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Pain is your body’s way of telling you that something’s wrong and it can protect you from serious injury. But when the pain is in reaction to something you have limited control over, such as arthritis, the pain needs to be controlled.

• Inflammation, which causes redness and swelling in the joints;
• Damage to joint tissue, also resulting from the disease’s progression or from injury or stress on the joints;
• Fatigue, resulting from the progression of the disease, which makes your pain seem worse and more difficult to handle;
• Stress or depression, as a result of having to give up activities which you enjoy.

Which drugs are best?
Your doctor is likely to know which medication is best for you, but you’ll have to tell him or her if you’re allergic to anything.

One point to remember: if a medication’s instruction says “take with food” you’re not obliged to put away a sirloin steak with your tablets! A sandwich or a few biscuits will suffice. Familiarise yourself possible side-effects.

It’s vital that you have the correct mindset about your pain. If you dread its onset, you’ll live in misery. If you see pain as a signal to take positive action you’ll feel that you have control over you life. It this way wellness, not illness, will be the focus of your life.

Achieve this by -
Relaxing: Set some time aside to relax completely, through deep breathing, meditation, or simply having a nap. Pain causes your muscles to become tense and you breathing to become shallow, and the tension in turn leads to more pain. It takes a conscious effort to reverse this spiral. There’s no single best way to alleviate the tension, but try having a warm bath, doing deep breathing or even a steam bath;

Maintaining a sense of humour and a positive mindset: Your medication will be much more effective if it’s combined with a sunny disposition.A gloomy mood will only compound the symptoms of your arthritis and cause laboured, shallow breathing, increased tension and more pain;

Keep your weight down: You shouldn’t be supermodel-thin – that’s as unhealthy as being obese. But controlling your weight will reduce joint pain, especially in the back, hips and knees. Forget being a designer skeleton – live a balanced life. If your weight is a problem, ask your doctor about seeing a dietician;

Eat a balanced diet of fresh, wholesome foods: Forget the fads that cloud the issue of what’s good to eat and what isn’t. Margarine might be good today and bad tomorrow, but the basics remain the same. Use the famous food pyramid to guide your diet. Grains, cereals, pastas and unrefined starches should form the bulk of your diet, with plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, copious amounts of water, fish, some lean meat and small amounts of unsaturated fats. The occasional yellow cheese is fine. So is a little chocolate or a slice of cake as a treat.

Get some exercise, preferably three times a week: Many arthritis sufferers find that walking or swimming helps keep them trim and building or retaining muscle tone is essential. If water aerobics isn’t for you, try yoga. Don’t be daunted by the pounding music and toned, honed bodies at your local gym, because far fewer people are watching you than you think. The instructors will be eager to help design a routine that works for you. If not, a physiotherapist or occupational therapist or doctor can recommend an exercise programme for you.

If you really hate the idea of going to a gym, your local newspaper will have a list of social clubs in your area. If exercise is boring, try to focus your thrice-weekly walks on building strength for ballroom dancing, hiking or even folk-dancing if you must. It’s always more difficult to start exercising than to maintain it, so join a club, find a partner and get on with it.

Exercise will improve your overall health and fitness, as well as your arthritis symptoms. It’ll help you manage pain, keep joints moving, strengthen muscles around the joints, increase energy, improve your sleep patterns, control weight and strengthen your heart. We’ll leave it there.

Taking your medication regularly: Once you’ve been on your pain medication for some time, you’ll know how long it takes to begin to relieve your pain. Also, if you’re planning a bedroom romp or a bout of tango at your dance studio, take your medication in good time;

Having a good social life: Maintain a healthy relationship with your friends and family. Television tries to persuade us that anyone over 25 is irrelevant, unsexy and unproductive, which is untrue. Many people with arthritis lead happy and productive lives by staying involved with their families and friends. They join social groups, do valuable community work and raise the living standards of those around them. You can too;

Protecting your joints: Learn to do your daily tasks in ways that reduce stress on your painful joints. Pain is your body’s way of telling you that you need to rest, so balance activity with rest. Use your strongest and largest joints and muscles as much as possible. Your friends and family would much prefer to help you than have you tired, ill or in pain, so ask them for help. Occupational therapists are particularly helpful in advising about joint protection techniques.

Use heat and cold: Ice packs or even packets of frozen vegetables help numb the tissue, reducing inflammation and pain. Heat relaxes the muscles and stimulates blood circulation. Learn which to use and combine this with your pain medication;

Get enough sleep: Sleep restores your vitality, enabling you to cope you’re your pain, so be willing to take pain medication in order to get a good night’s rest. Sleep also gives your body a chance to reduce the swelling in joints. Most people need about eight hours of sleep per night, but many arthritis sufferers find they have much less pain after a nap of about half an hour during the afternoon;

Get massaged: Massage is a good way to increase circulation in painful areas. Self-massage works well, but you should stop if you feel any pain, and you shouldn’t massage a joint that’s swollen or painful.

You can also get a trained professional to help. Many professional masseurs and masseuses advertise their services and it’s unlikely that you’ll confuse them with those offering “a massage with a happy ending.” Look for a professional with experience in dealing specifically with arthritis.

Ask about surgery: Few people with arthritis are ever likely to need joint surgery, but when other treatments don’t alleviate the pain, or it becomes increasingly difficult to move a joint, surgery may become an option. Your options include hip or knee replacement, arthroscopy (so-called keyhole surgery, which makes a small cut) or a synovectomy, which involves the removal of the lining of a joint with laser surgery.

Get help: If you’ve been prescribed pain medication and it isn’t helping, speak to your doctor. He or she has a number of specialists who may be able to help, such as a physiotherapist, pharmacist, psychologist, occupational therapist and a biokineticist. These people will help you learn pain control techniques that can work for you, as well as listening to any suggestions you may have;

Ask about splints: A variety of devices can help keep your hands functioning, such as finger or wrist splints, which help prevent deformity and stabilise the joints. Semi-static resting wrist splints work well to reduce wrist pain and swelling. They’re useful at night too, preventing too much movement during restless sleep;

Use tools: You might consider it below you to use a cane, but it could help enormously. Having a walking frame or even a wheelchair on hand can also help;

Fix your home: Nearly every room in the home can be modified to make life easier for you. In the kitchen, use tap handles, two-handled cups, handle enlargers, electric tin openers, juice extractors and tin openers. In the bathroom, use side rails to help you get into the bath or onto the toilet. Use an elevated toilet seat to make sitting and standing easier. Try putting a lawn chair in the shower, rather than lying in the bath. Use rubber mats on all the floors to prevent slipping. In your wardrobe, replace buttons, laces and hooks with Velcro or zips;

Get a jab: Injections are a very effective way to reduce joint pain. It should be relatively pain-free. Injections into large joints such as the knee not likely to be painful, but those into the hand can be tender. This is because the hands are physiologically designed to respond to stimuli of this type, and because the joints in the hand are so close together.

The injection usually comprises some local anesthaetic and a corticosteroid. Because the needle penetrates the tissue quite deeply, it’s essential that it’s done under sterile conditions. Afterwards, the needle site is seal and you’ll be asked to rest that joint for up to 48 hours and to keep it out of water for up to 24 hours.

Read more:
Keep the joint jumping
Ten easy ways to protect your joints

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