Questions? We're here to help. Health advisors on staff. Call us toll-free at (866) 947-6789.

Natural and Effective Back and Joint Pain Solutions

As a health and wellness writer and researcher, I've learned that the process of finding solutions to address my own physical problems has helped me discover the most effective tools and best strategies to help anyone struggling with pain. The experience I've had dealing with my own aches and pains has given me tremendous insight into how to help others stay pain-free and active.

Exercise is a critical component of a healthy lifestyle, especially for helping improve mobility and reducing the pain and stiffness brought on by Father Time. The majority of people over 55 have osteoarthritis, but the severity and degree to which it affects us can vary. Strengthening muscles helps take the stress off of our joints, and is important not only for reducing arthritis symptoms, but ensuring we're able to perform the basic activities of daily life without pain. Weight-bearing exercise is also the key to building bone density, so we can maintain strong and healthy bones, and reduce the risk of fractures as we age. In addition, we can reduce the effects of sarcopenia (the loss of lean muscle mass as we get older) through diet and exercise.

About six weeks ago I noticed some stiffness and pain in my knees the day after an exercise session. My exercise routine included four exercises designed to help strengthen my legs: leg extensions, leg curls, leg presses, and squats. Due to the stiffness that followed, I lowered the weight during my next session so that I could perform the exercises without further aggravating my knees. However, the pain did not subside, and in fact got worse.

I've experienced knee issues in the past, originally from an ACL tear that occurred playing racquetball over 30 years ago. I was able to correct the damage without surgery by combining a brace with gentle exercises. Then, a couple of years ago, I twisted my knee slipping on black ice, resulting in a stress to the knee joint, and leading to pain and swelling where I couldn't straighten my leg.

Incredibrace Knee Brace

Normally with an injury like this, I would take it easy for a few days, take anti-inflammatory proteolytic enzyme supplements, wear a knee brace that provides structural support, and wear specially-designed shoes. For knee, foot, and back issues, wearing a medically-designed shoe is very important. I highly recommend shoes by kybun and Joya, with proven benefits for helping to relax muscles, reduce pain, and improve posture.

Incrediwear produces a range of products designed to help accelerate the joint healing process after injuries. Incredibrace works by increasing circulation to the joint, which speeds healing while supporting the joint structure to prevent further damage.

But even with my normal supplement program and recovery measures, the pain in my knees remained. It was not only difficult to walk without pain, but because I was favouring my knees, I was also now starting to have back pain too. Many years ago, a motorcycle accident resulted in an injury that caused severe lower back pain. I visited chiropractors, orthopedic specialists, and even a physiatrist, but the pain persisted. Even pain-killing injections directly into my spine brought me no relief. In researching potential solutions for my back pain, I learned about inversion therapy, where you hang upside down on a table to take the stress off the spine. I found that five minutes of inversion resulted in a major reduction in pain. After only a few days of inversion, my back pain had vanished. But the pain would return, usually after I tried to lift something heavy. I found that simply using my inversion table before bed, and sleeping on a bed made of organic latex that provided superior back support, would result in my waking up pain-free in the morning.

Recently, I learned about the SpineDok, an innovative and highly effective solution for back pain. You simply roll onto the small device and it helps take the pressure off the lower or upper back by elongating the spine. By combining two daily 5-minute sessions on the SpineDok, hanging upside down using an inversion table, and twice daily massages on an Inada massage chair, I experienced significant relief in two days.

I also learned that the knee extensions that were part of my exercise routine can be extremely dangerous, and that orthopedic specialists question why this particular type of equipment is included at most gyms. The best exercise for strengthening leg muscles is the squat.

I have also found that a comprehensive nutritional program is a key component to rapid healing and pain relief. During the acute stage after an injury, to reduce muscular pain and inflammation, I take high doses of enteric-coated proteolytic enzyme products like Wobenzym or Infla-Heal Plus, three times a day on an empty stomach. As soon as the pain and inflammation start to subside, I focus on the anti-inflammatory supplements curcumin, boswellia, avocado/soy unsaponifiables, natural eggshell membrane, omega-3 (3 g per day), niacinamide (two 500 mg capsules, 4x daily), and Ligament Restore.

Collagen is crucial to ensure our bodies are supplied with the nutrients required to repair and rebuild joints, ligaments, tendons, and cartilage. I take the three most important collagen building supplements: marine collagen, vitamin C with proline and lysine (which helps the body to produce more collagen), and a form of silica called ch-OSA, a powerful trigger that helps build even more collagen. Finally, I take 4 capsules per day of UC-II, an undenatured collagen product with clinically-proven benefits for reducing joint pain.

I found that walking for about 30 minutes twice a day wearing the Incredibrace and the medically-designed shoes helps bring me gradual pain relief. I believe walking should be incorporated into everyone's daily routine, and hope the solutions outlined here can help you recover from injury, reduce pain, and remain active as well.


Health Disclaimer. Copyright ©2017. Nathan Zassman is a trained nutrition practitioner and the owner of Aviva Natural Health Solutions.