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By Susan Hall
From Health magazine
From Health magazine
Feeling sluggish? Fighting off a cold? These simple reflexology moves from naturopathic physician Leah Sherman will help fix what ails you. View the slideshow.
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Slideshow: Sweet Uses for Sugar
October 19, 2008
(ISTOCKPHOTO)
By Susan Hall
From Health magazine
From Health magazine
Finally! Permission to raid the sugar bowl—but not for your morning cereal or coffee. Learn how the sweet stuff naturally does wonders for dry skin, scrapes, etc. View the slideshow.
Slideshow: Steam It Up!
October 19, 2008
(ISTOCKPHOTO)
By Susan Hall
From Health magazine
From Health magazine
Need relief from the winter chill? Hitting a hot shower can help you kick colds to the curb, soothe pain, and more. View the slideshow.
Girls Gotta Move: Your #1 Pain–Relieved
October 12, 2008
From Health magazine
No need to put up with achy runner’s knees. The most common complaint among runners—knee pain, or “runner’s knee”—is usually easy to treat. Here’s how to overcome it. Read More
Pain Cures for Women: New Relief for Headaches
June 24, 2008
There’s good news for women who suffer migraines—and most other types of headaches—which they do at twice the rate of men. Headaches are one area where the new focus on prevention can be seen in a host of treatment options, including Botox. Considered experimental just a few years ago, Botox injections (in which the botulinum toxin type A is used to paralyze specific muscles in the forehead, brow, temples, and neck) is now offered by many hospital pain clinics. Botox is also extremely effective for certain types of neck pain, such as cervical dystonia. Read More
Arthritis Quiz Answers
June 15, 2008
Here are the correct answers.
1. Before you start a new exercise routine to reduce your joint pain, you should:
a. Join a gym
b. Find a workout partner
c. Talk to your doctor
d. Buy new sneakers
Answer: c. Talk to your doctor.
It is wise for anyone to talk to a doctor before starting an exercise regime, but it’s especially important if your joints are injured by arthritis and your fitness level is low from taking it easy to stay out of pain. Ask about exercise time and weight limits, motivational support, and appropriate after-exercise pain treatment.
2. The goal of exercising to help your arthritis should be to improve your:
a. Flexibility
b. Strength
c. Cardiovascular health
d. All of the above
Answer: d. All of the above.
Exercise will help improve your joints’ range of motion, strengthen the muscles around the joints (which protects them and improves function), increase your aerobic fitness, and help you lose weight (which reduces the stress on your joints).
3. One of the best ways to stick to your exercise goals is to:
a. Join a group
b. Exercise at the same time every day
c. Work out in the morning
d. Join a gym
Answer: a. Join a group.
Group participation is an important motivator for people who want to begin exercising, losing weight, and changing their habits. Arthritis, like any chronic pain condition, can be an isolating disease, so finding support will not only help you achieve your fitness goals, but it will also help you tackle this disease. Ask arthritis clinics, community centers, physical therapy clinics, and gyms to recommend group programs.
4. True or False: Yoga is often a good exercise for people with arthritis.
a. True
b. False
Answer: a. True.
Although yoga often conjures images of difficult postures requiring expert execution, beginning-level yoga classes emphasize stretching, whole-body well-being, and group practice—which can all be relevant to some arthritis sufferers. Few studies have been done, but the Johns Hopkins Arthritis Center recommends yoga to its patients.
5. Which of the following sports was found in recent research to benefit some people with arthritis?
a. Boxing
b. Tennis
c. Swimming
d. Jai alai
Answer: c. Swimming.
A small 2007 Australian study found “significant” benefits from swimming because it is low-impact and supports the body. Check with your local community center, YMCA, or a nearby pool for arthritis-focused facilities and sessions.
6. Before exercising, people with arthritis should:
a. Apply ice packs to joints
b. Apply gentle heat to joints
Answer: b. Apply gentle heat to joints.
The Mayo Clinic’s arthritis center advises a 20-minute joint-warming routine before you begin—warm towels, hot packs, etc. This, says the center, may be followed by a post-exercise ice-pack cooldown. Go easy: Neither the heat nor the cold should be painful.
Supplement Watch: What Works When Workouts Hurt
All-Natural Healing: The Latest on 4 Popular Supplements
Morning Workout Drinks, Muscle-Cream Danger, and More
All-Natural Healing: Glucosamine and Chondroitin
June 15, 2008
In 1997 the best seller The Arthritis Cure argued that two then-new supplements, glucosamine and chondroitin, could “cure” joint pain. For the record, neither glucosamine nor chondroitin cures arthritis. But they—especially glucosamine—do help alleviate the pain. A 2006 study by the University of Utah School of Medicine looked at 1,583 knee osteoarthritis patients and found that glucosamine and chrondroitin provide moderate relief for moderate to severe arthritis. But when it comes to mild arthritis, the study found the supplements had no effect. And major studies over the past 20 years have found the supplements work as well as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) to relieve joint pain and stiffness, but with less stomach distress.
Osteoarthritis develops when wear and tear breaks down the shock-absorbing cartilage inside joints. Glucosamine helps repair this cushioning by improving its ability to hold water, while chondroitin draws water into cartilage. The more water that cartilage contains, the better the shock absorption for your joints. The studies are not unanimous, but most show that both supplements diminish osteoarthritis pain, particularly in the knees. “The research is compelling, especially for glucosamine, which has been better studied,” says Mark Blumenthal, executive director of the American Botanical Council (ABC), the nation’s leading independent organization for herb education. “And both supplements have a solid safety record.”
Dosage: Most of the studies used 1,500 milligrams a day of glucosamine and 1,200 milligrams a day of chondroitin.
Caveats: None.
Pain Cures for Women: How to be a Good Pain Patient
June 15, 2008
There’s no question that women aren’t always taken seriously when they ask for help with a condition that doesn’t have a clear-cut explanation. Just ask those with pelvic pain. Chronic pain is bad enough, but pain down there can be very difficult to describe. “I see so many patients who come in with pelvic, vulvar, ovarian, and/or lower-back pain that they’ve been dealing with for years, but they can’t even tell exactly where the pain is coming from,” Metzger says. “There are certain nerves on the abdominal wall that tend to be vulnerable spots. It takes time and patience to pinpoint what’s really going on.”
That’s what happened to Jo Ziegler, 39, of Katonah, New York. She struggled for more than a year with lower-abdominal pain. And it wasn’t until after trying a wheat- and sugar-free diet and having a colonoscopy that she visited a surgeon who made a correct hernia diagnosis. One simple outpatient procedure, and Ziegler was rid of the pain.
Often, the biggest treatment barriers women encounter are plain old stereotypes: Women are perceived as “emotional” when they try to talk about what’s bothering them, says Joseph Shurman, MD, whose wife, Gloria Shurman, PhD, suffers from chronic pain. “But how can you not get emotional if it hurts, and it seems like nobody will listen?” Gloria says.
The solution is to take a proactive approach, the Shurmans say, even if you need to look in the mirror and give yourself a pep talk and write down a list of symptoms or questions before you head for the doctor’s office. “The most important thing is to be persistent,” Gloria Shurman says. “If you’re in pain, don’t ever take no for an answer.”
By Melanie Haiken
Pain Cures for Women: Fighting the Fatigue
June 15, 2008
In the past year, some of the biggest headlines in pain management have been about fibromyalgia (chronic bodywide pain in joints, muscles, and tendons) and CFS, two conditions that strike women at as much as six times the rate of men. After years of failing to take these conditions seriously, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other groups have recently mounted aggressive public-information campaigns alerting women to the prevalence of these conditions and the importance of accurate diagnosis and treatment. Experts have also made dramatic gains in finding treatments that work by focusing on the sleep problems and physical weakness that seem to fuel these diseases. Read More
Pain Cures for Women: Zooming in on Female Pain
June 15, 2008
Fotolia
We know that men don’t suffer menstrual pain, but that’s not the only fun they’re missing. “Research is uncovering very dramatic differences in how the genders experience pain,” says Mark Allen Young, a professor at New York College of Podiatric Medicine and author of Women and Pain: Why It Hurts and What You Can Do. Read More
Previous pain Stories
Pain Cures for Women: The Prevention Revolution
06/15/2008 - Pain ReliefAlternative Pain Remedies
05/13/2008 - Alternative HealthAll-Natural Healing: The Latest on 4 Popular Supplements
05/05/2008 - Pain ReliefHow to Use Supplements Safely
05/05/2008 - Alternative HealthNatural Remedies for Pain, Sleep, PMS, and More
05/05/2008 - Improve Your MoodIs That Belly Ache in Your Head?
04/24/2008 - Mind and BodySupplement Watch: What Works When Workouts Hurt
04/24/2008 - Pain Relief
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