Do Your Part for Arthritis Care Week

With Arthritis Care Week this week, it got me thinking about the many ways we try to treat arthritis and relieve joint pain.

Now as you know, arthritis is traditionally treated with anti-inflammatories and injections. But after doing a little digging I discovered that most common arthritis treatments only treat the pain – not the source – they also become ineffective with excessive use as your body becomes accustomed to them.

Bearing this in mind, I have spent the last week looking for alternative herbal treatments, and have actually come up with quite a few.

So if you or someone you love are currently suffering from arthritis, then why not give some of the following herbs and oils a try:

  • Alfalfa – this is best taken as a tea. (Do not take as a powder)
  • Angelica Black cohosh – this is particularly good for rheumatism.
  • Boswellia – works similar to anti-inflammatories but doesn’t irritate or cause ulcerations in your stomach.
  • Celery seeds – contains 25 different anti-inflammatory compounds.
  • Devil’s claw Epsom salts – used in a bath can help to increase circulation and reduce swelling.
  • Feverfew – some studies have found this to have more anti-inflammatory effects that NSAIDs. Simply take 250milligrams once/twice a day.
  • Ginger – ginger tea or a ginger compresses are great for relieving pain and swelling in the joints Hop tea.
  • Liquorice – behaves in a similar way to cortisone without the side effects.
  • Red pepper, cayenne pepper – is believed to interfere with pain perception due to the capsaicin it contains. Simply apply to your skin as a cream 4 times a day and it can help to reduce your pain by up to a 1/3.
  • Rosemary – enriched in earnosol, oleanolic acid, rosmarinic acid and ursolic acid, these anti-inflammatory substances can do wonders for your joints when drank as a tea.
  • Stinging Nettle – is widely used in Germany and is particularly helpful for treating the early stages of arthritis.
  • Wild cucumber bark – many herbalists tout this as the best plant to treat arthritis. Simply put it in drinking alcohol or use in tea.
  • Willow – the original herbal aspirin, willow bark tea is believed to have pain – relieving and anti-inflammatory effects.

And these are only the herbs you can take to improve your arthritic symptoms. You can also use essential oils to treat and control your pain.

Take the following arthritis bath blend. Use daily for 2 weeks at the time and this blend can offer immediate joint pain relief.

To make all you need is: 2 handfuls of Epsom salt, 1 handful of rock salt, and 4 drops of the following blend: 30 drops Fennel, 16 drops Cypress and 10 drops Juniper. (NOTE: do not use any other treatments whilst you are using this bath blend).

After the 2 weeks, you can then massage any of these essential oils into your joints:

Roman chamomile, German chamomile, lavender, yarrow, peppermint, niaouli, calendula, eucalyptus, angelica, cedarwood, sandalwood, pettitgraine, black pepper and rosemary.

TIP:

When using any of these essential oils always make sure you add 1tbsp of carrier oil (coconut oil or jojoba oil) to a few drops of your essential oil.

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