The new and latest breakthrough is by doctors at the German town Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who have found that the arthritis pain can be killed with a baggie full of ice. For those who do not help through the usual heat treatment this might be the answer.
At this clinic, 24 patients applied this treatment to sore knees, three times a day for 4 weeks and all agreed they had experienced improvement. They had no pain. The movement was free and there was muscle strength. Those who undertook this treatment could stand up faster, sleep better and best of all could cut down their doses of medicine to half.
This is the treatment, in a nutshell. Using 2 large baggies, you fill each of them with six cubes of ice and half a litre of water. Put one on top of the sore knee and one below. Wrap it with a towel and keep it for 20 minutes. Do it three times a day at evenly spaced intervals. You may feel uncomfortable for a little while. This feeling lasts for 5 minutes then anaesthetic effects set in. At the end of the treatment you feel great. The German town patient, used baggies only on one knee even if they had arthritis in both the knees.
Even though it was applied to only one knee, patients said it made both knees feel better. Peter D.Utsinger, who headed the research team says this unexpected benefit may not be just the power of suggestion, but something purely physical. This is why one of several effects produced by the cold therapy is an upsurge in the body’s level of endorphines. These are the natural chemicals that circulate in the body and actually numb pain. It is quite possible that endorphines relieve pain in both legs and convincingly anywhere else in the body.
Exercise
Exercise is one of the most important therapies. It helps to regain flexibility and strength. Exercising, with the onset of arthritis, can be really painful. Should one exercise if there is pain? Pain in the nature’s way of telling us to stop doing something harmful. Sure the old saying is generally true, but not absolutely true in the case of arthritis. The arthritic joints you must keep moving, preferably through the full range, to prevent them from freezing up and to prevent muscles from wasting. Many a time these motions hurt but most doctors will agree that you must move the arthritic joint. Push it just a little past the point of discomfort during the work out. If the pain persists over two hours after you have finished the exercise it will mean you have pushed a little too hard. Reduce the pressure when you do it the next time. You will be surprised as the days and weeks pass by. Keep on exercising, the range of your joint movements will go on increasing slowly but surely.
The movement and pain are inversely related. As you increase the movement, the pain keeps on reducing. The cartilage in the joints does not have its own blood supply and for it there is only one way to get the nourishment and that is through synorial fluid and the only way synorial fluid can enter the joint is by doing exercises. Without movement the synovial membrane gradually adheres to the joint cartilage, eventually it obscures the synovial fluid reaching the joints. The cartilage cannot survive without nutrition for long and it degenerates.
Exercises are not only good for you, but they are (or soon will be) a source of real fun. There are a lot of items to choose from yoga, dancing, stretching, sports or just plain movements. This will depend more on your personality than the type of arthritis you are suffering from. The aim is to improve flexibility, increase the strength of the muscles surrounding the joint, so that you do not need the external support and you increase your endurance.
A word of caution. Do not use painkillers when you are exercising. They too easily mask the pain, so that you unwittingly damage the joint by pushing it too fast or too hard.