So many people don’t really know what the causes of joint pain are. If you don’t know what all the causes of joint pain are (specific to you) then it makes it very hard to help yourself!
Following on from the last article about what you can do for your arthritis or joint pain…One of the greatest misunderstandings is that there is little that you can do to help yourself with Arthritis. Well this is complete nonsense and I will give you more to be able to help yourself.
There is a host of things that you can do to help arthritis pain which is not expensive and can be done in your own home…
- Hot and cold therapy – discussed last time.
- massage
- stretch
- acupressure
- compression
- elevation
- Orthotic use.
I repeat….Many of these treatments are also very useful diagnostically (help to understand everything that is causing your arthritis pain) and prognostically (help determine how much benefit you may achieve) too.
Muscle one of the Causes of Joint Pain…
Many things can add to or cause joint pain; inflammation, muscle tension, worn out joints etc… So it is crucial to understand in each case what is really involved.
However when we understand the causes then we need to perform the most appropriate strategies to help address these causes.
Typically a major misunderstood factor in joint and arthritis pain is the muscles involvement.
To deal with muscle issues we can use the following techniques;
- massage
- acupressure
- stretching
- heat application.
Last time we talked about heat application but today we will discuss massage.
Massage
Massage is a brilliant tool for releasing tension from tight muscles.
The most important things are safety first. To be safe please investigate the ‘contraindications for massage’ to make sure you are safe to use massage as a treatment. If in doubt clear it with your Dr.
If it is safe to proceed then you will be aiming to massage all the muscles directly below and above the joint involved. Taking care not to massage directly over the joint if there is any inflammation (swelling or heat or redness).
This is obviously not the forum for teaching such skills. But if you would like more information then please visit this link.
Once the muscles have been released it would be expected to see some improvement in the amount of movement the joint has or some reduction in pain. Then the challenge is continuing to keep the muscles in their favourable condition!