After the first few articles, you pretty much know what arthritis and its different types are, and the most probable causes of it. If you are suffering from arthritis, then most probably you are taking some form of medication or another. If you have been to the doctor, then you have also been probably advised to exercise, lose weight, and practice a healthy diet. Anyway, for this article we will talk about arthritis natural remedies that help ease the pain of arthritis. Now we are not talking about using natural remedies to cure, but rather to help the medications that you take deal with arthritis.

For starters, simply changing your diet is already one big step in improving your arthritic condition. A poor western type diet of meat and overly cooked foods, processed sugars and high glycemic starches are considered to be one of the culprits to initiating inflammation and aggravating arthritis. Simply adding more raw foods such as fruits and vegetables can make a big difference, not just for your arthritis but for your general health as well.

A good list of such foods would be foods high in omega 3 fatty acids, such as fatty fish, flax seed oil, and cod liver oil. The omega 3 fatty acids can help alleviate pain and inflammation in your joints, and many university studies have been done that prove this correct. Garlic, also has many anti inflammatory properties adding or taking in a little bit more garlic in your diet, can do wonders for your arthritis pain.

Some other foods that you might want to consider, would include tea made from alfalfa seeds, green tea, flax seed and flax seed oil which can be added or sprinkled onto your regular food, cinnamon, ginger, and olive oil. All of these foods have been used for quite some time now and do have a reputation for effectively mitigating the pain of arthritis by reducing inflammation.

Now if you are having an arthritic flare up, you should try to keep your body warm and avoid bandaging your joints. Try taking a relaxing dip in a tub of warm water mixed with sea salt, as sea salt is reputed to help reduce inflammation around the joints and can also help with stress and tension relief. You can also apply hot or cold compresses to the affected area. Hot compresses generally provide muscles spasm relief and improves circulation around your joints, while cold compresses numb the affected area and by constricting blood vessels, help to prevent or lessen swelling. You can do a trial on what works best for you. Some people claim to achieve better results with alternating the two. A good idea would be to apply five to 10 minutes of cold compress to an affected joint within the first 48 hours of pain. You can try heat compress for pain that lasts greater than 48 hours.

Using natural methods of relieving arthritis pain in combination with your medications is a great way of reducing your dependence on drugs. The natural methods we suggested above are free from side effects and highly cost effective. There are no chemicals involved and puts your mind at ease as to what you put inside your body.

There is a lot of information in books and online with regards to natural methods of relieving pain. You can also talk to your doctor on how you can modify your diet to help you cope better with the stress of arthritic pain.