How to Manage Arthritis Pain

Living with arthritis isn't easy. Arthritis means pain, stiffness and often means crippling and disability. Rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease in which the body attack itself, adds inflammation and swelling to pain, often intense pain, and disability. I am well aware of the problems with rheumatoid arthritis. I was diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis by my thirteenth birthday, many years ago. So began my journey with pain, disability and learning to manage a chronic illness.

Rheumatoid Arthritis is not an easy condition to live with, especially, as in my case there was considerable crippling. I was treated when doctors were in the early stages of understanding how to deal with treating children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (also called juvenile idiopathic arthritis) and how treatment for children differed from treatment for adults. Back then pain was my constant companion as I learned arthritis can happen at any age--not just to the elderly. Over the years the doctors have had me try about every new pain medication until my body rejected all of them.

Now that I'm on the other side of fifty, my friends who have always watched out for me because of my disability, now are displaying their own battles with arthritis. As they age, pain and disability is making it's way into their lives as well. Whether young or old, it is important to seek treatment.

Whether someone is dealing with the pain and disability of rheumatoid arthritis or other forms of arthritis, there are ways to minimize stress of the body and joints, manage pain and limit the disability factor.

A key to minimizing pain and stress on the body is not to overdo. If you are one of those let's-get-everything done now types, I understand. We go and go until we literally can not go any more, until pain and stiffness stops us. I speak from a depth of experience. I know when I overdue, a good nights sleep is not going to be enough. For every day I go beyond my tolerance, I may suffer stiffness, pain and exhaustion (mental and physical) for maybe two-or more days. Scheduling becomes very important, but this can only be done if a person understands his/her physical and emotional limits.

It is important when dealing with arthritis to tune in to your body. No doctor can know you as well as you do yourself. How do you react to loss of sleep? (Remember those with arthritis, especially rheumatoid arthritis, need more rest than most.) What part does diet play in how you feel? When are you in the most pain, the stiffest? Learn to listen to your body and plan accordingly.

Don't do the same activity for long periods of time. Don't sit in one position for a long time. This only aggravates stiffness and pain. Get up. Move around. Flex. Exercise within your tolerance and abilities-without overdoing.

Eat a healthy diet. Eat a balance diet of whole, natural foods (it wouldn't hurt to explore whether or not you are gluten intolerant). Forget the pop/soda and sugar and processed foods. Pop/soda is counterproductive to your body and your bone density and may increase the stiffness and pain factors as well as the destruction of your bones.

Along with healthy eating, consume Omega-3 fatty acids (found in salmon, sardines, tofu, and some beans and nuts) and antitoxins (vegetables and fruit).

Look for thicker handles on hand tools such as pizza cutters and potato peelers. Don't be embarrassed to use ramps and handicap parking. Never be too embarrassed to use anything that decreases pain, stiffness and problems of being active and being able to do things for yourself.

Sometimes changes have to be made to a residence, making it more accessible. This can be as minor as moving around furniture to some restructuring. Sometimes a person with arthritis needs to look for more accessible living arrangements. These are much more readily available than when I first needed an accessible place to live. (Thanks to a governments loan, we were able to have a home built to accommodate my needs and particular disability.)

Learn to speak up for yourself to doctors, to employers, to family and friends. We don't need to play the victim to point out problems and suggest solutions that will minimize the impact of pain and our disability on our lives. As those with arthritis, we don't have to be offensive or arrogant, just quiet and firm. It is better to explain reasons, than make demands.

Arthritis, including rheumatoid arthritis, brings a host of problems besides stiffness, pain and disability. There is anger and frustration at not being able to do all the things a person is used to doing. There is depression that comes with any chronic illness, including arthritis.

(Doctors talked to me about symptoms of exhaustion, stiffness and pain. But no one told me about the depression. I dealt with it alone at age thirteen and didn't understand until a fiction book about a disabled girl about my age had the heroine deal with hers. Once I understood a tendency toward depression is part of the package of chronic illness like arthritis, I could deal with it.)

What I learned early on is that attitude is very important. How we feel can be partly alleviated or aggravated by our attitude toward our arthritis, our pain and our disability. Our mental and emotional state does make a difference in how we feel. If we spend our time worrying about what we can no longer do, if we cut ourselves off from our support system, if we fuss and complain, if we play the victim, we will feel much worse than when we approach our arthritis with a willingness to take charge of our lives through research, through refusing to wallow in self pity and reaching out to build a support system.

Arthritis can be handled. Pain can be managed. Disability can be dealt with, if we are willing to let go the past and forge a future on where we are right here and now. Life doesn't offer guarantees, but as I've discovered, though I may have juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and, while I live with disability that severely limits what I can and cannot do, I refuse to stop living. Life may be different as we age, but if we use common sense, we can still have a good and production life.

How to deal with arthritis? Never give up, use balance and common sense and, no matter what, live life to it's fullest.