Osteoarthritis

[Icegoat]

I need some advice here....PLEASE......My father has OA, in his knees and hip. Just last week, he has experienced pain and swelling in his right hand AND only pain in his left hand. I need treatment options please.

Thank you...

 

[Madz]

Hi there!
Sorry about your father’s pain. I know that Reiki helps any condition and pain. It really works miracles. The other modality that helps arthritis that I know of is Tibetan Sound Bowl Massage. It specifically targets joints and it’s noninvasive. I truly believe in mind over matter. He will feel better if he talks to his knees and hips. Tell them how much he loves them, that he is sorry to neglect them. Tell them they can relax and go back to whole. The best time is while waking up or falling asleep, that is when the access to the subconscious is mostly open. Imagine while light washing over his knees and hips. And do it daily. Also, he probably has issues with his first chakra. Chakra balancing, meditation, yoga will help, but it’s a long process. First chakra is the hardest to work on. Incorporate red color in daily life as much as possible: red underwear, red coffee mug, red glass, red food, even red light while sleeping. Hope it helps. Hope your father feels better. I pray for him!

 

[Tyrone]

Several of my clients tell me that nothing helps their OA like having a mild to moderate pressure, full body Swedish massage. I'm not entirely sure why, except that it gets the surface circulation increased, and certainly moves lymph. One of my friend/colleagues does Manual Lymph Drainage (chickly method) with OA clients and has great success.

Gentle massage over the affected areas may or may not have success, it's individual, as is range of motion activities. Mild exercise may help people with OA maintain their level of mobility, and in some cases may reduce pain and swelling. This should be approached carefully and moderately, as it can sometimes exacerbate swelling. Water exercise often works where regular exercise does not.

Shiatsu, indirect myofascial work, rebounding and Bowen Technique are all excellent modalities for OA, since they get things moving in a very gentle manner, both muscularly and fluids.

 

[STUDY]

i agree with stacy - for my OA & RA clients, they do so much better when we can get to that emotionally "melted" state and just do a good, swedish massage with compressions.

good luck!

 

[mauveme49]

Osteoarthitis patients often show marked tightness, density, and restriction of the quads as well as tightness of the patella. Myofascial release to open up the quads and cap reduces the forces placed on the knee joint and patella, reducing pain and improving strength and function. I nearly always see an improvement in function. No change in the arthritis, as seen on an X-ray, but a marked reduction in pain. The same principles apply to other joints as well.

 

[miranda]

Hi! I'm sorry, too, about your father's pain. My story with OA is, I've had OA in my hips since I was 20 (I was hit by a car at 16 and it developed over time). A chiropractor took x-rays and diagnosed it, and then proceded to help with it and I've been completely pain free ever since (I'm 30 now, so it's been 10 years!). I also am in no danger of having hip replacements, which is a very real danger with OA in the hips.

For your father, I would definitely try Reiki! The Tibetan Sound Bowl massage is one I've never heard of and it sounds fascinating! I also like acupressure. There are certain points in the body that correspond with other parts, and since these points are located all over, the practitioner can work areas that are not painful, but that will benefit the affected areas. Yoga (and possibly pilates) may also help--a lot!

One thing I took for my hips that will also probably help is a natural nutritional supplement called MSM. It stands for some really long name, but I forget what it is. It's available at health food stores. I personally trust the "NOW" brand the most--their quality is decent. Apparently it contains collagen.

I tend to like combinations of therapies. Sure, I never know "which one" is "doing the most good", but I like to look at all the possible causative factors and take a multi-disciplinary approach. I also find that when I do, I get better faster, which is always the main goal, even if I don't know which one "did it". It's also possible that ALL the approaches I try each contribute in their own way, so it's a win-win

Good luck! I KNOW that natural therapies help, and that they can be just as effective (usually MORE so) than western medical options (which are usually invasive, expensive, and not without the side effects, which can sometimes do more harm than good), and I'm fairly certain there's something out there that can help your father. It's just a matter of finding which one or which combination is most effective, and this can vary from person to person or from condition to condition.

I hope he gets relief soon! I'm sure there'll be plenty of other awesome advice. I'm always amazed at the level of knowledge on this board!

Hugs,
~Jyoti

 

[Pompal 09.]

One thing I took for my hips that will also probably help is a natural nutritional supplement called MSM. It stands for some really long name, but I forget what it is. It's available at health food stores. I personally trust the "NOW" brand the most--their quality is decent. Apparently it contains collagen.

MethylSulfonylMethane. It doesn't contain collagen but it does support healthy maintenance and production of collagen in the body. It's an excellent supplement for OA.

Little backstory: It's a dietary sulfur and was "discovered" and researched here at UofO, and the first publicly held license to distribute was a guy across town who had been horribly burned in an accident some years previous. He had purple keloid scars all over his arms, chest, face, neck. Used MSM daily, and the scars eventually went to normal, healthy skin. In fact now, nearly 25 years since he started using it, you can hardly tell he has burn scars.

One of the very first places he distributed a retail product - both single ingredient MSM and lotion containing MSM - was at the local health food store in my little hometown. My mother called the number on the bottle and talked with him, this was back in the 80s, and signed up as one of his original distributors. It's not an mlm, just a home business. I have her account now, or maybe they split them, since we are like 23a and 23b lol!

Around here we use it for all kinds of ailments: joint pain, acne, burns, mosquito bites, roseacea, ecxema, brittle nails...

One of the more famous uses was James Coburn who credits his late-life comeback to the movie biz to MSM. He had debilitating arthritis, could barely move, then started using MSM and recovered sufficiently to greatly increase his workload before he passed away.

/ramble. :



(forgot the link: MSM at Rich Distributing. This is not a link to my account, it's direct. Not selling anything here. )

 

[mechvegas]

Several of my clients tell me that nothing helps their OA like having a mild to moderate pressure, full body Swedish massage. I'm not entirely sure why, except that it gets the surface circulation increased, and certainly moves lymph. One of my friend/colleagues does Manual Lymph Drainage (chickly method) with OA clients and has great success.

:iagree:

Angie

 

[mikeyg]

Very interesting info on MSM and thanks to the link!
And a beautiful website!

 

[Juancho]

Wow, thanks Breathe! That's some awesome info about MSM

And I had no idea lymph drainage would help OA, either! That's too cool. I have GOT to try that.

Hugs,
~Jyoti

 

[Quan Le]

Hi! Sorry about your dad- I've been doing massage for over 22 years and approaching 60 it's not surprizing that i"m getting alittle arthritas in my hands-Ouch! Personally for my hands, I've found keeping my upper back loosened up with massage really helps- so just keeping the circulation healthy in the general areas really helps. Also has he been taking Glucasamine and Chondrotin? After about 10 years I thought I was going to have to quite. I started taking it and it gave me another 10 years to do massage!

 

[Blaziken]

Thanks for the extra info on the MSM, Breathe.

I met a doc in the early 90's who ranted and raved about it. I never took it, but have had a few clients who did and say they have good results.

This is enough for me to go out and try it now. I have a few hand ailments on occasion.

Thanks again!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

massageclips - nice to meet you. Always nice to have an oldie-but-goodie on the boards to keep us younger ones in line!

I am genuinely looking forward to more of yous posts. Such time and knowledge you'll pass on to us.

 

[Frances_Simonds]

I use a fair bit of AIS to treat ostearthritis. It's not too fun for the clients early on, but I teach them to do as much for themselves as possible. So far all have showed significant reductions in redness and swelling, and report increased ROM with less discomfort... all within one week.

 

[Revolution]

I have lupus and scleroderma, relatives to arthritis. I personally like medium to deeper Swedish massage along with some compressions. I work out and stretch on my own........so I'm a little leery of others doing any stretches on me......doesn't take much to go over that pain threshold. If I'm in a flare where the joints are swollen, light massage is ok. Haven't tried any other modalities, but they sound interesting.

Breathe, thanks for the info on MSM. I checked out the website and couldn't find any info on whether MSM negatively interacts with the drugs I'm taking now, like celebrex and prednisone. I know I have to be careful with some of the non-prescription products. Any ideas on this?