Ever woken up with a twinge of joint pain, stiffness or swelling? Perhaps you undertook light activity that you’ve always been able to do, but found that recently it’s become more physically challenging. Or maybe you’ve got chronic neck or knee pain that just won’t go away. If you’ve experienced these types of symptoms, you might have arthritis. While only a medical professional can officially diagnose you, here’s what to look out for, as well as natural treatments you might want to consider.

Arthritis frequently causes pain and discomfort in major joints in your neck, knees, back and wrists. It may bring with it a general feeling of tiredness and weakness, and in extreme cases can create a physical, deforming change in fingers and toes. While the two most common types of arthritis are osteoarthritis (caused by joint friction) and rheumatoid arthritis caused by an immune system attacking itself), it can also develop as a result of an injury or infection. An advanced age, being obese or having a family history of these conditions are also factors that increase your risk.

While only your doctor can diagnose you with arthritis (and diagnose you with the type you’re currently afflicted with) and recommend a treatment plan of medication, there are several things you can do to reduce the intensity of your symptoms and decrease the damage being inflicted on your body.

Here are some recommendations:

• WATCH YOUR DIET – avoid sugar and eat balanced meals of unprocessed, lean foods. Reducing your gluten intake may help here.
• EXERCISE REGULARLY – try to maintain a weight that doesn’t add additional stress to your joints by moving often and eating well. Joint-friendly exercises can include swimming and light walking. You might want to supplement this with physical therapy.
• AVOID SUBSTANCE ABUSE – smoking cigarettes and consuming alcohol could make your symptoms worse and if not, they are only temporarily masking the pain.
• AVOID OVER-THE-COUNTER MEDICATIONS – constantly popping pills (unless they are prescribed) is not ideal. It’s worth investigating other herbal and natural options that have fewer side effects and might assist with your pain management.

It is possible to live a full and healthy life with arthritis. The first step in making this happen is taking a proactive approach to your diagnosis and treatment.

With a clinically-researched product such as Zen Arthritis Pain Relief tablets, you can reduce chronic pain and stiffness to your joints while increasing your movement.

Related Tag: Joint Pain Relief