Alternative Therapies for Arthritis - Can They Really Help?

 Alternative therapies have been used for quite some time by people who suffer from osteoarthritis. Many have reported relief from the medications or supplements they used. Green lipped mussel supplements are quite popular among people and have been used for a long time. Prescription drugs and other herbal concoctions can also be seen sold on the market. Are these medications really helpful? Doubts have been raised about some therapies because of a lack of information about whether they can really deliver the results promised. Let us look at another option that has recently been in the news.

Dextrose prolotherapy has been in use for over 75 years but still falls in the alternative category. This is a sugar-based solution which is specifically given to people who are over the age of 40 and are suffering from mild to moderate conditions of osteoarthritis at the knee. The solution is injected directly into the affected area. Even though insufficient evidence is available to show about how it acts researchers have reported that their patients felt a sense of relief after being subjected to this therapy. These injections are administered at intervals, which can begin from week one and continue through 5, nine, 13 and 17 weeks as required by the affected person. However, the lack of evidence to prove that it can really help is holding physicians back from using prolotherapy as a regular procedure in dealing with such problems. It has not found acceptance among the medical fraternity and is lagging behind other medications that are being used.

Some physicians have also mentioned that injecting sugar solutions into the knee-joint does not provide any relief and have dismissed prolotherapy as a remedy altogether. Therefore, it is not known whether such treatments are indeed useful for people who suffer from the type of conditions described.

Green lipped mussel supplements which have been in use for quite some time also fall in the category of alternative medications. They are made from fresh green lipped mussels, which were earlier used by the Maoris of New Zealand as a regular diet. It was only after 1961 that researchers discovered that this shellfish had magical properties, which could not only deal with arthritis of all types but also keep people away from being affected by the condition as well. Members of the medical fraternity have accepted that these supplements can indeed prove helpful for people who suffer from such conditions. Dextrose prolotherapy could still be successful at some time in the future if more research is carried out. Until that time, people with arthritic conditions who do not want to use prescription medications can depend upon the supplements of this shellfish and find relief from the pain and discomfort associated with arthritis.