Preventing Osteoarthritis - How You Can Avoid Painful Senior's Arthritis With 3 Easy Steps

If you're a senior, there is a very good chance that you will end up with osteoarthritis. This painful condition occurs when there is a loss of cartilage in your joints and usually is a result of overuse (wear and tear) of the joint, but it can also be caused by injury.

Cartilage is the protective covering at the end of bones to keep them from direct contact. It acts as a cushion, or shock absorber. When the cartilage starts to wear down, you begin to experience the painful effects that osteoarthritis can give you.

The bad: If you do nothing, your condition just keeps getting worse and you will probably find yourself in your doctor's office. Many doctors give out prescriptions for powerful anti-inflammatory drugs known as NSAIDs.

These medications help control the pain, but that's all they can do. They do absolutely nothing to treat the condition and can even speed up your joint deterioration. They also come with other deadly side effects that are potentially serious, or even fatal. Fortunately, there is a better way.

The good: By taking 3 simple steps, you can either prevent osteoarthritis in the first place, or even stop it and experience cartilage regrowth as well. There is no need to face the agonizing process of your joint cartilage slowly disintegrating and finally leaving you with the probable options of painful joint replacement surgery, or a life of limited mobility.

Again, these steps are simple, fairly obvious, but probably won't be suggested in your doctor's office.

1. Diet: A good diet plays a very important role in many ways. Mom said "Eat your vegetables." Wise advice indeed. Our modern Western diet is really a disaster. The popularity of fast food and processed food only contributes to the problem. It's not that difficult to make a few easy diet changes that can have a positive impact. More veggies and fruit and less of the fast and processed food is a good start. Also, adding a good quality fish oil supplement daily, increases the amount of Omega 3 fatty acids that are sorely lacking in the typical diet. Get one that's molecularly distilled and guaranteed to be heavy metal free. Some fish oil benefits include stress reduction, better mood, improved circulation and heart function.

2. Exercise and weight control: Another simple way to help prevent osteoarthritis, or improve your condition if you already have it. Modest exercise can help build muscle around the joint, which gives better support. A good low impact exercise to start with is walking. Start slowly and increase gradually as your condition improves.

If you have any extra pounds to lose, exercise along with diet changes can be your answer. Weight control is very important because you're just putting additional stress on those weight bearing joints.

3. Start using a natural arthritis cure. It can stop osteoarthritis from even starting, but if you do have arthritis, it not only stops the pain, but also starts to rebuild your joint cartilage as well. A good one has no side effects at all, so you don't have to fear internal bleeding, heart and liver damage that dangerous NSAIDs can give you.