It’s time to take care of your joints

Joint pain can become a major issue if left untreated, stopping you from doing the things you love by slowing down movement and causing discomfort. It’s therefore imperative that you take proper care of your joints, to ensure you can enjoy life without the pain caused by stiffness and inflammation.

Below are some suggestions of ways in which you could improve joint health. Please bear in mind that this is a guide of some things you could try to ease discomfort and inflammation. Should you wish to seek treatment for your joint pain, it’s best to get the professional advice of a physiotherapist.

One way in which you can do this is through eating the right foods.

• Fish or seeds with lots of omega-3 fats are known to reduce inflammation and are also rich in calcium and magnesium which are great for bones.

• Apricots, cherries and apples are full of antioxidants which help keep inflammation at bay. Apricots are also full of magnesium – which helps ease pain – and the rich colour of cherries is caused by a pigment called anthocyanins which has been shown to curb inflammation.

• Foods rich in Vitamin C (e.g. peppers and oranges) are also great, as Vitamin C helps your body make the collagen in the cartilage, tendons and ligaments which cushion your joints and hold them together. 

Vitamins and supplements are another way of giving your joints the best chance of staying healthy and flexible.

• Glucosamine helps maintain the health of your cartilage, but as you get older your levels of this compound drop, leading to join pain. Glucosamine Sulphate supplements could be worth a try if you’re suffering joint pain, as they have been shown to help counteract this breakdown – particularly with knees.

• Omega-3 supplements such as cod liver oil – owing to the fatty acids it contains – encourage the body to produce chemicals which reduce inflammation, thereby easing joint stiffness.

• Green tea contains anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compounds which may prove helpful in combating joint pain.

Physiotherapy can also be a great way to treat joint pain, and there are a number of options which could be explored depending on the cause and nature of your condition:

• Acupuncture relieves pain by stimulating your body’s own pain relieving hormones – endorphins and encephalins. Repeated treatment can bring long-term benefits, and we will offer a weekly acupuncture clinic in a group setting, so that you can get frequent physiotherapy without the usual cost and relieve those symptoms for good.

• As with many conditions, exercise can be a great method of treatment. Our personal trainers will be able to take you through a tailored exercise plan that will help strengthen joints and ligaments and keep them flexible. Great exercise for joint strengthening include rotator cuff exercises, single leg balances and a double leg bridges – these are all movements which promote strength and flexibility.

• Cryotherapy, a favourite of elite athletes and sportsmen, has been proven to greatly reduce inflammation. Our onsite cryotherapy machine will enable patients to have access to this amazing treatment not often available at local clinics, and explore its possibilities as a treatment for joint pain.

• Our team of experienced physiotherapists can also use manual techniques, tailored to and dictated by your condition, to stimulate the joint and improve its range of movement.

 So if you’re suffering from joint pain or know somebody who is, there are numerous options that you could explore in order to ease the discomfort. Don’t hesitate to give us a call: we’d be delighted to talk these through with you in more detail! You can contact us here.