In autoimmune rheumatic diseases we have constant joint pain. Sometimes they are so big, or sudden, or frequent, that they exasperate us and we seek to relieve them quickly. How can we quickly relieve such pain? With anti-inflammatories.
Anti-inflammatories have their place in our ailments, that’s it, sometimes we can’t help it, but there are other methods, not so fast, but more friendly to the stomach, liver, kidneys or what other organs anti-inflammatories affect over time. Here are the methods I use to relieve my joint pain and maintain my mobility even though I have had ankylosing spondylitis for 33 years.
Warm salt baths
In autoimmune rheumatic diseases sometimes the tense muscles (contractions) hurt more than the joints.
Epsom salt is magnesium sulfate, or “bitter salt.” A large cup of epsom salt added to warm bath water relaxes muscles, improves mood and helps regulate sleep. There is no scientific evidence that the magnesium and sulfur in epsom salt do any of this, but people have been using these remedies for hundreds of years with remarkable results, and someone should be funding the scientific studies. Who would want to cut back on anti-inflammatories, anti-depressants and insomnia drugs?
There is also nigari salt, which is magnesium chloride. This is closer to sea salt (it is actually a residue of table salt extraction). It has the same benefits as epsom salt if we use it in the bath. Magnesium and chlorine have a relaxing and decontracting effect.
And if we don’t have or don’t want to buy epsom or nigari salt, there is always coarse pickling salt, which does not contain magnesium, but chlorine and sodium. We need to put double the amount compared to epsom or nigari salt in the bath, but it’s cheap so it’s ok. I specify that it is non-iodized salt, from the kind sold in bulk, without anti-caking agents and bleaches.
Relaxing massage
As I said before, pain from autoimmune rheumatic diseases tends to cause the muscles around painful joints to contract. Bad posture has the same effect. When we are in pain, we don’t really care about having a correct posture, even a slight forward bend or an almost imperceptible twist relieves our pain momentarily. But in the long term the pains intensify, and the incorrect posture causes certain organs to stop working well and blood circulation to suffer. So a massage that relaxes and stretches the muscles is welcome. I don’t get a chance to have a massage very often, but when I do it feels good.
Weight loss
Excess weight puts pressure on the joints, prevents us from moving properly, shifts the center of gravity, thereby changing the alignment of the spine, and strains the muscles. Let’s lose weight, I say. The first balneologist I went told me to lose weight, although I had a BMI of 23, I was at normal weight. I scolded him that I’m not fat, but he was right, after I lost weight, that felt good at the level of pain. In rheumatic autoimmune diseases, any accumulated kilo hurts.
How is the correct weight calculated? There are many formulas, starting with the familiar Body Mass Index (BMI) to the complicated (and controversial) formulas used by nutritionists. I once listened to a doctor (I apologize for not remembering his name) who said this: women calculate the weight in cm minus 100, from which 10% to 15% is subtracted, and men 5% to 10%. That means a BMI between 19 and 20 for women and between 20 and 22 for men. Or the most correct formula in my opinion: the waist circumference is measured near the navel, and it should not exceed half the height.
Maybe healthy people can afford a few extra kilos, on the basis of “fat is healthy” or “whoever likes me, likes me like that”, but for rheumatic patients and in general after a certain age, any extra kilo is a pain.
Daily gymnastics
Someone with spondylitis was telling me that he has a yoga mat by his bed, the first thing he does in the morning is a set of stretching exercises. I do the same, if I skip this habit for a few days, the pains appear, and my usual movements are limited. Sometimes I’m too lazy or I’m busy, but I assume that the next morning I might have pain to bend to put on my socks, or a sneeze might make me wince in pain.
I put together a set of exercises inspired by physical therapy and yoga, exercises that involve all the joints and muscles. I don’t do strength training (although I should, my muscles have weakened due to illness, age and medication), I just haven’t found the motivation to stick with them yet. But I do stretching exercises almost daily.
Adequate sleep
Let’s get used to going to bed at a reasonable time, without TV, in silence and with a temperature between 18-20 degrees Celsius. Comfortable and warm pajamas, light duvet, comfortable mattress (for everyone there is a degree of hardness or softness of the mattress with which they feel good). Preferably no pillow or a very thin pillow. Sleep restores the body. Without 7-9 hours of sleep a night, our body and mind are sick.
Rest
Let’s create a way of life where we can rest during the day. Excessive activity, or being sedentary, causes us pain. I have an hour every day in the middle of the day when I lie down in bed, eat quietly, then lie there. When I sit on the chair I don’t rest, rather than sitting on the chair I walk.
Let’s lay in the sun
The sun is our friend, it gives us warmth, light, vitamin D and relieves pain. From March to October, about an hour a day, undressed as much as possible, in full sun, it’s pure medicine.
In recent years we have been told that the sun is our enemy, to protect ourselves from it with shade, creams with the highest SPF… not to stay in the sun. People have taken this very seriously, they avoid the sun more than germs, viruses and bacteria. They go to the beach once a year, they spend 6 hours a day in the sun, they burn, because they haven’t been in the sun since last year’s vacation, and now they have exaggerated, and then they shout: “those who say that the sun hurts are right! Look how badly I burned myself!”
Moderation is the key. I lay in the sun for 30-40 minutes when it’s up and my shadow is smaller than me. I do this since the temperature outside is 15-17 degrees Celsius, that is, from around March. In July-August I take a break with the sun exposure, because you can’t avoid the sun anyway during that period. Then I do it again until it gets really cold, which means the end of October, the beginning of November. I don’t put anything on my skin. Vitamin D is not synthesized if we use any kind of creams or shower gels. To be clear, I am not advising anyone to do this, I am telling you how I reduce my pain. I have been doing this for 20 years.
Eating
I keep talking about food around here, so I won’t make this paragraph long. Nutrition is essential, both for pain relief and for maintaining a normal weight and good mood. For everyone there is a personal style of eating, and our duty is to search, find and apply this personal style. Don’t let anyone tell you what you should or shouldn’t eat. Find out and try it yourself, possibly under supervision.
Mental and emotional well-being
This has not been scientifically proven either, but pain, or rather the way we endure pain, is influenced by our mental and emotional state. We cannot influence what happens in the world, but we can influence how we relate to what happens. If we keep our energy at a positive level we can better bear pain and find solutions to feel better. If we allow ourselves to be crushed by pain, our soul will also suffer. He too will be crushed by negativity, hatred, envy and other negative emotions. Think that healthy people are not always happy, and that there are sick people who always have a smile on their face and are always ready to help someone, at least with a kind word. Health is only one of the factors that ensure well-being, let’s look around and look for the other factors as well.
