3 easy ways to soothe stiff joints

Good morning friends. Don’t you hate it when you get out of bed with a pain in your head, neck, and back? So before you nod off, do a quick posture check. There are three positions that help the ease strain on these body parts...

Poses for relaxation

According to researchers, joint-friendly sleeping habits can help protect creaky body parts from developing a crick. Choose one of these postures: - If you sleep on your back, put a small pillow under your knees. - If you sleep on your side, avoid tucking your neck and chin into the fetal position. - If you sleep on your stomach, put a pillow under one side of your body, so your head and neck aren’t strained.

Did you know?

Rather than popping pills, eat healthy to reduce the risk of arthritis. Have a cup of green tea. It is great for bone cartilage. You can also make a daily routine of having a bowl of salad before each meal. It does a whole lot of good for your hands and knees. – The Times of India

Apples, avocados and a glass of red wine 'can ease arthritis'

Good morning friends. It’s a good thing to know that there are some fruits that can ease arthritis. One of my favorite fruit which can ease your arthritis is the apples, there is also the avocado. And the other thing is that a glass of red wine can also ease arthritis.

Suffering from arthritis? Make sure you eat apples, avocados, oily fish and drink a goblet of red wine everyday, for a new study has revealed that these could ease the painful joint condition.

Researchers have carried out the study and found a definite link between the food people eat and the severity of the symptoms -- in fact, apples, avocados and red wine contain anti-oxidants which reduce the rate at which cartilage breaks down, helping to slow the process of osteoarthritis.

Likewise, oily fish like salmon are a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids that oil the joints and thereby damp down inflammation. Omega-3 could also reduce the long-term need for painkillers in those with joint problems.

The study has also suggested that drinking plenty of fluids, two to three litres a day, to maintain good hydration and a steady flow of nutrients to your joints, leading British newspaper the 'Daily Mail' reported.

And, the foods most commonly found to worsen arthritis are wheat, corn, rye, sugar, caffeine, yeast, dairy products, oranges, grapefruit, lemons and tomatoes. Meats most likely to provoke symptoms are bacon, pork, beef and lamb. According to researchers, these foods trigger joint pain in those with arthritis. But when these are avoided about 70 per cent of sufferers have been seen to be reporting less pain and improved mobility.

The researchers have based their findings on an analysis of 82 people with osteoarthritis. The study also found that pain intensity reduced during the six-week period they had weekly Reiki sessions. – The Times of India

Rating Alternative Medicine – 5

Chiropractic

The theory behind chiropractic medicine is that improper alignment of the spine affects virtually every organ in the body and that correcting this condition restores health. Practitioners emphasize that the vertebral column is not simply a rigid structure that houses and protects the nerves coming from the brain, but a series of 24 joints, each of which must be intact and flexible. It’s thought that viturally every disease, not only back pain, is due to slippage—called subluxation—of one or more of these bones.

There are three types of chiropractors: straights, mixers, and the rest. The straights believe that virtually every illness—infection, arthritis, high blood pressure, hear attack—is due to subluxation. They not only correct these slippages when you are sick, but also recommend that your get your spine checked regularly in order to stay healthy. The mixers, who outnumber the straights, also focus on maintaining the mechanical integrity of the nervous system, but concede that there are other causes of illness. In addition to correcting subluxations, mixers advise about nutrition and lifestyle, gives therapeutic massages, perform ultrasound, and even administer an enema now and then Chiropractors in the third, as yet unnamed, category have more limited points of view. They restrict their therapy to nonsurgical neuromusculoskeletal disorders (pain due to muscles spasm nerve inflammation, or bone problems such as arthritis) and make no claims about curing other diseases.

Most orthopedists and osteopaths maintain that there’s no such thing as subluxation. Although mechanical derangement of the spine does occur, they say it is not universal, as claimed by chiropractors. Despite the long, rigorous formal education usually some four years of graduate work at an accredited institution-required before chiropractors on be licensed, the medical establishment views them as tradespeople with scientific pretensions and some M.D.’s rankle when chiropractors call themselves doctors.