Arthritis in all forms is more complex than just joints hurting. Even osteoarthritis, once thought to be the exception to the autoimmune spectrum, is now found to have an autoimmune component. So to effectively address arthritis, we need to be taking a look at the multiple factors involved.
One factor frequently neglected is the gut. Handling digestive system insufficiencies and pathologies is crucial to the effective treatment of arthritis of all kinds. The ability to break down calcium small enough to get it into the proper tissues, eliminating gut inflammation for adequate nutrient absorption and doing what is necessary to cultivate a healthy gut immune response are just a few of the digestive-related components that need to be addressed.
Since one autoimmune disease seems to trigger a cascading of other autoimmune diseases, simply taking care of any disease, any inflammation in the body, any health challenge is important. For each and every load you take off the immune system, it is going to be helpful.
For instance, if you are eating inflammatory foods, then the body has one more thing to deal with. Many, if not most, processed foods can be inflammatory. Even “healthy” foods such as tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, and peppers (nightshade foods) can be inflammatory to a large number of arthritis sufferers. Simply omitting them from the diet can lessen the overall inflammation and get the body to heal. The body needs inflammation to heal – it is a necessary part of the healing process. However, runaway inflammation, inflammation of multiple systems, or severe inflammation in any one location can cause so much inflammation that the body runs out of resources to handle it all.
Typical treatments, while helpful to many don’t generally get to the reason why the arthritis exists in the first place. Yes, they can dull the pain or lessen the inflammation or suppress the immune system. But an increasing number of people are asking if that is the right solution for them. The numbers of people wanting to go to the next step, take care of why it is going on in the first place and address it from a more natural standpoint are increasing exponentially. Many are turning to acupuncture, herbs and other natural remedies to not just control the symptoms, but address the underlying culprits.
In a Johns Hopkins Health Alert report, they reported that acupuncture has been found to be beneficial for Rheumatoid Arthritis and recommends acupuncture as an adjunctive treatment. In Arthritis Today (the periodical of The Arthritis Foundation), it discusses the mechanism of acupuncture, in addition to the effectiveness: “It helps regulate the body’s nervous system, which can stimulate the release of natural pain-fighting endorphins…Acupuncture also alters the perception of pain…Brain magnetic resonance imaging shows that needling of acupuncture points deactivates the part of the brain that deals with our perception of pain.”
There is much that can be done for arthritis is all its forms and complexities.
Learn more by attending our upcoming webinar, Natural Remedies for Rheumatoid Arthritis Relief, Wednesday, February 24th 7:30pm. Register here: https://bit.ly/RAClass2021
©2021 Holly A. Carling, O.M.D., L.Ac., Ph.D.
