arthritis herbal
I have been diagnosed with Arthritis in my neck does anyone know any herbal cures for this condition?
I get a pain the whole way down my left side and am taking anti inflamitary tablets but would rather not if there was an alternative
Not sure what type but has been suggested it was caused by an injury I sustained when I was hit by a car a number of years ago and hit my head on windscreen
You don’t say what form of arthritis, and that makes all the dirfference in what treatments would be effective in your case. Moreover, I wonder what sort of tests were done… some arthritic-like conditions can lead to serious complications and need further treatment. I’d be sure to get a thorough checkup if the doc didn’t already. And it’s always good to get a second opinion when dealing with arhtritis and the spine.
As for herbal remedies, unfortunately, most of them are ineffective. Again, what you would use depends largely on the exact form of arthritis that you have. For the latest research on arthritic illnesses and herbal supplements, check out PubMed, U.S. National Library of Medicine, at http://www.pubmed.com/
(type the illness and a specific supplement in the search box, e.g. arthritis fish oil)
Also, be careful what information you get from books and websites… depend heavily on university and government sources- they’re the most likely to have the latest state-of-the art information.
By the way, for many arthritis-like conditions, their causes and treatments are no longer a complete mystery. Find information at webmd.com and drkoop.com
UPDATE: Since you stated in “Additional Details” that the condition is probably related to a neck injury, you may be rather limited in effective supplement-based treatments for osteoarhritis. Again, check PubMed BEFORE you use a supplement recommended by friend, book, or website.
There may be limited benefit from S-adenosyl-l-methionine/SAMe (very very expensive at effective doses and hard to find high quality SAMe), glucosamine and chondroiton may be less effective than SAMe, and omega-3 fish oil has shown promise in recent studies. Check the studies for safety, dose, and effectiveness before you buy! And always discuss your supplemements with your doctor so drug-supplement interactions can be anticipated. REMEMBER that there have been very few studies on the long-term negative health effects of most dietary and herbal supplements!
