Pain Relief: Best Daily Practices for Healthy Joints in Oklahoma City
What are Best Daily Practices for Healthy Joints in Oklahoma City?
- Stretching EVERY DAY
- Low Impact Movement (think Tai Chi or Yoga or Water Aerobics)
- Drinking lots of clean, warm-hot water (distilled water is a great option if you are unsure what kind of water to drink)
- Eating plenty of alkaline foods (like leafy green vegetables and cruciferous vegetables)
- Hyperbaric Oxygen Chambers
- Infrared Saunas
Stretching: When you stretch, especially if the joints are already inflamed or sensitive, just spend 2-5 minutes at a time gently moving the joint in its full range of motion. This motion should be slow and gentle and not cause you any pain.
Low Impact Movement: What do Tai Chi, Yoga and Water Aerobics have in common? They are all low impact exercises whose movements naturally encourage a full range of motion in the joints. The gentle motions used in Tai Chi positions help open the shoulders and hips, and water aerobics takes advantage of the buoyancy of water to help ease tension as you move the joints in different ways. Bonus – these activities are fun and can be enjoyed with friends or by yourself!
Drinking Clean Hot Water: Our bodies are made up of so much water! Even though they say 70% of the body is water, if you actually break it down molecule by molecule, it’s more like 90%+ of your body is water. As we age, the cells may have a harder time absorbing water and hydration which causes the cells to age faster. So in order to assist in hydration there are 3 key aspects to your water that you should consider:
- It needs to be pure hydration, which is what Distilled water is. It is ONLY H2O.
- It needs to be warm or hot, not cold or room temperature. This is to help the movement of fluid in the body. You wouldn’t use cold water to unstick food from the dishes, so likewise it’s much harder for the body to “unstick” things internally when we drink cold water. This makes hot clean water one of the best and cheapest medicines available!
- It needs to be Structured. Structured water, or hexagonal water, rearranges the molecules in a way that is much easier for the body to absorb and utilize. Which means you can get more bang for your gulp!
Eating Alkaline Foods: The fluid in your joints HAS to stay alkaline in order to work properly. This means that the pH balance of the joint fluid must be between 7.0 and 14.0 on the pH scale. Anything lower than 7 is considered acidic. Some high alkaline foods include: spinach, kale, celery, swiss chard, beets, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cucumber, avocado, bok choy, cauliflower, and the list goes on and on! Basically any chance you can, add cooked leafy greens or cruciferous vegetables to your meals to give your body an alkaline boost! Changing the diet can help with circulation, blood pressure, blood sugar, overall digestion, inflammation, and much more.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Chambers: Oxygen is key for most bodily processes and our levels of oxygenation tend to decline as we get older. This means making oxygenation a priority can dramatically change joint health. Hyperbaric oxygen chambers are one way to do that.
Infrared Saunas: Traditional wet saunas are very taxing on the cardiovascular system and are not usually recommended for individuals over the age of 60. Infrared saunas, however, use infrared light to warm the body rather than steam heat. This is much gentler on the body and can also penetrate much deeper into the tissues and muscles to give much more effective relief.
Can’t make it to an oxygen chamber or a sauna? No problem! There are now medical devices available such as the AVACEN which combine the benefits of an oxygen chamber and a sauna, except the device goes on your hand only. This means you get all the benefits of oxygenating the blood and healing the joints while just sitting on your own couch at home. You can find out more about it [here].
You CAN improve your joint health today if you decide to make it a priority and pick one solution to incorporate each day. Once that beneficial habit is established, move onto the next one. Before you know it, you will be helping your joints every single day and they will thank you by regenerating and repairing themselves, as they are meant to do.