By Previnex®
Painful joints can be caused by a myriad of things. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to ease pain associated with aching joints! Whether it’s through prescription medication or a joint health supplement, finding ways to ease your joint pain is key to managing your overall joint health!
What Is the Best Remedy for Joint Pain?
When it comes to managing your joint pain, there are a few different ways you can do it! A few of the common treatments for joint pain and stiffness are prescription medications, over-the-counter (OTC) pain relief medications, topical creams or ointments, and natural remedies.
Prescription Medications that Relieve Pain
Aside from ibuprofen, which is typically prescribed at higher doses than OTC pain relievers, other prescriptions for joint pain include Diclofenac, Meloxicam, Oxaprozin, Celecoxib, and Piroxicam.
In extreme cases, stronger medications such as codeine, hydrocodone, or oxycodone can be prescribed for joint health. However, these are typically reserved for those who cannot take NSAIDs or are waiting for joint replacements.
There are also prescription steroids that may help relieve joint pain and joint inflammation as a short-term solution. Your doctor may also prescribe a hyaluronan injection, which is already part of your normal joint fluid, to lubricate and cushion your joints to keep them moving and working properly.
It is crucial to talk to your doctor about these options before considering them.
Over-the-Counter (OTC) Pain Relief Medications
The most common OTC pain medications for joint pain and inflammation are acetaminophen (like Tylenol), NSAIDs (Advil, Aleve, and Motrin IB), and Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid). Acetaminophen can help ease mild arthritis pain, but it’s important to stay within the dose recommendations (no more than 3,000mg/day for healthy adults), especially since it’s a common ingredient in many OTC pain relievers. NSAIDs can help with more severe joint pain and inflammation. Aspirin belongs to a family of drugs called salicylates and can help relieve mild pain and fever.
Topical Creams and Ointments That Help Relieve Joint Pain
There are some NSAIDs that can be prescribed as a topical treatment, such as diclofenac, which treats osteoarthritis joints close to the skin, such as knees and knuckles. You can also find products like topical Lidocaine, which is a topical anesthetic that creates a numbing sensation, or capsaicin, which blocks a chemical in nerve cells that sends pain messages (effective for osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis). Some other popular joint pain relief creams that help relieve both joint and muscle pains are Bengay, Icy Hot, and Aspercreme.
Natural Remedies
There are a number of natural remedies that can help you manage joint pain:
- Physical activity - one of the best things you can do for your joints is to keep them moving! Walking, swimming, and other low-impact exercises are great for keeping your joints flexible and strengthening the muscles around your joints.
- Hot and cold therapies - things like sauna bathing and hot baths can help relieve joint pain and stiffness. Activities like cold plunges can help reduce inflammation.
- Eating an anti-inflammatory diet - managing your joint pain can be easier when you eat in a way that decreases the inflammation in your body. Things like fatty fish, avocados, bone broth, and turmeric are just a few anti-inflammatory foods to add to your diet.
- Taking a high-quality joint health supplement - supporting your joints with a high-quality nutritional supplement is a great way to help increase joint strength and decrease inflammation and pain.
Why Do My Joints Ache So Much?
There are a number of reasons you may be experiencing joint pain. Some common causes of joint pain are arthritis conditions, injury, overuse, autoimmune diseases, and even Vitamin D deficiency.
Arthritis Pain and Other Common Medical Conditions Associated with Joint Pain
There are a few different medical conditions that cause joint pain:
- Osteoarthritis - the most common type of arthritis, commonly seen in older adults. Pain occurs when the cartilage around your bones wears out/down, causing the bones to rub together.
- Rheumatoid Arthritis - this is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks joint tissue. It causes swelling pain and can even cause joint deformities due to weakened ligaments.
- Tendonitis - inflammation typically caused by overuse of tendons.
- Psoriatic Arthritis - arthritis caused by psoriasis, an autoimmune condition on the skin.
Joint pain can also be caused by other autoimmune conditions such as lupus and celiac.
Impact of Lifestyle and Diet
The way you live and eat can have a profound impact on your health, and in particular, your joints. Being overweight can cause joint pain all over your body, contribute to wear and tear on your joints, and is one of the most obvious links between joint pain and diet/lifestyle. Weight can especially have an impact on the weight-bearing joints such as hips, knees, and ankles. Eating an anti-inflammatory diet is one of the most accessible and helpful things you could do for your overall joint health, especially if you deal with excess inflammation.
To read more about "What vitamin am I lacking if my joints hurt?" read our blog!
How Can I Stop My Joints from Aching?
You may be wondering how to reduce joint inflammation quickly, so it’s important to note that reducing inflammation is not always a quick process. Even still, there are a few options to reduce inflammation and pain in both the short- and long-term.
Effective Anti-Inflammatory Medications
Some fast-acting options for reducing pain and inflammation in your joints are NSAIDs like Aspirin, Ibuprofen, and Naproxen, or acetaminophen like Tylenol. These are available over the counter.
Lifestyle Changes
When it comes to lifestyle, there are a few changes you can make to reduce joint pain:
- Exercise regularly by doing low-impact workouts such as walking, swimming, biking, yoga, and using the elliptical. Physical therapy is also an option. It can help improve your mobility, increase your strength, maintain overall fitness, and preserve your ability to perform daily activities.
- Eating a balanced, anti-inflammatory diet.
- Avoid smoking, which can slow the body’s natural healing mechanisms and, therefore, make it more difficult for the body to reduce inflammation.
- Maintain life balance and don’t overdo it, stretch regularly, and get a good amount of sleep.
Dietary Adjustments
Eating an anti-inflammatory diet is one of the best ways to reduce inflammation long-term. Adding and balancing things like the following can help specifically with joint pain and arthritis:
- Fatty fish. In particular, salmon, mackerel, sardines, and trout are all high in Omega-3 fatty acids, which can significantly help decrease inflammation in the body. Since you can only get Omega-3s from your diet, consider taking a high-quality supplement like Omega Pure PLUS®; a great way to get all of those fish species and nutrients!
- Healthy fats such as avocados and olives or olive oil. Olives and olive oil are high in the antioxidant oleocanthal and high in oleic acid, making them good for reducing inflammation.
- Turmeric. This spice contains a significant amount of antioxidants, and curcumin is a natural anti-inflammatory compound.
- Bone broth. Glucosamine, chondroitin, and other amino acids are all beneficial in helping to relieve joint pain, and bone broth contains all of these! It also contains calcium, which helps with bone density.
What is Joint Pain a Symptom Of?
As we’ve discussed, there are a number of medical conditions that can contribute to—and even cause—joint pain and inflammation.
Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)
This type of arthritis is actually an autoimmune disease. The immune system attacks your joint tissue as if it were a disease-inducing germ (like a virus). RA causes swelling and pain in your joints and can even cause joint deformities due to the ligaments surrounding the joints weakening.
Osteoarthritis
Most commonly seen in older adults, this type of arthritis pain occurs when the cartilage around your joints wears out, breaks down, and causes the bones to rub together, creating unnecessary friction. Hand, hip, neck, spine, and knee osteoarthritis are among the most common types.
Infections and Other Conditions
Joint pain can also be caused by infections. Viral infections such as Epstein-Barr, Hep B & C, rubella, and mumps can cause arthritis and other joint inflammation. This inflammation and pain typically lasts 1-2 weeks, but other viruses can cause it to last for up to a year. Bacterial and fungal infections can also cause joint pain, but it’s not as common. The flu and COVID can cause joint stiffness and pain and, in extreme cases, arthritis.
Bursitis is an inflammation of the bursa sacs—the fluid-filled sac that reduces friction in the joints—that causes pain, tenderness, and limited mobility in the joints.
Conclusion
When it comes to easing joint pain, it’s important to look at your options. Lifestyle changes, medication, and nutritional supplements are three ways to manage—and ideally, reduce—joint pain and inflammation. One high-quality supplement option is Previnex Joint Health PLUS®. It’s a clinically effective, high-quality, thoughtfully sourced joint supplement with ingredients like NEM® which has clinical studies showing it reduces joint pain, reduces joint stiffness, and improves joint flexibility. Whether you’re struggling with joint pain or are an athlete wanting to support your joint health overall, get yourself a bottle of Joint Health PLUS® today!
