Arthritis Swelling – Are there Easy Ways to Control It?

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Both Rheumatoid and Osteoarthritis have swelling, inflammation and stiffness as primary symptoms. Your swelling may be worse at certain times of the day. You need to control your swelling or it could lead to even more pain and loss of function.

Best Ways to Reduce the Swelling of Arthritis

Some people find that Heat Therapy works better for them than ice does. You may have to try both and see what works best for you.

Physical activity or Exercise – When your joints are stiff and swollen you may be afraid to exercise for fear it will make your pain worse, but it really is what you need to reduce the swelling. Your activity doesn’t need to be too vigorous to be beneficial. Activities such as walking, swimming, gardening, yoga, or even housework, will help to flush the fluid from your swollen joints. This will relieve pressure in your arthritic joints and reduce your pain.

Many of my patients with arthritis had swelling and back pain which started feeling much improved after adding some simple exercise to their daily routine.

Diet – Certain foods cause inflammation. Most polyunsaturated vegetable oils such as safflower, corn, sunflower, peanut, and soy, are high in linoleic acid, which is often the cause of inflammation and could contribute to inflammation and swelling.

The type of oils that contain omega-3 fatty acids such as fish oil and flaxseed oil actually reduce inflammation.

Certain diets such as a high-carb, low-protein diet are inflammatory and may contribute to the swelling and inflammation of arthritis.

Low-carb diets will reduce inflammation and arthritis swelling.

Foods high in refined sugar such as cookies, pies, candies, chocolates, soda-pop, ice cream, and sugared cereals also cause inflammation and swelling. If you are having a problem with arthritis, you should stay away from sugar as much as you possibly can.

Eating more complex carbohydrates such as brown rice, whole grains, oatmeal, barley, quinoa, millet, and eating more raw foods and vegetables will help relieve your arthritis swelling and pain.

There are also allergens such as casein and gluten found in wheat and dairy products that cause inflammation and swelling. Some people have to stop eating wheat and dairy entirely because of the amount of discomfort they cause.

As you get older, foods like dairy or wheat, that never bothered you before, can start to cause problems with your immune system that creates a low grade inflammation that can cause your arthritis swelling and pain to worsen.

Foods high in trans fats like margarine, shortening, butter, cake mixes, bisquick, Ramen noodles, fast food burgers, French fries, fried chicken, frozen apple pies, chicken pot pies, baked goods, doughnuts, cookies, chips, crackers, Wheat Thins, Cheez-its, nondairy creamers, whipped toppings, gravy mixes, salad dressings, bean dips, breakfast cereals, energy bars and candy bars should be consumed as little as possible to avoid arthritis swelling and inflammation.

Foods high in Trans fats create LDL’s, the bad kind of cholesterol, which causes inflammation in your body. You can’t eliminate all trans fats from your diet, but eating less of them will help you if you have arthritis.

Tips to avoid Trans Fats

• Use less butter than the recipe recommends

• Order your meat broiled or baked

• Avoid fried foods of all kinds

• Natural oils such as olive oil and canola oil don't contain trans fat.

If you want to test to see if you have sensitivity to a certain food try eliminating that food from your diet for 2-3 weeks and see if you feel better.

If you follow some of the above dietary suggestions you will probably lose a bit of weight. Extra weight increases joint damage and fluid buildup. Losing weight will take pressure off your joints which will also reduce arthritis swelling and pain.

Lower Back Brace – One of the reasons your joints swell is because they are weak and unstable. Instability will make the arthritis swelling and pain worse. Braces that support the joints in your lower back can stabilize that part of your spine and give you relief.

Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) is a non-invasive, drug-free method of controlling pain. It is also felt that TENS helps reduce arthritis swelling. Portable TENS units can be worn on your belt and turned on as often and for as long as you like. TENS stimulation blocks pain signals thereby giving you relief.

Inversion therapy can be helpful at reducing arthritis swelling and pain in your back and other joints. Inversion removes the compressive forces of gravity. Inversion also improves your circulation and lymph flow which will help reduce swelling.

Cervical Support Pillow If your arthritis swelling is in your neck or upper back you will find relief if your head and neck are properly supported while you sleep.

To Your Best Health,

Dr. Cliff

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