Long-lasting pain, like the kind that accompanies arthritis or fibromyalgia, is different. While it tells you that something is wrong, it often isn't as easy to relieve. Arthritis pain is processed in brain areas concerned with emotions and fear, Managing this type of pain is essential to enhance your quality of life and sense of well-being. The relationship between arthritis and stress is twofold. While coping with the pain brought on by arthritis you may find yourself easily frustrated. In turn, it is proven that stress works to enhance the pain of arthritis.
Making healthy lifestyle choices takes some of the pain and frustration out of living with rheumatoid arthritis. Several types of therapy can help ease your pain. Physical therapy (such as stretching and strengthening activities) and low impact exercise (such as walking, swimming or biking) can help reduce the pain. However, exercising too much or not at all can hurt chronic pain patients. Occupational therapy teaches you how to pace yourself and how to do ordinary tasks differently so you won't hurt yourself. Behavioral therapy can reduce your pain through methods (such as meditation and yoga) that help you relax. It can also help decrease stress.
This mind-body therapy involves physical postures, breathing exercises, and meditation to improve overall well-being. Today, millions of Americans of all ages and fitness levels practice yoga regularly. Although yoga is a spiritual practice to many, the majority of Westerners who practice yoga do so as an exercise and fitness routine or to reduce stress. All branches of yoga mentioned three major techniques: breathing, exercise (asana or postures), and meditation. Research shows that meditation may help such conditions as:
* Allergies
* Anxiety
* Arthritis
* Asthma
* Cancer
* Chronic pain
* Depression
* High blood pressure
* Heart disease
Choose a short phrase or prayer that is rooted in your belief system, such as "peace" or "the Lord is my shepherd." Sit quietly in a comfortable position and close your eyes. Relax your muscles, progressing from your feet to your calves, thighs, abdomen, shoulders, neck and head. Breathe slowly and naturally, and as you exhale, say your word or phrase silently to yourself. Don't be concerned when other thoughts come to mind. Just acknowledge them and return calmly to your phrase.
Another study confirmed that use of transcendental meditation (TM) for 16 weeks in coronary heart disease (CHD) patients improved blood pressure and insulin resistance components of the metabolic syndrome as well as cardiac autonomic nervous system tone compared with a control group receiving health education.
Throughout the day, when we experience stress, our bodies automatically react in ways that prepare us to fight or run. In some cases of extreme danger, this physical response is helpful. Meditation affects the body in exactly the opposite ways that stress does, restoring the body to a calm state, helping the body to repair itself, and preventing new damage due to the physical effects of stress. Taken daily, it can untangle tension, fight fatigue and even lower your blood pressure. It can lift your spirits and help you find inner peace.
Research shows meditation can help relieve many arthritis symptoms, such as pain, anxiety, stress and depression, as well as ease the fatigue and insomnia associated with fibromyalgia. It affects many body processes connected with well being and relaxation. Recent studies suggest meditation may balance the immune system to help the body resist disease, and even heal. Stress reduction and relaxation programs combine many of these techniques along with movement meditations such as yoga, tai chi and qi gong.
The 11-member research team wrote: "Meditation training using a technique called the integrative body-mind training (IBMT)is an easy, effective way for improvement in self-regulation in cognition, emotion and social behavior. Our study is consistent with the idea that attention, affective processes and the quality of moment-to-moment awareness are flexible skills that can be trained."
Improvement of body luster and general health-When your mind focuses on a particular part of the body, the blood flow to that part increases and cells receive more oxygen and other nutrients in abundance. Studies have found a direct correlation between concentration exercises (meditation) and the performance level of sports professionals. Meditation strengthens the mind, it comes under control and is able to provide effective guidance to the physical body to effectively execute all its projects
Stretching loosens the muscles, helps your blood flow, relieves your bones and joints, and refreshes your spirit. For a person with arthritis, stretching is as healthy a habit as you can develop. It can be a formal, multi-step routine, or it can be just standing up and exalting the sky.
A study by researchers at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia (General Hospital Psychiatry, 2001) looked at the benefits of a particular form of meditation on the physical and psychological health of 136 people with various chronic illnesses, including arthritis. The participants took part in an 8-week program where they learned to perform meditation and related relaxation techniques. At the end of the program, the participants reported having more energy, less pain, and fewer limitations caused by health problems than when they began.
An intensive program that teaches meditation skills may help people reduce the psychological and physical effects of high stress, according to a new study.The program that taught participants to "discern a relaxed from tense body and come to understand experientially how mental and emotional states influence the body and vice versa. Participants learned four methods of meditation, general yoga postures and other techniques for coping with stress, as well as how to apply these techniques to their lives.
In contrast, the reductions in distress and medical symptoms seen in the intervention group brought those participants, who entered the study with an abnormally high amount of stress, within the range of normal in terms of health and well-being.
Your mind plays an important role in how you feel pain and respond to illness. Thinking of pain as a signal to take positive action rather than an ordeal you have to endure can help you learn to manage your pain. You can do this by:
* thinking positive thoughts,
* having a sense of humor,
* eating a balanced diet,
* exercising regularly,
* enjoying activities with friends and family.
If you have rheumatoid arthritis, you may need to begin more slowly with an exercise program, concentrating instead on the breathing and relaxation aspects. Whatever your situation, you can derive some benefits from Yoga practice.The American Yoga Association provides a gentle, methodical exercise and relaxation program that can ease the discomforts of chronic arthritis. When the pain of arthritis strikes, it has an effect of stiffening up the rest of the body, as if to protect the part that hurts.
Some use them for maintaining the health of the body, some for helping certain physiological diseases such as asthma, diabetes, rheumatism, arthritis, gastric problems and even cancer, and some practice them as a preventive measure. This is where the aspect of yoga technique (Asanas, Pranayama, Cleansing Techniques, Meditation) comes in regarding managing the level of tension in the body, and gradually it works up to managing the level of tension in the environment and in world situations.
Yoga encourages you to keep moving gently while your body is healing in order to maintain muscle tone, good circulation, and joint flexibility. A regular exercise program is also extremely valuable psychologically because it increases your confidence that even though you have arthritis, you're not going to be a prisoner in a wheelchair; you can work, play, and do all your daily activities if you exercise regularly.
Yoga Techniques such as Ashtanga Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Ayurveda and Naturopathy are helpful for the treatment of various diseases like Back problems (Scitica, slip disc, spondilytis et al), Heart Diseases, Diabetes, Arthritis, Hyper tension, Anxiety & Depression, High & Low Blood Pressure, Asthma, common cold, Obesity, Digestive Disorders, Thyroid problems, Gynecological disorders etc..
Researchers found that a half-year exposure to meditation techniques helped patients shave as much as one-third of their psychological distress.
The research team, led by Elizabeth K. Pradhan of the University of Maryland School of Medicine's Center for Integrative Medicine, based its conclusions on an analysis of a specific training course called "Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction" (MBSR).
Pradhan and her colleagues said the MBSR concept of "mindfulness" is designed to guide patients to focus on the "here and now," while emphasizing the value of calmness, clarity, well-being, and a compassion for oneself and others.
The Arthritis Foundation has said that several so-called "mind-body practices" may help arthritis patients alleviate stress, pain, anxiety and depression.
In addition to meditation, the organization acknowledges the potential of electronic monitoring techniques such as biofeedback; the mental health benefits of guided imagery and hypnosis; and the ability of physical activities such as yoga and tai chi to both calm and energize patients.
The Maryland researchers noted that prior studies had already shown that the MBSR course, in particular, seems to have a positive impact on the psychological symptoms of patients with conditions such as anxiety disorders, chronic pain, fibromyalgia, cancer and multiple sclerosis. Patients recovering from organ transplant surgery also seem to derive some benefit, the researchers said.
For their study, published in the most recent issue of Arthritis Care & Research, Pradhan and her colleagues focused specifically on rheumatoid arthritis. It was the first-ever analysis of MBSR and its impact on depression, general well-being, and disease progression among rheumatoid arthritis patients, the researchers said.
At the start of the study, and two and six months later, all the patients completed questionnaires to assess depressive symptoms and psychological distress. Also, blood measures of inflammation were taken and an assessment of tender and swollen joints was done to evaluate current RA status.
By the two-month mark, both the meditation and the non-meditation groups had shown equal levels of improvement in terms of depression and emotional symptoms.
But by six months, there was a "significant" difference in perceived psychological distress between the two groups -- those practicing mediation reported a 35 percent reduction in psychological distress.
The researchers emphasized, however, that the meditation had no impact on the progression and activity of RA disease itself.
Pradhan and her team concluded that the meditation technique offered rheumatoid arthritis patients a safe and appealing way to improve their sense of well-being, when offered alongside traditional medical care.
"There's a fair amount of emotional distress that accompanies RA in terms of stability, worrying about the future, worrying about the ability to take care of oneself, to keep a job, to say nothing about the daily pain," Pradhan said. "There's just a lot to deal with. So, I think this is a novel and innovative way to handle this emotional distress and one that hasn't been tried before, and we were happy to see that it did make a difference along those lines.
"It doesn't really change disease status. That didn't happen," she said. "But in terms of ability to cope with a chronic and debilitating condition, meditation did appear to be quite helpful. And there was really high satisfaction with the intervention. So, I think this bodes well for the future.
"The other thing I think is important to note about our study," Pradhan said, "is that mindfulness meditation can be combined with any rheumatologic therapy. It is truly complementary medicine in that sense, done in addition to pharmacological or other intervention. So, for physicians and patients who wonder what they can do to improve well-being, beyond taking medications, this study offers evidence for a beneficial approach to dealing with the psychological distress of RA.
Dr. Stephen Lindsey, head of rheumatology at Ochsner Health Systems in Baton Rouge, La., applauded Pradhan and her team for managing to get a scientific handle on a phenomenon he has observed throughout his practice.
"If someone is having stress and trouble with their arthritis, if you can somehow decrease the stress, you might be able to increase their function," Lindsey said. "And when you're meditating, you're trying to relax your body and get rid of the tension. It doesn't necessarily have to be a meditation scheme. It could be yoga, or Pilates, or a self-help course. But I'm in favor of using everything possible to help people, and this would be just one more way to help patients improve their lives."
Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) proposes a systematic program for reduction of suffering associated with a wide range of medical conditions such as fibromyalgia (a chronic condition characterized by widespread pain in your muscles, ligaments and tendons).Studies suggest improvements in general aspects of well-being, including quality of life (QoL), coping and positive affect, as well as decreased anxiety and depression.
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