Arthritis Remedies?

[freestyle]

One thing that helps me is washing dishes before I play. Working your hands in hot water seems to be just what the doctor ordered. I do have arthritis in both hands. I haven't tried the hot wax, yet. I understand hot, dry oatmeal will work, too. Also, don't be afraid of the common asprin. 2 of them 20 minutes before you start should keep your circulation flowing better, and help relieve the inflamation pain. Otherwise, a couple of shots of Wild Turkey 101 will do much the same. They are more fun. lol

[Bluelew]

Wild turkey won't stop the pain, but after a few you won't care as much

[kronos810]

Recommend Medicinenet.com

[kronos810]

MedicineNet.com

[arluk3]

I cringe when I read about people putting WD-40 into their bodies. If you are that daring, then please consider a similar but safer approach ..DMSO. You can read about it and obtain it online. Many arthritics use it. DMSO is a solvent from the timber industry. It goes right through the skin and increases circulation, which makes it very effective for injuries such as sprains and bruises where the swelling makes it diffficult for the body to remove damaged cells or bring in healing compounds. DMSO is also a painkiller that works instantly. It has a few side effects, including garlic breath and change in focal length of the eye if used too much on a long term basis. I have used it about a dozen times for injuries and it is remarkable. If you use it, make sure that you have pharmaceutical grade stuff and that your skin is absolutely clean. DMSO acts as a vehicle and brings any skin contamination to the inside of your body. An even safer approach is to use MSM, which is a derivative of DMSO. You can buy it at Walmart off the shelf and it is cheap. MSM has the same toxicity as water, so it is very safe. It doesn't work immediately, but it also doesn't have the side effects of DMSO. I don't think that either DMSO or MSM is approved by the FDA, but that is probably because neither can be patented and no drug company is going to spend the money for drug trials without having financial incentive. Please don't believe anything that I've said here, but use it as a guideline for your own investigation. And save the WD-40 for your automobile !

[NJay]

I recall that DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide) was quite popular in the early '80's as kind of an "underground" remedy for sprains and strains. I had a coworker who was a runner who swore by it for sore knees. I tried it a couple of times, but didn't see much benefit. He'd buy it at a small shop in the World Trade Center concourse. I believe it was approved for veterinary use, mainly for horses I think. Like I said, I tried it, but was leery of the possible side effects. I thought about it when this thead was started, but didn't think anyone gave it much credence these days.

[Pierre77]

I also have Rheumatism in the base of my left (fretting) thumb. I'm 55. I have given up on my old thumb-over technique (and I find big barre chords also painful); but I still play, and I still experience some pain - and I take a while off, and then play again. I'm not go2 give up just yet! In actual fact, I feel that a bit of play every day may even be beneficial to me.

This article may be of use to you...

https://guitarshredz.com/dealing-wit...s-a-guitarist/

[JERZEY]

I take Elixinol's Daily balance. I started taking it some time ago. I often stop taking it and the results are always the same. I have Arthritis in my knees, neck and hands pretty bad. While I maintain the suggested dialy does my joints feel great. My father is also taking this product now. It takes about 1-2 weeks to build up in your system before it does anything and about the same amount of time to leave your system. When we stop taking it we both notice a big time increase over time in the amount of arthritis pain we feel. I work with my hands all day long. Then I come home and play for 1-2 hours if I have the energy. Without this product I would not be playing guitar thats for sure.

[Rosewood99]

Zombie thread lives!

[Benjo]

Originally Posted by Roguemahone

Accupuncture. Very safe, Very effective.

That did nothing for me

[mcmars]

Zombie thread for sure, lol! But this is a relevant thread for many of us who have been diagnosed with arthritis. I have had RA since my 20's but did not know it till 2004 when it hit me like a brick wall. For 10 years I could not play due to horrific shooting nerve pain on my fretting hand that would go up to my shoulder from my wrist. I went through many meds, some were pretty toxic, till I got onto the biologic meds and they helped a ton, but still the nerve pain.

But in 2016, after a knee replacement, I decided I wanted my music back and knew I had some down time. I started with 5 string banjo, hanging out in bed post surgery playing some melodic tunes for fun and as a good pain distraction tactic. Then after a few months of building up hand strength and some dexterity with the banjo, I did the same with electric guitar and light strings. Then I was able to bump it up to 11 gauge strings on acoustic if I got the action just perfect. And on to 12 gauge eventually.

Since then I have tried everything listed in the article linked above, plus gone to mostly 12 fret short scale guitars. My style has totally changed and I play mostly all fingerstyle, partial chords, movable chords, very few barre chords, alternate tunings, capos and have a few guitars with dedicated to lighter tension string and shorter scales if I have the need.

But the good news is, I play better than I ever have, in spite of the disability, and have been writing songs, gigging (pre pandemic) with a great bass player and my new "style" seems to be a success personally and musically. I wish I could play barre chords like I did in my youth, but I found a way around by tweaking technique and instruments that work for me.

And in last year, I found out I am not alone, as Joni Mitchell did the same for her hand pain related to childhood polio. Joni figured out alternate tunings and modified her style and her chord arrangements so she could play. And look where that got Joni?

So hope others dealing with disability issues that are holding them back can find some inspiration and be able to adapt to their changes. It is not over till the fat lady sings, and she has not given up yet! I think I just wrote the theme to my next song! Lol

[deltoid]

Bee Venom Therapy for Arthritis

https://www.healthline.com/health/be...-venom-therapy

https://www.medicinenet.com/script/m...ticlekey=50602

[EZYPIKINS]

Originally Posted by Folkstrum

You're all gonna laugh at this, and think I'm "goofing" but I'm not. Try massaging a bit of WD-40 into the affected area. Yep--WD-40. It is not an "old wive's tale"--it actually WORKS! I had problems in my left elbow joint and tried what I thought sounded absolutely NUTS--WD-40. Guess what?? It cleared it up.

Try some Windex

[offkey]

I have osteoarthritis with a replaced knee, and lower back clean up I suppose you can call it, lots of issues. A nice warm/hot hand soak followed by ice is my very helpful morning routine now.

[musicman1951]

Originally Posted by Fingerworks

desaljs,

My wife, who is 38 years old has had Rheumatoid Arthritis since she was 15. I can see your point that 32 is young for Osteoarthritis, but not for someone suffering from Rheumatoid. Since Moo Cow didn't mention which form of arthritis was diagnosed, I thought it important to bring up this point.

My wife has also been living with arthritis since she was fairly young (late 20's). Her solution is to ignore it and keep moving. She's a lot tougher than I am. Mine started much later in life. Try anything, a lot of the remedies work great for some people, not at all for others.