Today I wanted to highlight a common thing that I hear in my office. Many times men and women feel that aches and pains are just a "normal" part of the aging process and something they will "just have to live with". I put this is quotations, because these are the specific words I hear over and over again. Many clinical studies show us that appropriately balanced hormone replacement therapy can minimize the stiffness and popping that seems to creep up on men and women as they age. For women it's the voice of the joints screaming for Estrogen and in men for Testosterone.
Conventional standards would require x-rays of the joints, and if severe, a blood test to rule out rheumatoid arthritis. Then once the early osteoarthritis diagnosis is handed out, traditional medications will be started that often will include NSAID's (Anti-inflammatory medicine's like ibuprofen, naproxen, Celebrex, steroid injections, and topical creams.) Sadly, the band-aids of medicine are applied with the same end result (although prolonged) of irreversible joint damage requiring new knees, and hips in the end.
If you are a recent hysterectomy patient, in the late years of perimenopause, or trekking through menopause, please pay attention to how the joints are feeling. If you are a male patient and you notice that you just can't play those golf and basketball games without hurting all over, this BLOGS for you too. Yes, aging does bring on aches and pains, but can be exaggerated and influenced by hormone deficiency. Get your hormone levels checked!! This is good medicine, because it restores back what is lost. Bio-identical Hormones will turn on the right proteins, transmitters, and bone builders to get things reset to the normal range. Rheumatology and Arthritis journals are packed with information about this with the results showing reduced pain and inflammation if treated with hormone replacement therapy. There's even a load of information about FIBROMYALGIA pain and hormone deficiency.
Here are some other anti-inflammatory remedies to add on to this topic:
1) Vegetable Juicing Diets- You can read about this is Dr. Andrew Sauls book "Doctor Yourself".
2) Weight Loss- Fat produces inflammatory chemicals and your joints suffer to carry the extra load.
3) Herbs-Boswellia, Ginger, Curcumin, and Omega 3 Fish Oils.
4) Cartilage Builders-Glucosamine, Chondroitin, walking and exercise, Vitamin C, Silica, Collagen, and MSM (Methyl Sulfonyl Methane)
What about Carpal Tunnel or Trigger Finger pain?
There is a simple vitamin that can be used to help combat this problem which is vitamin B6, but you have to use the activated form. Remember, not all supplements are created equal as I've mentioned in other BLOGS. If you notice that the back of your hands are puffy and swollen and if you cannot touch the tips of your fingers to your palm, you might benefit from this readily available vitamin. This sign is called a positive "Ellis sign" indicating that a trial of V-B6 is in order. The usual dosage is 20mg 3 times daily of the activated pyridoxal-5-phosphate form.
So, is this you? Are your joints killing you? (Literally) I believe in traditional medicine for sure, it's the way I was trained, but I also believe there are many other contributors to joint pain that have to be investigated in the overall scheme of things before just medicines alone are used to combat the problem. Testing hormone values is a GREAT place to start if you are wanting to "move" in the right direction with your joint paint. I have an entire selection of these additional supplements and herbal products that could help you feel truly "NORMAL" again. Give me a call and I'll help.
To your good health,
Dr. Sonja
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