Toronto-Centre Naturopathic Medicine is a Toronto naturopathic clinic dedicated to providing safe and effective treatment of a wide variety of health conditions using natural therapies and the principles of naturopathic medicine.
Arthritis is well treated using naturopathic medicine. The term arthritis refers to inflammation of joints, from any one of a number of causes. The most common types of arthritis are rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. Less common types of arthritis may be associated with other conditions that can affect other parts of the body (e.g., psoriasis which affects the skin). With time, joint inflammation may result in damage to the joints resulting in permanent disfigurement or requiring surgery. Professional healthcare should be sought out if you have persistent discomfort and swelling in multiple joints on both sides of your body.
Symptoms of arthritis
Possible symptoms of arthritis include:
- Joint pain
- Joint swelling and redness
- Joint stiffness and decreased range of motion
- Fatigue
- Weight loss
- Fever
- Rash
Arthritis treatment at Toronto-Centre Naturopathic Medicine
At Toronto-Centre Naturopathic Medicine, the goals of arthritis treatment are significant or complete pain reduction, and prevention of disease progression.
Conventional treatment for arthritis may include physical therapy or surgery, and a variety of medications, including nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), corticosteroids, disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs and immunosuppressants, which may have short- or long-term side effects. For this reason, you may choose to try natural treatment to possibly avoid use of conventional medications, or together with conventional medications in order to decrease dosages of conventional medications required to manage your arthritis symptoms.
Naturopathic treatment of any chronic health concern must be recognized as a process that involves identifying specific treatment goals, a thorough understanding by your naturopathic doctor of all factors affecting your health, including physical, psychological, emotional and lifestyle factors, development of a comprehensive treatment plan and execution of that plan through periodic monitoring and adjustment.
At Toronto-Centre Naturopathic Medicine a typical approach to treating arthritis is to first identify and address underlying factors in your lifestyle (e.g., weight management, sedentary lifestyle) or general health (e.g., underlying disease condition causing joint inflammation [e.g., gout], existing untreated injury). Where appropriate, a number of therapeutic options are available, to be used alone, or more often in a complementary fashion, including:
- Acupuncture
- Nutritional supplements
- Botanical (herbal) medicines
- Bowen Therapy
- SuikodoTM
- Hydrotherapy
- Exercise prescription
- Homeopathic medicines
- Relaxation techniques
Reference
Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Arthritis [Online]. [cited 2009 Feb 18]; Available from: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/arthritis/DS01122
Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Rheumatoid arthritis [Online]. [cited 2009 Feb 18]; Available from: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/rheumatoid-arthritis/DS00020
Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Osteoarthritis [Online]. [cited 2009 Feb 18]; Available from: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/osteoarthritis/DS00019