight evenly by using a rucksack
don't grip too tightly – grip as loosely as possible or use a padded handle to widen your grip
Adaptive Clothing
Adaptive clothing is designed with the dressing needs of the elderly and disabled in mind. They make every day tasks easier, and help people with limited mobility dress themselves and carry out normal functions.
These adapted features include:
Velcro-type closures instead of buttons
Zippers with easy-to-grasp pull tabs
Shoes with Velcro-type closures instead of shoelaces
Arthritis is a conditions that affects many people, often those close to us. But there are plenty of things we can do to help you or your loved one get through it.