Can Spinal Arthritis Be Treated Naturally?

Living with significant back pain can be difficult day after day. Not only is there the pain to deal with, but you may also experience reduced mobility and inflammation that can make things worse. What’s more, with significant bouts of inactivity, you may further exacerbate issues in your back, neck, or elsewhere in your body. As you probably already know, inflammation can also flare up when you least expect it, even if you’re trying to take things easy. You may already be aware of how to treat arthritis of the spine with surgery, but perhaps you’d like to try some nonsurgical cures first. If you’re wondering if treating lower back arthritis or spinal arthritis, generally speaking, can be treated naturally, then you’ll be glad to know that there are some actions you can take to help keep your arthritis in check. Various home remedies for arthritis in the lower back can help prevent spinal arthritis from taking over your day and your life, though to be fair these remedies are less about providing cures and more about managing symptoms. Let’s take a look at some of the things that you can do to manage your arthritis naturally.

Exercise Can Help with Spinal Arthritis Pain

Those wondering “What is the best treatment for osteoarthritis?” may balk at something that requires more movement, but it’s perhaps counterintuitively true that more physical activity can help reduce the pain and inflammation associated with arthritis. Unfortunately, it’s often the case that many arthritis sufferers avoid movement that can trigger their pain. That said, the truth is that exercise can help promote weight loss, and that will take the strain off of your joints, allowing them to heal instead of hurt. Other benefits of exercise on arthritis is that your body will create anti-inflammatory substances, helping to reduce pain as well as creating endorphins that can enhance your mood. Movement can also help increase your range of motion and reduce the chance of developing other health complications such as heart disease and diabetes. While movement can be beneficial when done deliberately and carefully, it can also cause complications if done haphazardly. This is why it is recommended that anyone trying to resolve arthritis pain on their own develop a plan with a trusted Doctor or physical therapist to come up with safe and effective exercises.

Another Home Remedy for Spinal Arthritis: Diet

In addition to exercise, diet can be an important natural treatment for spinal arthritis, osteoarthritis, or rheumatoid arthritis. Studies have shown that certain diets and exercises can reduc inflammation in the body, which also means less pain and increased mobility. Diet in particular is also ideal to help get better nutrients into the body, helping it heal itself from the inside rather than looking for some kind of medicine that can do the trick. Since other diseases commonly co-occur with arthritis, diet and exercise can help break the cycle and allow you to deal with your arthritis, not a never-ending rotation of health ailments that can lead to weak bones, weak muscles and weak organ systems. In particular, a diet of omega-3 fatty acids and dietary fiber have been shown to reduce inflammation and the likelihood of other diseases in the body.

Additional Back Arthritis Treatment: Acupuncture

While there is limited research as to how acupuncture works, many sufferers of arthritis report feeling better after just one session. It might seem silly to use thin needles to stimulate blood flow and decrease inflammation, but many patients have surprising results with acupuncture that just isn’t possible via other means. Not only does acupuncture reduce inflammation in the body, it can help relieve arthritis pain without needing to turn to painkillers. Scientists believe it works by triggering nerve signals, sending them along the spinal cord into the brain. The brain then sends pain-killing neurotransmitters to help the body cope, which can reduce the feeling of pain. It’s not that the arthritis disappears, but the body is able to deal with it better.

Try Meditation

If sitting cross-legged repeating the same mantra over and over sounds like the last thing that could treat your arthritis, you’re not alone. But meditation has very real healing properties, and it all starts with minimizing the stress that your body faces. By reducing stress, you’re reducing inflammation and the triggers for that arthritis and pain. With meditation, deep breathing and muscle relaxation can bring relief while tension and inflammation levels drop in the body. Furthermore, meditation can also help the mind, which can represent a significant hurdle when it comes to dealing with a debilitating disease day after day. And when anxiety drops and the mind is better able to cope, the body often follows, helping to reduce depression and enhancing that all-important night’s sleep. In addition to reducing your pain, that can help make arthritis something that you’re better able to deal with on an emotional and practical level.

Spinal Arthritis Pain Relief: Massage

As one of the most well-known ways to reduce tension in the body, massage is one of those natural treatments that goes beyond feeling good during the massage. During a good massage (especially a medical massage), an experiencedmassage therapist can help you release deep tension in your neck and back, and that can help reduce inflammation and pain long after you leave. Like acupuncture, it also increases blood flow, bringing rich nutrients to your aching joints and muscles. But that’s not all. Massage can also help treat spinal arthritis naturally by releasing hormones to help decrease anxiety and boost your mood.

Supportive Devices

As Arthritis Health notes, “certain orthopedic products may be used to help stabilize or take pressure off the back”. These devices include:

• A medium-firm supportive mattress
• A supportive sleeping pillow
• A walker or cane used when walking
• A temporary back brace (with doctor approval)

Heat and Cold Therapy

As Arthritis.org notes, heat and cold therapy can be an extremely effective way to manage arthritis-related pain on a daily basis. That’s because, while heat increases blood flow to painful joints and relaxes tight muscles, cold decreases blood flow (thereby reducing swelling), slowing the transmission of pain signals. Used appropriately, either heat or cold (or heat and cold) can work wonders on lower and upper back arthritis pain. 

Oral or Topical Pain Relief

NSAIDS like Advil taken orally may help manage arthritis-related pain. Other natural remedies like non-psychoactive oral CBD oil or gummies or topical CBD ointment may also be used to provide pain relief. There are plenty of other pain relief options on the market too, such as Voltaren, a high-strength NSAID cream, and Arnica gel. Lidocaine pain patches may also be used. Remember, none of this is intended as medical advice, so please consult with us (or a trusted Doctor) before self-administering any medication or natural remedy as even supplements and natural pain relief products can have drug interactions.

When Natural Treatments Don’t Work for Spinal Arthritis

While natural treatments for spinal arthritis can do a lot, sometimes an issue is just too much to be treated naturally. If natural treatments aren’t working, medications, physical therapy, injections and other spine treatments, up to and including surgery, may be worth considering. Oftentimes, natural treatments do help with pain, but long-term relief is best achieved through the help of spinal arthritis experts who can truly help you reclaim your life.

Discover Your Arthritis in Back Treatment Options

Here at Desert Spine & Scoliosis, Dr. Baig and our expert team can help you assess your options. Contact us now for a consultation!