Rheumatoid Arthritis - Natural Remedies That Can Change Your Life

It's easy enough to realize that having rheumatoid arthritis can be life changing. The disease causes inflammation in your joints, causing pain and discomfort, and may also cause the joints to become disfigured. This results in a loss of flexibility and mobility in the joint, making you unable to move easily.

While this is one of the more well known symptoms of the disease, it is more than just a disease that attacks the joints of your body. Rheumatoid arthritis, or RA, is an autoimmune disorder - your own immune system is causing the damage to your body. RA may result in anemia, and can also affect your skin, lungs, kidneys and heart. Treatment can sometimes be difficult; some medicines that are effective in slowing the damage sometimes have negative side effects. Because of this, for some of those with the disease, natural remedies become more appealing that conventional drugs and medications.

Changing your lifestyle is one of the available rheumatoid arthritis natural remedies. This involves balancing moderate exercise to relieve stiffness with periods of rest. This will help maintain functionality and mobility of affected joints, as well as generally improving your health. However, if even moderate exercise causes you pain, you should stop exercising and consult with your doctor to find an exercise regimen that you can benefit from.

Changing your diet is another form of rheumatoid arthritis natural remedy. A variety of fasting programs and diets are available, with the goal of making your body healthier in order to combat the disease. Many of these diets have also begun to recommend consuming omega-3 fatty acids like that found in fish oil and fatty deep sea fish. Fish oil is also available in a number of supplements that a person with RA can take.

Aside from changing lifestyle and diet, you can also try herbal remedies. Herbs such as boswellia, devil's claw and horsetail are said to provide relief from the pain. Many times these herbs are available as teas, but may also be found in various food supplements used to treat RA.

There are many other options to treat rheumatoid arthritis with natural remedies. These can range from massage therapy, to meditative techniques, acupuncture and so on. Each have their advantages, though some do offer more immediate relief, and others offer more lasting relief. Many of them can be very effective, though they are best used in conjunction with conventional methods, or other alternative natural remedies. In this manner, you can combine treatments in order to receive better results.