During osteoarthritis, one experiences degeneration of joints including subchondral bone and articular cartilage. In the initial stages of disorder, the person suffers from stiffness, tenderness, joint pain, locking and effusion.

Hands, feet, large weight bearing joints like knees and hips, spine are mostly affected by the disorder. If the disorder is not treated during the initial stages, the joints increase in size accompanied by stiffness and pain.

One suffers extreme pain in fingers and toes. Sometimes, accumulation of excess fluid around the joints causes osteoarthritis.

Causes of osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis is the result of several factors. Some of them include:-

€ Marfan syndrome
€ Obesity
€ Septic arthritis
€ Diabetes
€ Congenital disorders of joints
€ Alkaptonuria
€ Wilson's disease

Ayurvedic remedies for osteoarthritis treatment

Ayurveda recommends a healthy diet for patients suffering from osteoarthritis. Ayurvedic experts recommend consumption of hot and freshly cooked food. Moreover, one needs to consume hot soup of lentils, meat, pulses for the treatment of arthritis. You could use black pepper and long pepper to give an enticing flavor to the dish.

Do not keep yourself away from ghee and oil. They need to be included in your diet in any form because they act as lubricants for dried up joints.

One needs to avoid deep fried, oily food, pungent recipes and spicy food items. They cause severe damage and pain to degenerated joints.

Yoga and exercises for osteoarthritis treatment

Yoga and ayurveda are associated with each other since centuries. A regular moderate physical exercise routine is helping many individuals to get permanent joint pain relief.

Some of the ayurvedic oils are recommended by experts for the treatment of arthritis. Some of them are bala taila, mustard oil, mahanarayan taila and many others. Their gentle application on joints has been proved to be beneficial for the patients.

Herbs used for treatment of arthritis

A dose of extracts from the deodar tree is taken twice or thrice a day to get permanent relief from arthritis and severe joint pain.

5 to 10 ml of castor oil needs to be consumed by the patients twice a day. Triphala churna is a well recommended ayurvedic compound. Consumption of triphala encourages the cleansing of colon.

Below mentioned massage therapies would help you in relieving the pain and inflammation.

€ Njavarakizhi: - it is one of the most affective massages, which provide strength to the tissues.

€ Sweda: - it is a medicated steam bath, which detoxifies and reduces the body pain.

€ Abhayanga; - This oil massage with useful herbs has been proved to be beneficial in improving the blood circulation and strengthening the tissues.

Certain tips by ayurvedic experts might help you in the long run:-

€ Walk for at least 30 to 40 minutes every evening

€ Maintain emotional balance and do not over exert

€ It is better to avoid frizzy drinks because they harm the functioning of the body.

Osteoporosis is common in people, whose bone mineral density is quite low. Therefore, they need to take adequate calcium, which is recommended according to the gender and age of a person. This along with exercise can help in maintaining the bone density, which in turn reduces the risk of osteoporosis.