Arthritis pain can keep you from doing the activities you love. During a serious flare-up, you may even find it difficult to do simple tasks, such as washing the dishes or walking at the mall.
Here, we’ve listed the top five steps you can take to help you find some relief from arthritis pain and restore function. If arthritis pain is disabling and persistent, don’t hesitate to contact River Oaks Emergency Room. Our compassionate care team is always available to help.
Hot and cold treatments
Heat can help relieve stiffness in arthritic joints. A warm bath or shower in the morning or an electric blanket at night encourages circulation and keeps your joints loose. If a specific site is bothering you, try a wrapped heating pad or a warm compress applied right at the site.
Cold treatments such as cold compresses or bags of ice wrapped in a towel can help relieve swelling in your joints and excessive inflammation during an arthritis flare-up.
Apply either treatment for no more than 15 minutes at a time, two to four times per day.
Massage
Seeking out regular massage therapy to relieve arthritic joints and improve your range of motion can help you deal with arthritis pain. You can perform self-massage learned from a physical therapist or specialist at River Oaks ER or schedule appointments with a massage therapist regularly. Massage relieves muscles tightness, encourages circulation, improves joint function, and helps reduce inflammation and the flow of toxins.
Exercise
You may want to do nothing more than sit in a chair when arthritis pain strikes, but this only makes your condition worse. Choose activities that build muscle around your joints, but don’t do more damage to them. Progressive, gradual, and gentle exercise is best. Look for low-impact options, such as water aerobics, walking, or cycling. Avoid high-impact activity such as running or jumping.
Gentle stretching and light weight training can also help alleviate arthritis pain long-term.
If you feel unable to undertake your normal exercise routine, at least try for a gentle walk or mild stretches.
Medication
For occasional outbreaks of arthritis pain, over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medications offer relief. Tylenol, Advil, and Aleve are all name-brand options. You may also try topical pain relief in the form of capsaicin-containing cream. If these medications don’t help, talk to the expert staff at River Oaks ER for other options.
Weight loss
Being overweight puts additional pressure on your joints and can exacerbate arthritis pain. The team at River Oaks ER can offer recommendations for ways to naturally and healthfully drop a few extra pounds. Reducing portion sizes, choosing whole foods, and adding in some extra activity are all achievable, effective strategies.
If you have unusual symptoms that accompany an arthritis flare-up, don’t try to manage them at home. Signs that you should head to River Oaks ER include a high fever with a rash, severe and sudden abdominal pain, sudden spine pain, and swollen, hot, and red joints. If your flare-up seems unusual, it’s best to seek medical attention.
River Oaks Emergency Room, a Village Emergency Center facility in Houston, Texas, is open for walk-in patients 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We never close, not even on holidays. A private, freestanding emergency room, River Oaks ER offers all of the same services and care as a hospital emergency room, but with little or no wait time. When you can’t deal with arthritis pain alone, River Oaks ER is here to help anytime you need.