The effectiveness of herbal remedies for arthritis sufferers varies from person to person, so you may need to experiment a bit. Try one of the following treatments.
Take a combination tincture of meadowsweet, willow bark, black cohosh, prickly ash, celery seed, and nettle to help temper arthritis symptoms. To make the blend, mix equal amounts of the tinctures; take 1 teaspoonful of the mixture 3 times daily. The blend is safe and can be taken for a period of time.
Use yucca and devil's claw to reduce inflammation. Other herbs to try include licorice, alfalfa, turmeric, ginger, skullcap, and ginseng.
Rub a tincture of lobelia and cramp bark over the sore areas to decrease muscle tension.
Take a combination of 2 parts of willow bark, 1 part of black cohosh, and 1 part of nettle to ease aches and pains.
Rub cayenne over the affected joints to lessen pain.
Herbal products are available in health food stores and in some pharmacies and supermarkets. Follow package for specific directions.
Homeopathy
Osteoarthritis may respond to homeopathic treatment. However, the selection of a remedy-more than one is available-depends on your symptoms and the stage of the condition. Don't try treating this disorder yourself. See a homeopathic professional.
Hydrotherapy
Warm, moist heat packs used for 10 to 20 minutes every 4 hours can bring Welcome relief from stiffness and deep pain. Exercises performed in heated water and swimming have also been effective. Drink distilled water to help absorb and eliminate mineral salts and other waste products throughout the skin.
Traditional Chinese Medicine
Acupuncture According to the WHO, acupuncture is a vital addition to the arthritis fighting arsenal. Acupuncture can be used to help restore the body's energy balance, and it can also help lessen the pain and inflammation that commonly occur in the hands, hips, knees, and spinal joints of osteoarthritis patients. Many doctors now use acupuncture in conjunction with chiropractic techniques when treating osteoarthritis, and it has been used for centuries with Chinese manipulative techniques.
To treat hand and finger pain, the practitioner may focus on Small Intestine 7 (located on the forearm) and the Shang Pa Hsieh sites that lie between the fingers. Additional points may be added, depending on where in the hand the arthritis is located. More than six different acupoints are stimulated in the treatment of hip pain, and up to 12 points may be manipulated to alleviate arthritis related knee pain.
Acupressure To lessen the severity of arthritis symptoms, a practitioner may use acupressure on points that correspond to the liver, gallbladder, kidneys, bladder, stomach, and the governing vessel. The practitioner also may massage the points that correspond to the affected area to relieve pain and inflammation.
Chinese Herbal Therapy Chinese herbalists consider osteoarthritis to be a y inrelated "external damp" illness, and treat the disease by concocting a remedy that will nourish yin and dispel the damp wind while it alleviates swollen, painful joints.
Asarum Sieboldi may be helpful in relieving joint pain; take 3 to 4 grams daily. Foxnut has analgesic properties and is used to reduce pain and inflammation. It can be taken in pill form (9 to 15 grams per day) or as a 10-to 20-gram daily decoction. polygonatum cirrhifolium is said to not only cure arthritis, but to combat premature aging.
If the pain shifts from one joint to another, Corydalis Tuber Forumula may be helpful. For fixed pain accompanied by heavy, swollen joints, try Tu-Huo and Loranthus Formula or Stephania and Astragalus Combination (by mail order). Most of these remedies can be found in health food stores.
Yoga and Meditation
Exercise plays an important role in improving circulation and helping the body eliminate waste. Yoga poses improve flexibility, yet place little stress on joints. Focus on gentle poses, such as the Tree, Triangle, Forward Bend, Spinal Twist, Boat, Bow, Camel, Cow, Locust, Moon Salutation, Chest-Knee, Maha Mudra, and Half Bridge.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Natural Means Of Herbal Harmone
Although it is not typically referred to as herbal hormone replacement therapy, there are plant components that have a hormone like effect on the body. The ones we know the most about are called “phytoestrogens”, which, as the name suggests, have an estrogen-like effect on the body.
Another term that is sometimes used for advertising purposes is “natural hormone replacement therapy”. Pay attention when selecting a treatment plan, because this term can technically be used to describe many different types of therapies.
Traditional estrogen replacement therapy is made from the urine of pregnant mares. You may see reports about studies concerning “equine estrogens”, which simply means estrogen that comes from horses. Since the source of the estrogen is “natural”, this type of therapy may be referred to as “natural hormone replacement therapy”.
If you are actually interested in herbs and plants that provide relief from the symptoms of menopause (or herbal hormone replacement therapy), then you may not be interested in equine estrogens. But, technically, they are natural.
In the mid 1970’s, researchers learned that women who took equine estrogens to relieve the symptoms associated with menopause were much more likely to develop cancer of the endometrium (the lining of the uterus), than were women who had not taken hormones during menopause. This research led pharmaceutical companies to add a synthetic hormone called progestin (similar to the progesterone produced by the ovaries) to the equine estrogens. This type of combination HRT should not be referred to as natural hormone replacement therapy, but since the initial source of progestin is a plant, some may refer to it as natural.
Theoretically, equine estrogens caused the endometrium to thicken, but if a woman’s periods had stopped, then the lining was not shed. Progestin caused the lining to be shed, thus reducing the risk of endometrial cancer. The problem with progestin is that it increases the risk of breast cancer. The Women’s Health Initiative recently reported that combination HRT increases a woman’s risk of blood clots and stroke. They concluded that the health risks of HRT outweigh the benefits.
Some doctors have expressed confusion about why women care about the source of the hormones used in HRT. But, it is understandable. We are exposed to all sorts of chemicals and synthetic products throughout our lives. We know that some of them cause cancer. We know that some of them shorten our life spans. We know that some of them are unavoidable. Its no wonder that, whenever we can, we choose to avoid products that may endanger our health.
Thus, we seek natural hormone replacement therapy or herbal hormone replacement therapy, in an effort to relieve our symptom, while protecting our long-term health.
Bio-identical HRT, which is sometimes referred to as natural hormone replacement therapy, has received some attention, due mostly to a book written by a 40 something actress. Bio-identical HRT simply means that the hormones a woman takes are designed to be molecularly identical to her own hormones. Is it natural? The sources are natural, but the hormones are modified in the laboratory. Some are created in the laboratory. Is it safer than equine estrogens and progestins? No one knows. There have been no large-scale studies, because, until recently, the therapy was rarely used. It is more expensive than traditional HRT and it is not available from many doctors.
If you truly want all natural hormone replacement therapy, it does not exist. If you want herbal hormone replacement therapy, then you can try products that contain soy isoflavones or other phytoestrogens. You can try increasing soy in your diet. You can try wild yam supplements or red clover.
There are other plant components that the body can use to “create” its own hormones. These are often lacking from a woman’s diet. Tribulus terrestris has been shown in studies to increase the levels of hormones circulating in the blood stream and is referred to by some as herbal hormone replacement therapy.
Another term that is sometimes used for advertising purposes is “natural hormone replacement therapy”. Pay attention when selecting a treatment plan, because this term can technically be used to describe many different types of therapies.
Traditional estrogen replacement therapy is made from the urine of pregnant mares. You may see reports about studies concerning “equine estrogens”, which simply means estrogen that comes from horses. Since the source of the estrogen is “natural”, this type of therapy may be referred to as “natural hormone replacement therapy”.
If you are actually interested in herbs and plants that provide relief from the symptoms of menopause (or herbal hormone replacement therapy), then you may not be interested in equine estrogens. But, technically, they are natural.
In the mid 1970’s, researchers learned that women who took equine estrogens to relieve the symptoms associated with menopause were much more likely to develop cancer of the endometrium (the lining of the uterus), than were women who had not taken hormones during menopause. This research led pharmaceutical companies to add a synthetic hormone called progestin (similar to the progesterone produced by the ovaries) to the equine estrogens. This type of combination HRT should not be referred to as natural hormone replacement therapy, but since the initial source of progestin is a plant, some may refer to it as natural.
Theoretically, equine estrogens caused the endometrium to thicken, but if a woman’s periods had stopped, then the lining was not shed. Progestin caused the lining to be shed, thus reducing the risk of endometrial cancer. The problem with progestin is that it increases the risk of breast cancer. The Women’s Health Initiative recently reported that combination HRT increases a woman’s risk of blood clots and stroke. They concluded that the health risks of HRT outweigh the benefits.
Some doctors have expressed confusion about why women care about the source of the hormones used in HRT. But, it is understandable. We are exposed to all sorts of chemicals and synthetic products throughout our lives. We know that some of them cause cancer. We know that some of them shorten our life spans. We know that some of them are unavoidable. Its no wonder that, whenever we can, we choose to avoid products that may endanger our health.
Thus, we seek natural hormone replacement therapy or herbal hormone replacement therapy, in an effort to relieve our symptom, while protecting our long-term health.
Bio-identical HRT, which is sometimes referred to as natural hormone replacement therapy, has received some attention, due mostly to a book written by a 40 something actress. Bio-identical HRT simply means that the hormones a woman takes are designed to be molecularly identical to her own hormones. Is it natural? The sources are natural, but the hormones are modified in the laboratory. Some are created in the laboratory. Is it safer than equine estrogens and progestins? No one knows. There have been no large-scale studies, because, until recently, the therapy was rarely used. It is more expensive than traditional HRT and it is not available from many doctors.
If you truly want all natural hormone replacement therapy, it does not exist. If you want herbal hormone replacement therapy, then you can try products that contain soy isoflavones or other phytoestrogens. You can try increasing soy in your diet. You can try wild yam supplements or red clover.
There are other plant components that the body can use to “create” its own hormones. These are often lacking from a woman’s diet. Tribulus terrestris has been shown in studies to increase the levels of hormones circulating in the blood stream and is referred to by some as herbal hormone replacement therapy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)