Alternatives In Osteoarthritis Care
It seems to me that arthritis is often dismissed by medical practitioners as "incurable" without regard for the many therapies and treatments that can really have a significant impact on the pain and dysfunction caused by this condition. While the arthritis itself is not going to disappear, there can be a real change in the quality of life for millions of people now suffering pain and loss of motion. Conventional treatment offers only pain-killing and anti-inflammatory drugs or joint replacement surgery that will have to be replaced, on average, every eight years. Holistic healthcare seeks to get to the bottom of the situation.
It seems to me that the body has an intelligence and an instinct to repair itself. Just like it repairs the skin when it has been cut, the body actually makes more bone in a weak or damaged joint in an attempt to stabilize it. This is what we call osteoarthritis and it can occur wherever there has been "wear and tear" on a joint.
It seems to me that we must first ask why the joint is unstable and work to correct the cause of the problem. Most times there are also conditions such as muscle spasm or swelling that have been contributing to the instability and aggravating the situation. These secondary conditions are often found, upon treatment, to have been causing a large portion of the pain. These contributing factors must be dealt with to provide comprehensive pain relief, but also if we are to halt the progression of the arthritis. The instability of one joint, and the resulting body adaptations it makes necessary, is often the cause of weakening, instability, and arthritis in other joints. This progression can be stopped with proper care.