As we age, we begin to feel the effects of a life working, playing sports and wear on our joints. Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis where the cartilage on each end of the bones in a joint has been worn away, leaving bone rubbing on bone.
As we age, both muscle and bone mass tend to decrease, raising the likelihood of falls, fractures and a loss of independence. To prevent osteoporosis and keep our bones healthy, a combination of diet, physical activity, vitamin D and medication can be beneficial.
Pain serves as a signal that something is not quite right within our body, resulting from injury, illness, disease, hormonal fluctuations or stress. Management may include complementary medicines to get the best results. Here we look at four with evidence for their effectiveness.
Pain is the body's signal that something is not right but our response to pain, and our ability to put up with it, is as variable as human nature itself. It depends on how bad the pain is, why the pain is occurring, how long we think we will have to put up with it, what medicines we know are available and what our past experiences are with pain relief treatments.
Localised pain in a joint or muscle can be caused by many different injuries or wear and tear, from an acute strain or sprain to osteoarthritis and other chronic pain conditions. Creams and rubs can be used without as many side effects as oral medicines, so let’s have a look at some of these treatment options ...
