How diet can impact joint pain

Everyone knows that eating healthy and having a balanced diet is great for health and wellbeing. However, it is less known how your diet can have an impact on your joints and aches and pains.

There have been many studies done on this topic. They found that having a diet that’s packed with anti-inflammatory foods, can have a positive effect on your pain levels even if you are suffering with conditions like rheumatoid arthritis. One diet that they studied was the Mediterranean diet. This diet is rich in omega-3 fatty acids which are known to reduce eicosanoids. These are involved in causing inflammation.  

Foods or diets that can help reduce your pain

When it comes to rheumatoid arthritis, you need to focus on reducing inflammation. You do this by altering the balance of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids and increase antioxidants. This is because omega-6 fatty acid, which is found in animal foods is a precursor for eicosanoids. In the studies, the people following an anti-inflammatory diet experienced lower levels of pain when compared to people on ordinary diets.

Mediterranean diet

The Mediterranean diet is packed full with fresh fruits, vegetables, antioxidants, olive oil and a healthy dose of fish. Fish is full of omega-3 fatty acids. These fatty acids act as natural anti-inflammatory agents. This then leads to reduced joint pain and swelling. This is why choosing fish over red meat can help your body to fight inflammation, making your pain less and keeping your joints comfortable.

Vegetarian and vegan diets

These diets are low or completely devoid of arachidonic acid. This acid causes inflammation. By choosing a plant-based diet, you're steering clear of arachidonic acid and reducing your inflammation. Your joints will feel better and you will be able to move more freely and without pain.

Omega 6 fatty acids

People are sometimes using processed seed oils which, although high in omega 6 have unhealthy ratios of omega 6 to omega 3. Some sources of refined, bad vegetable oils used for cooking are soybean, safflower, grapeseed, sunflower, corn, cottonseed, sesame, peanut and walnut oils. Give them a miss.

Gluten, Nightshades, and Your Joints

Gluten is in grains including wheat, rye, barley, spelt and sometimes oats. Coeliac disease is an autoimmune disease where your immune system reacts abnormally to gluten. Studies show that people with coeliac disease can get joint pain. So, if this is you, try avoiding wheat and gluten to reduce your joint pain. Many people can be sensitive to these products, even if they don’t have coeliac disease. You will have certain symptoms arise after eating gluten and wheat, these can include foggy mind, headache, fatigue, joint and muscle pain, and leg or arm numbness. However, many people have no apparent symptoms and are still sensitive. If you suspect sensitivity, call us at the clinic and book in a test. It’s non-invasive and will let you know for sure and will be part of the reason you have joint pain. We also test for many other things in this test so let’s discuss it so you know once and for all what is making you ill. Check us out on this link www.stressfreehealthmanagement.com

Vegetables

A group of vegetables that belong to the Solanaceae family, such as tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants, and bell peppers can exacerbate joint pain. This is even more so for people with certain autoimmune conditions like arthritis. This is because they contain chemical compounds called alkaloids, which contribute to inflammation and joint discomfort in sensitive individuals.

Why not call us today to find out what you are sensitive to and let us design a health plan you can get healthy with and stay healthy?

Knee replacements – are they worth it?

Knee replacements are often recommended for people suffering with osteoarthritis, joint disease or serious injuries from earlier in life. Knee issues can cause excruciating pain so often specialists recommend a replacement as a way to free up the patient from continually popping the pain killers.

Symptoms of arthritis, or a serious injury in the knee are swelling, pain, and deformity of the knee. This can seriously affect your quality of life and cause some restrictions on you day to day activities. It can cause problems doing tasks such as getting in and out of the car, climbing up the stairs, and sitting or walking for extended periods of time leading to frustration but not necessarily surgery.

There are other treatments that can be tried before resorting to surgery. Some of these treatments include physiotherapy, pain medications and anti-inflammatories, also weight loss helps as the risk of osteoarthritis is twice as high if you’re overweight.

The operation

If you do require surgery, the good news is that the replacements have continued to improve over the years. Not only in how they are made but also the way they are inserted into the knee which decreases the recovery time. The metal and plastic bits, the way they are fixed to the bone, the techniques used, the technology to put them in and even rehab afterwards has improved over the years. However if you can delay surgery for as long as possible that one expense and inconvenience will last you the rest of your life also saving you future pain.

The knee replacement procedure is done by making small cuts into the leg, allowing the surgeon to then either replace the whole knee with prostheses or only part of the knee. The procedure is performed under a general or local anaesthetic.

Recovery

Recovery from the operation can vary from person to person but can take anything from 6 weeks before you are feeling up to being up and about to 12months. Medication will be given to keep pain at a manageable level, and your pain should decrease in the first few days after surgery. Many doctors get patients up within 4–6 hours after the operation and within 3 or 4 days they can usually go home.

Other options

If you are feeling hesitant about having knee surgery why not try some natural options first? Reducing your inflammation with the help of a naturopath at our clinic, correct diet and supplements, losing weight, reiki or other energy healing and exercise. Quite often these can help you avoid an operation. Give us a call to find out how we can help.

 What are Haemorrhoids? How to treat them.

Haemorrhoids can be very painful and cause lots of different problems. Haemorrhoids are clusters of veins in the smooth muscle walls of the anus or lower rectum and can be also known as piles. This means they make you very uncomfortable when you need to open your bowels. They are caused by increases in pressure to the blood vessels in the anus. This can be caused by things such as low fibre diets, pregnancy, obesity and prolonged sitting or standing. Other factors that can contribute to the cause are diarrhea or constipation, spinal cord injuries, alcoholism, lifting heavy weight, aging and anal intercourse.

Symptoms are pain, and pain during bowel movements, itching and bleeding around the rectum and /or the anus. You may also find hard painful lumps and get mucus or faecal leakage. Haemorrhoids can go away on their own but here are some treatments that may help to speed up the recovery. It is important however to make sure that the symptoms are related to haemorrhoids and not something more serious.

The doctor will use medical history, symptoms and a physical examination to diagnose haemorrhoids. There are a few different types. Some bleed but are not prolapsed, others are prolapsed but get smaller on their own suddenly and others prolapse and have to be reduced manually whilst the worst prolapse but cannot be reduced.

Treating haemorrhoids, even though they can disappear on their own, can help to ease the symptoms faster. If you have the low grade haemorrhoids that bleed but do not prolapse you can try some at home remedies such as Epsom Salts and glycerine. Mix two tablespoons of Epsom Salts with 2 tablespoons of glycerine and apply to the painful area with gauze. Apply for 15-20-minutes and repeat every 4 to 6 hours. Or you can try Myrtus Communis essential oil to help improve bleeding, and itching. To help calm spasms you can try sitting in a Sitz bath or even a regular warm bath for 20min 2 to 3 times a day. Also eating more fibre or taking stool softeners, digestive enzymes and probiotics can help relieve symptoms.

If you are suffering from the higher graded haemorrhoids then you might need other products you can buy at the health food store or the chemist. If these don’t work then there are prescription medications from the doctor. In some cases, you may require more intensive medical procedures such as rubber band ligation, which is using rubber bands to cut off circulation to the haemorrhoid. Infrared coagulation and radiofrequency ablation therapy also work in the same sort of way. If all this fails you may require surgery to remove them. Take care of these when they just start and don’t let them become bad and uncomfortable. They are a symptom that your gut is not healthy or working properly. See your naturopath to find out what you need to improve your diet and gut health and very soon haemorrhoids will be in the past and your digestion will be working better. 

Treating migraines naturally

Migraines are not just a headache. Unless you suffer from migraines you may have difficulty understanding why people need to go home from work and rest when they have them. They are not just a pain in the head. You may see flashes before your eyes, feel dizzy, vomit and all kinds of disturbing symptoms to the point where you just can’t function. Remember to keep this in mind if you have an employee tell you that they have been in bed for the last couple of days with a migraine. They are not just taking a sickie.

Migraines can range from moderate to extreme pain, cause sensitivities to noise, smell, taste and sight including causing issues with vision which means your employee definitely can’t drive. An extreme migraine can cause the sufferer to vomit, diarrhea and all this makes them impatient and irritable. Naturally with all this happening they also can’t eat. Migraines don’t give you any warning signs that they are coming like a regular headache. They come on suddenly and can last for up to three days.

There are many things that can cause a migraine and anyone can get one, however if you are between the age of 14 and 69 migraines are more common in women. They are hard to treat because they can be so different and that is why your natural therapist needs to be kept informed what is happening and if their treatment is working. Alternatively drug medication will help but it’s only a temporary fix and does not empower you to control the migraine in the future. Some things that can cause a migraine can be stress, sleep disorders and hormone fluctuations.

There are many treatments that may assist if you are a sufferer but you need to implement them as soon as possible as it is often difficult to stop a migraine once it has taken hold. The best way is to work on preventing them. If it’s too late for that then you need to manage the pain once they have started. Lifestyle changes such as meditation, massage, exercise and a healthy diet will help prevent or reduce the length and severity of a migraine. Essential oil blends have also been known to assist.

Recipes such as Eucalyptus oil, 1 drop, clary sage 2 drops, and ginger 3 drops can be used as an inhaler. This will help with nausea and congestion. However, keep in mind that clary sage should not be used in pregnancy. Peppermint and lavender are also useful - a blend of 2 drops of each. In the early stages this will sometimes stop an attack.

Often it’s a good idea to keep a mix of an oil on hand ready to inhale at even the slightest headache. Try some rosemary, lavender, clary sage and marjoram in equal mixes. Remember to check the side effects of these oils depending on other illnesses you may have as some essential oils affect blood pressure etc. As a first aide you can use some Lemon Balm on a tissue to help calm both your mind and body.

If your migraines are persistent please take some time out to consult a natural therapist who will look at your whole constitution as to what is out of balance. Some energy therapy will balance you also and by learning to tone down your stress levels, increase your immunity and balance your energy you will soon find that your migraines will diminish to help you lead a more fun-filled life.