Arthritis - A Friendly Chat by Sandra Firman - HTML preview

My Final Say

I have had to cope with osteoarthritis, lower back disc degenerative disease and fibromyalgia for most of my life. I can't remember a day without pain. I took gym classes in high school and fell off the uneven parallel bars smack on my bum. Then when my parents and my sisters and I built an in-ground pool, I slid on the cement going down to unplug the drain and fell smack on my bum. I carried twins to full term side by side and put out my back to the point that at six months after delivery I was in a Toronto hospital and having tests.

But I have strategies to cope with the pain and I know that there is no cure for arthritis short of having surgery. So far I have not been a candidate and I don't want to be. So here are my tips and tactics that have worked for me over the years:

1. Lie on the floor next to a bed or sofa and put your legs on the sofa, Do not use a pillow or any other cushioning. Get as close to the couch with your buttocks as possible and just relax.
2. Use a heating pad or hot water bottle whenever you go to bed or are resting.
3. Build up a fortress of pillows all around you, head, legs and both sides
4. Lie on your side as much as possible to take the weight off your back and the main artery which helped when I was pregnant as well. Use the pillows to make a cocoon around you for support
5. Have all of your equipment right beside your bed so you don't have to get up except for the occasional bathroom break
6. Be careful getting in or out of a bath. Install the grab bars and use them
7. Put a pillow between your knees when lying on your side
8. I wrap my whole bottom half in a fleecy blanket or throw before getting into bed to keep my body warm
9. Invest in an electric bed with a tempur-pedic mattress if at all possible

And here is my piece de resistance- a jar of hand cream or face cream! Put it firmly under the spot that hurts the worst, such as lower spine, hips or back of the neck, anywhere that you are having the worst pain. Lie on top of that jar until you fall asleep, but don't move it. It will hurt for the first few minutes but the muscles will gradually regroup and accept that intruder. The pain will be gone and you will drift off to sleep.