Arthritis Pain Relief—an Introduction

Arthritis pain relief—who needs that, I can hear some people ask. Well, more than 50 million Americans suffer from some form of arthritis, and almost everyone over the age of 50 will develop some signs of it. There are millions more in other countries all over the world, so we cannot even make an educated guess at the total number of sufferers. As one of those, I decided to use some of my spare time in looking at causes, and especially at suggested cures for arthritis pain relief that might be available. There are countless books on the subject of arthritis, and it was only after buying and reading quite a few that I realised that there were various types of the disease. I’ve read a lot of material from various people—doctors, specialists, sufferers etc., and I thought that I’d jot down some things that might be of use in trying to minimise pain, and to give some relief to sufferers.

Just a bit of background about myself. I didn't always suffer from arthritis. I know that there are many who have to cope with it from an early age, but I was fortunate in that sense. I enjoyed my sports and other activities, and when it came to earning a living, it was as a self employed bricklayer—plenty of work available, and a fairly comfortable lifestyle because of the earnings I was able to make. Up until 1991, I considered myself fairly fit, with hardly a day missed because of ill health. I got up one fine summer’s morning that year, had my usual cup of tea (never any breakfast—very BAD idea!) and set off for work. The labourer with me mixed the first batch of cement, and set it on the mortar boards for me. I went to lift my first block of the day (they were 18in x 9in x 4in concrete blocks, and fairly heavy, to the uninitiated), and found that my fingers wouldn’t open out properly in order to grip it. My labourer thought that I was having him on, but he soon realised that I was being serious, and that something was amiss.

I wasn’t really a great one for having chats with doctors, but I had to go and find out what was wrong. After weeks of tests, x-rays etc, I was told that I had rheumatoid arthritis, and was warned that it would probably get worse. That has certainly happened over the years, as my knees began to be affected, plus my left shoulder, which I’d damaged in an accident a few years earlier.

Things that most people take for granted, for example sleeping, bathing, brushing one’s teeth, getting dressed, making meals, and even driving the car; for me, became extremely challenging. I thus began a quest for any kind of pain relief that might be available

Although I’m handicapped in some ways, I knew that I couldn’t sit still all day long—every day, week after week, year after year. My goodness, I thought, I’ve still got loads of time ahead of me—surely there’s something I can do. I had taken 2 years off from bricklaying to do a college course in Business and Scottish Highland Studies, all done through the medium of Scottish Gaelic. I had also been commissioned a couple of years before to research and write a book (in English) for the local Community Council, and had actually enjoyed doing it. I therefore decided to combine my knowledge of Scottish Gaelic and my growing love of scribbling. I decided to make an attempt at writing a book that would help learners of the language. By this time, I’d been using various creams to alleviate the pain in my fingers and wrists, and it was actually my knees that were giving me the most grief. I’ve now written 3 educational books, with a fourth on the way.

A lot of folk are much more seriously handicapped with the disease than I am, of course, and in my ongoing blog, I’ll look at various ways of maybe making life a bit more bearable for them. There are lots of methods of obtaining arthritis pain relief, some of which cost nothing, or are cheap, at any rate. Before that, we’ll take a look at some forms of arthritis.