Many people think that once you have developed arthritis, there’s not much you can do for it.  The good news is, even though arthritis is very prevalent, it can be helped through natural ways. In order to effectively treat arthritis, we first need to understand what it is.

There are several different types of arthritis in Wichita but the most prevalent type is osteoarthritis, also known as degenerative arthritis.  Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease, which wears away at the cartilage, or cushioning, surrounding a healthy joint, causing bone spurs to develop and rub against one another, making movement painful, stiff, and causing inflammation. Osteoarthritis typically appears in weight-bearing joints such as the knees, hips, fingers, hands, neck, lower back, and ankles.

Arthritis affects 1 out of 3 people from the ages of 18 to 65.  That number jumps to 1 out of 2 for people over the age of 65.  With those type of percentages, there is a good chance that you or a loved one will deal with some form of arthritis.  For this reason, it is important to know what causes arthritis so you can prevent it.

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Wichita Chiropractor Provides 3 Reasons Why Arthritis Occurs

Arthritis is very prevalent due to poor alignment/posture, poor core stabilization and excessive compression on joints. Poor posture leads to poor alignment of your joints causing excessive friction in the joints.  This friction breaks down the collagen in your joints causing degeneration and arthritis.

As we look at the alignment of the spine from the side we should see three good curves.  These curves act as a shock absorber.  The spine will become straight when we start to lose these curves which can happen due to things like trauma or poor posture.  A common place people often lose one of these curves first is in their neck.  This is called Phase 1 of degeneration, where the bones become misaligned.  If you don’t fix the misalignments in Phase 1, eventually it will lead to Phase 2 where we will start to see the discs (shock absorbers between the bones) start to wear out or bulge.  The edges of the bones will also start to become uneven as the bones start to remodel due to the excessive stress being put on them.  When this continues to Phase 3, we will start to see large bone spurs along the edges of the bones and the discs will continue to deteriorate causing pressure on the nerves that come out of the bones in your spine. Once we get to Phase 4, there isn’t a lot we can do through conservative measures due to the fact that it is basically bone on bone.  This usually requires surgical means.  Chiropractic treatments at Optimal Wellness in Wichita have been shown effective to treat patients Phase 1 thru Phase 3 of degeneration.

Core stabilization can be broken into two categories, core flexibility and core strength.  Having poor core flexibility means that the muscles attached to the bones are over tight or tense which will cause the joints to move incorrectly and to break down faster.  For example, if you have tight hamstrings, this can cause strain on the lower back.  Core strength protects your spine and joints by creating a suit of armor.  It helps to hold your spine in good alignment as you move to reduce arthritis.

Many people have excessive compression on their joints due to head weight, chest weight, belly weight and/or hip weight.  The more compression on our joints will cause them to break down quicker.  Removing excessive weight and compression on the joints can be difficult but necessary.

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Three Natural Ways to Help Treat Arthritis

Like we have said before, the good news is there are things that you can do to help prevent or help treat your arthritis on your own.  Those things include reducing trauma to your joints, managing your mental and emotional stress, and avoiding biochemical stress.

We have two types of trauma to our joints, macro trauma and micro trauma.  A lot of time it is difficult to prevent macro traumas, which are things like car accidents, fall or sports injuries.  These types of injuries can cause significant damage to our joints, especially if left untreated.  Microtrauma can be easier to avoid.  These are stresses to your joints from repetitive movements or postures that you are in throughout the day.  For instance, sitting at a desk for 8 hours a day.

Mental stress can cause vast physiological changes in your body including muscle tension.  When muscles are tight, they will cause the joints to misalign leading to more friction and discomfort.  This is why your arthritis will be aggravated worse when you stressed.

Biochemical stress is caused by the chemicals that you put in your body including foods you eat, drinks you’re consuming and the medications you’re taking.  If you’re eating a lot of pro-inflammatory foods such as processed foods, this will cause more inflammation in your body.  It like pouring gas on a fire, making whatever symptoms you already had significantly worse.  You can lower your inflammation by avoiding these items in your foods: sugar, saturated fats, trans fat, omega 6 fatty acid, refined carbohydrates, MSG and Gluten.

If you have tried these suggestions, but your arthritis is still greatly affecting your quality of life, then I would suggest that you make an appointment at our Wichita chiropractic office for a free consultation.  We can discuss our treatments and your options for treating arthritis.

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3 Ways We Treat Arthritis in Our Office

Chronic inflammation will cause joints to break down quicker and so there are three supplements that we recommend to minimize this effect as quickly as possible.  These include Inflavanoid Intensive Care, SPM Active and Omegagenics.  Inflavanoid Intensive Care contains highly bioavailable curcumin and xanthohumol with boswellia and ginger, which research has shown decreases inflammation and pain.  SPM Active is designed to support the body’s natural capacity to respond to physical challenges and resolve physical stress by using specialized pro-resolving mediators.  It helps to clean up the inflammation and its effects on your body.  OmegaGenics (Omega 3-Fish Oil) helps with many of the systems of the body, but one of its most important benefits is reducing inflammation in the body.

To have healthy joints you have to exercise or move them.  “Motion is Life.” Unfortunately, many people with arthritis don't feel like exercising due to it aggravating their arthritis.  One thing that we do for our arthritic patients is have them work with our personal trainer to start working on core flexibility and core strength.  Once our patients improve their core stabilization and posture, then we can start introducing them to more advanced forms of exercise.

The most important thing that we do in our office for arthritis is adjust the joints that are dysfunctional.  If we do not improve the alignment of the bones, then they will continue to cause excessive friction and break down.  An arthritic joint is like a rusty hinge that causes a door to open and close poorly.  One way to fix this problem would be to lubricate the hinge and open and close the door several times until it starts working properly again. We do the same thing for the joints in your body.  By adjusting the bones in your body rhythmically, we can gradually improve function.

If you are suffering with arthritis and would like to know more about how we can help, call our team at Optimal Wellness in Wichita at 316-425-1911.