The Buzz on Arthritis

Contrary to popular belief, we are not destined to be stiff, sore and ridden with arthritis as we age. In fact, if you are currently stiff and sore there are many ways to manage arthritis without relying on pharmaceutical drugs that tax your vital organs. Before we talk about how to prevent or manage it, let’s first define arthritis.
Arthritis is defined as inflammation (-itis) of the joints (articulations). The result of this inflammation over a period of years is osteoarthritis where the body begins to calcify the joints that are inflamed leading to bone spurs and thinning discs. This calcification that occurs is the result of improper alignment of the joints creating a stabilization response by the body. There is a very important fact that must be discussed before a true understanding of arthritis can occur, and that is called Wolff’s Law. This law states that bone will remodel to stress or the force applied to it in order to become stronger. Therefore, osteoarthritis develops as a result of abnormal stress and force being placed on the joints from things like trauma, but especially from the repetitive stress that occurs from having poor posture over a long period of time.
So now that we have defined arthritis, let’s talk about how to prevent it. The most important thing that you can do is to have your spine examined and adjusted by a chiropractor routinely, similarly to having your teeth cleaned. This is critical in preventing arthritis because as you acquire poor postural habits you lose the proper structure and motion of your spine and the joints become irritated and inflamed. This may or may not cause pain right away, but either way it needs to be corrected as soon as possible in order to prevent chronic joint dysfunction, pain and ultimately arthritis.
The successful management of arthritis requires a mild to moderate level of commitment and a willingness to change from the individual because there are some critical anti-inflammation strategies that must be adopted such as:
*Drinking lots of water
*Avoiding trans fats (deep fried foods, partially hydrogenated oils)
*Avoiding artificial sweeteners and food additives (i.e. aspartame, MSG, etc…)
*Avoiding high fructose corn syrup
*Supplementing 3,000-5,000mg of Omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil)
*Supplementing a multi-vitamin that includes: A, C, E, B6, B12, Folic Acid and Selenium
*Supplementing glucosamine and chondroitin
*Eating 5-9 servings of organic fruits and vegetables per day
*Breathing deeply 15-20 times, 4 times per day
*Exercising 3-4 times per week for 20-30 minutes (i.e. a brisk walk)
*Chiropractic adjustments to correct posture and improve range of motion
I hope you take this information and utilize it to effectively prevent or manage arthritis so that your life is full of healthy, pain free motion. I invite all of you to call or email me with any questions about arthritis or general health, and feel free to attend my Optimal Health workshop that is offered the first and third Monday of every month at 6:30 pm in the office lobby.

Dr. Favreau maintains his practice alongside VanQuaethem Chiropractic in the Madison Park neighborhood of Seattle. The office address is:
4105 E. Madison St., Ste. 2
Seattle, WA 98112
206.726.9595
dr.justinj@gmail.com