Control Your Inflammatory Arthritis
Reduce and Eliminate the Pain

If you are familiar with this by personal experience, you may be one of the 46 million Americans (that's 1 out of every 5) that are living with arthritis every day.

To better understand how to get relief from this debilitating disease we need to look more closely at its root causes.

Some of the types of arthritis which are associated with inflammation include:

1. rheumatoid arthritis
2. gout
3. tendonitis
4. bursitis
5. polymyalgia rheumatica

What is Inflammatory Arthritis?

Arthritis actually means inflammation (itis) of the joints (arthr) and can include a great variety of joint problems. The term refers to a group of more than 100 rheumatic diseases and other conditions that can cause pain, stiffness and swelling in the joints or other parts of your body. It can also damage the joint cartilage and lead to joint weakness, instability and visible deformities that can interfere your ability to perform basic daily tasks. If simple things like walking, climbing stairs, using a computer keyboard, washing dishes or brushing your teeth causes you pain, you know from your own experience. Arthritis can affect anyone regardless of age and most commonly affects joints in the knees, hips, hands and spine. If not treated properly, inflammatory arthritis can irreversibly damage joints, bones, organs, and skin. Of course. It also dramatically impairs your quality of life.

Inflammatory arthritis refers to conditions that involve the immune system and inflammation in the joints. In osteoarthritis there is inflammation because the articular cartilage on the ends of bones has been worn away. In rheumatoid arthritis, there is inflammation in the joint lining. Inflammatory arthritis stiffness and pain usually is felt early in the morning and after prolonged sitting. This is different from degenerative arthritis, in which the pain worsens later in the day and with activity.

Arthritis-related conditions primarily affect the muscles and bones but it is may also be systemic, affecting the whole body. Arthritis can cause damage to any bodily organ or system, including the lungs, kidneys, blood vessels, skin and even the heart. The Arthritis Foundation cites independent studies by Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota both of which prove that the widespread inflammation of rheumatoid arthritis is linked to heart disease and an increased risk of early death.

No one really knows all the causative factors behind arthritis but there are certain risk factors to keep in mind:

1. Genetics - unknown contribution to risk. Often, it is lifestyle that is passed on.
2. Age - the older you are the more at risk you are
3. Weight - maintaining a healthy weight reduces the load on the joints.
4. Previous Injury - major injuries are likely to contribute to risk.
5. Occupational Hazards - repetitive, high demand jobs increase risk.
6. Certain Sports - high level, high demand sports can contribute to arthritis (however, general exercise is always a plus)
7. Illness or infection - an infection in a joint or gout can lead to arthritis.

What we do know is that, when you have arthritis, your immune system goes into over-drive and causes the joints to swell and become inflamed. Therefore, treating the inflammation becomes key in managing the pain and discomfort associated with inflammatory arthritis.

Unfortunately, according to the Arthritis Foundation, half of those Americans with arthritis don't believe anything can be done to help ease their pain. I am a big advocate of education and personal education and responsibility for our health. That's why the philosophy of this site is:

Get toxins out, good nutrition in, keep moving, and your intricately-designed, self- healing body can get things working right and give you natural pain relief

You may have felt that yourself, and have simply decided to live with your pain. Perhaps you were just misinformed. Be assured that you can reduce your pain. The good news is that by reducing inflammation you can significantly reduce the painful effects of inflammatory arthritis.

1. Exercise - less weight puts less stress on joints
2. Diet - Eat plenty of vegetables, fruits and whole-grain products and try to reduce foods that cause inflammation such as sugar, salt and fat (especially saturated fat found in animal products). There are specific ways to achieve an anti-inflammatory diet.
3. Rest - a good balance between rest and activity is the key to joint health
4. Over-the-counter and prescription medications provide only temporary relief by masking the pain without getting to the real cause of the problem - inflammation. They can also have serious side effects, especially with long-term use.
5. Natural anti-inflammatory supplements - probably the best way (especially when combined with healthy lifestyle factors) to reducing inflammation. You should look at and understand the importance of systemic proteolytic enzymes See information about one such product (and a free trial offer) in the box below.

By taking these simple steps to reduce inflammation you will be making a good start at controlling your inflammatory arthritis pain and working towards a pain-free and happier life.

About this free offer: You will be sent a free bottle and only pay the shipping. The company takes your payment information and will send (and charge you for) a second bottle a month after they ship the first one. (This is an autoship trial offer.) However, you can phone them before it is shipped (I suggest 10 days before.) and cancel the autoship. The company is easy to get hold of (Phone 800-216-4908 from 8am to 12 midnight CST) and will take care of your request promptly. The difficulty some people have is being able to evaluate the product within only a couple of weeks. Of course, if you do cancel, you can always order product from them in the future. They find that enough people get pain relief and continue their autoship for a few months that offering the free trial is worth it to them. Try it today.