Helping with sore joints
At any given time I am helping hundreds of people improve their joint health. My goal is to help prevent further cartilage loss, reduce inflammation and improve the function of the joint. In most cases we can get significant improvements in joint comfort and mobility.
I have one client who was referred to an orthopaedic specialist with suspected OA in his left knee. It was sore, stiff and swollen. He had X- rays which confirmed that there was significant cartilage loss and changes to the bones of the joint.
His right knee caused him no problems but the specialist decided to X-ray that one as well. What he found was that the arthritis in his ‘good’ right knee had more cartilage loss than the sore one.
You would wonder how that could be. How can moderate arthritis cause significant pain while the worst knee did not? The answer is probably inflammation. The sore knee was obviously inflamed. It swollen (puffy), stiff and very sore. The more degenerated right knee had no swelling and no pain. After a few months his sore knee is much improved.
The body can be quite cynical at times. The normal way damaged tissue is healed is through initiating the process of inflammation. In simple terms blood vessels allow more fluid into the damaged area. This causes swelling and pain. I have found that OA symptoms are caused as much by inflammation than actual cartilage loss. The first step is to reduce inflammation. We do this by adding Omega 3 from oily fish and anti-inflammatory antioxidants especially curcumin from turmeric. The second thing is to add therapeutic amounts of chondroitin sulphate and glucosamine sulphate to stabilise cartilage. Chondroitin is most important as it is an actual constituent of cartilage.
The best part of what I do is to see improvements in those who have the courage to try something different. My client files are full of testimonies of those who have improved. I have been helping for 4 months called for her monthly check in.
When I first spoke with her she had a very sore hip and various muscle aches and pains. We made some changes to her diet and put her on a number of antiinflammatory and joint supporting supplements. As a result her hip has improved to the point she can walk again. Additionally she has much more energy and the vitamin D we added has helped a great deal with moods and general motivation.
The body is quite miraculous. If you feed it the nutrients it needs then dormant healing processes can then help restore body systems back towards normal. This is especially true for joints affected by osteoarthritis. I started helping a man in his 70s with painful arthritis in his knee, feet and hands especially his thumbs. Worst of all was the joint where the thumb attaches to the wrist. This joint is highly susceptible to arthritis and it can be very disabling.
While we made dietary changes the main benefits came from increasing his Omega 3 fish oil to 6000mg daily and adding a double dose of my joint formula. This meant he initially was taking 1600mg of glucosamine, 1600mg of high grade chondroitin and 400mg of my proprietary 95% curcumin (turmeric) extract. When I spoke to him in 4 months later and his feet and knees were much improved. He could now use stairs with ease. His hands and thumb have improved significantly and are still improving.
■ John Arts (B Soc Sci, Dip Tch, Adv Dip Nut Med) is a nutritional medicine practitioner and founder of Abundant Health Ltd. For questions or advice contact John on 0800 423559 or email john@abundant.co.nz. Join his full weekly newsletter at www.abundant.co.nz.