How to Prevent Arthritis in Your Hands: 5 Tips

Arthritis is a disease that causes pain and discomfort in the joints. To prevent arthritis in your hands, try out the following tips.

To prevent arthritis in your hands isn’t an impossible mission. Early diagnostic studies can warn a person early on if they’re at risk. Once diagnosed, appropriate medical treatment should be undertaken as early as possible.

That early diagnosis also provides us with the opportunity to take advantage of some advice that’s both practical and effective. In this article, we’ll review the guidelines you should follow to help prevent arthritis in your hands.

Arthritis

Arthritis is a disease that is characterized by acute or chronic inflammation of the joints. Symptoms often include joint pain, stiffness, and deformity. Therefore, this includes a great variety of pathologies and rheumatic conditions. The most common are:

• Osteoarthritis: This involves deterioration of the cartilage and overgrowth of the bone.
• Arthrosis: A degenerative disease.
• Rheumatoid arthritis or ankylosing spondylitis: An autoimmune disease.
• Gout: The result of uric acid accumulation.
• Septic arthritis: The result of an infection.
• Juvenile idiopathic arthritis: Unknown cause.

Arthritis in your hands

Arthritis in your hands can affect the joints between the 29 bones of the hands and wrists. Pain in this part of the body often makes daily activities difficult. 
The most common forms are osteoarthritis, post-traumatic arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Here are some tips to help prevent osteoarthritis and to also help relieve the pain if you already suffer from it.

Tips to help prevent arthritis in your hands

1. Bromelain, a natural anti-inflammatory

Bromelain is an enzyme with proteolytic action. It’s extracted from the fruit or the stem of the pineapple. It stands out for its anti-inflammatory, circulatory and immunomodulatory properties.

For that reason, bromelain is effective in preventing and relieving rheumatoid arthritis. Research shows that it can help to significantly reduce inflammation. 

Therefore, you can take a bromelain supplement to help prevent arthritis in your hands. It can also help to relieve discomfort, such as pain and inflammation,  if you already suffer from it. This will help you avoid having to take anti-inflammatory drugs and having to suffer from their side effects. 

2. Garlic supplement

Garlic is an ancient medicinal food that’s especially known for its cardiovascular benefits. In addition, its sulfur compounds have been shown to have very effective anti-inflammatory properties.

To benefit from these compounds, you can eat the garlic raw or use crushed garlic. You can add it to vinaigrettes or vegetable juices such as gazpacho. Another option is to buy garlic oil capsules.

3. Heat application

When you suffer from acute inflammation, for example due to trauma, you can apply cold to relieve it and reduce the hematoma. However, when the inflammation is chronic, it’s better to apply heat. You can try applying both cold and heat to see which helps more.

How can you apply heat to yourself?

• Through a massage with vegetable oil (olive, almond, sesame)
• With an electric heating pad
• With a hot water bottle
• Using thermal gloves
• Soaking your hands in hot water for at least 10 minutes

4. Exercises to prevent arthritis in your hands

Arthritis in the hands is characterized by pain, swelling and stiffness. In many cases, one of the causes is excessive use of the computer and mouse. Therefore, we should try to prevent it before it’s too late.

If you work with a keyboard all the time, you should get used to taking breaks every half hour. You should use those breaks to move your hands, fingers and wrists. Or, try giving your hands a little massage. You can also do this in the morning and before going to bed.

5. Beware of fats, and eat more fiber

• Raw or slightly cooked vegetables
• Legumes
• Turmeric and ginger
• Seasonal fruits
• Probiotic yogurt
• Vitamin D supplements, cod liver oil, and multivitamins. Always consume these supplements under the supervision of a health professional.

You can use these tips to help prevent arthritis in your hands if you have a disposition to this disease. In addition, you can use them if you are in the initial stages of the disease.