When it comes to living with arthritis and pain strikes, there is no hiding it. In the UK today, there are approximately 1 in 9 adults over the age of 45 that have to live with hip pain because of arthritis. That’s a little over 10% of the population.
In the early stages of rheumatoid arthritis, most of the pain and joint destruction can happen in your hands and feet. Over time, however, and especially if you also have osteoarthritis, pain can affect your hips as well.
Sadly, there is no magic cure for hip pain and arthritis but there are a number of at home remedies that you can try to relieve the pain. Here are our top 5 remedies.
Get Out For A Walk
Right now, we are in autumn and the outdoors couldn’t look more amazing. With a beautiful mix of reds, yellow and oranges everywhere, a walk won’t be as bad as you think. The winter weather has yet to settle in so cool breezes and icy rain won’t ruin a good walk.
Walking is considered a low-impact exercise. This helps increase blood flow to your cartilage and this means your cartilage gets the nutrients needed to cushion and protect the end of bones in your joints. Moving about can also help lubricate your joints and ultimately lower the level of pain and stiffness you feel.
Hot & Cold Therapy
When it comes to relieving arthritis hip pain, many choose hot or cold. Its mainly down to your preference. What we are recommending is that you use a balance of the two. Heat helps you relax the muscles and lubricate the joints. This will help with stiff joints and warm them up before you walk. Where as cold can help you reduce inflammation, swelling and pain.
Alternating between the two is the ideal scenario. Whether you take a morning bath and then go for a walk in the park, you are mixing the warm water with the cool weather without realizing it and it really should help relieve the pain.
Top Tip: We use the Uccello Kettle to make a cuppa and fill a hot water bottle so you can enjoy a hot sup and soothe your hip pain in one go.
Stretch It Out
When it comes to arthritic hip pain, there are many stretches that can help you out. Most of them involve gentle motions to stretch your hip with aggravating the joint. Typically these stretches involve kneeling or crouching.
We do not recommend stretching if this will affect any other health conditions you have so it is always wise to talk to your doctor or physical therapist before you carry any out. They will be able to guide and instruct you towards stretches that will benefit and not hurt you.
Rest
As Shakira would say you ”hips don’t lie” so when pain strikes, it’s time to rest. Listen to your body. Avoid doing things that would require you to bend at the hip or put pressure on your hips. The best way to rest a sore hip is to avoid sitting for periods of time and when sleeping, sleep on the other side of your body to relieve some of the pressure and tension on your sore hip.
Healthy Diet
I know, when it comes to an at home remedy, you are looking for more of a quick fix. However, if you look after your diet and weight, you really will see the benefits. It’s a long term remedy that you will thank yourself for. Less weight means less pressure and stress on your joints. You will have more energy to move around and exercise which has a positive effect on your joints again.
For more information on living with arthritis, please do feel free to read more in our blog section on our website.
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