Nobody wants arthritis, yet too many people have it. It’s estimated that 40 to 50 million Americans have some form of arthritis. Chances are you or someone you know in Minnesota deals with it daily.
Arthritis is an inflammation of the joints. There are more than 100 different types of arthritis, and while arthritis can affect people of all ages, arthritic pain is most common in people over the age of 65. It also tends to be more common in women than men as well as in people who are obese.
With arthritis, a person may see and feel swelling and/or redness from inflammation. Joint pain is often found in the hands and knees. They may experience feeling “stiff” in places they don’t want to be stiff. Of course this interferes with normal everyday life. For some, arthritic pain causes them to miss out on social events, such as playing with grandkids or going to a birthday party, because the pain hurts so bad.
Could you take medications for arthritis? Sure. But they come with side effects. Take, for instance, the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). These can cause edema (where your feet swell up), heartburn, upset stomach (to the point of developing stomach ulcers), an increased risk of blood clots, and possibly even heart attacks and/or a stroke. Not good, eh?
Some people with arthritis use DMARDs (disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs) which can increase their susceptibility to infection and make their stomachs upset. For those who resort to cortiocosteroids (which are cortisone-like medicines), bone loss, cataracts, elevated blood sugar levels and an increased appetite are just some of their side effects.
Instead of using drugs to battle arthritis, people should consider consistent, preventative chiropractic care.
While chiropractic care may not be able to “cure” arthritis, it comes in handy because it can help prevent the damage arthritis creates. For instance, if you have a joint that becomes fixated and out of alignment, it’ll start to grind, causing inflammation. Left untreated, you’ll be in pain! However, with a chiropractor using hand manipulation to “unstick” a joint that wants to be fixated, then you won’t get micro-tears in your joint/disc. Therefore, the chiropractic care slows down or stops joint/disc deterioration.
Chiropractic care has helped many arthritis sufferers feel better over time. Best of all, it doesn’t require taking pills that may have negative side effects. Chiropractors are natural healers.
Time is of the essence with arthritis. Make an appointment to see Dr. Gerard at Lakewoods Chiropractic; call 651-464-0800.
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