As written in Ayurvedic texts, excess ama or vata may happen to absorb cartilage and joints. It may result in making the joints inflamed and painful. He or she may find difficulty moving the joints. It would be difficult to ignore mild to terrible conditions, even if it were for just 24 hours. Trusting Ayurveda for joint pain management would be the right decision because it will attend to the root cause with medicinal natural herbs and therapies without causing any adverse effects.
What is Joint Pain?
It is an uneasiness that you feel in your joints that arises due to the aggravation of Vata dosha. It may appear in a single joint or may spread across different joints in the body, troubling the concerned person with inflammatory, swelling, painful, and disability conditions.
Ayurvedic Perspective on Joint Pain
Diagnosis of the sickness of any person is made by determining the imbalances in any or all of the three doshas (Vata, Pitta, and Kapha).
You will have healthy and active joints when the tridoshas are in appropriate proportions. Any form of degeneration or abnormal condition in the joints is found to be the result of an imbalance in Vata and Kapha doshas.
If connective tissues like ligaments, muscles, and tendons are destroyed for a long time or repeatedly, it may cause deterioration of the joint structure.
Consumption of fast or processed food items or any wrong food combination would not trigger enough digestive fire and set disharmony in Pitta, Vata, and Rakta doshas. Hence, swelling, inflammation, and pain are most likely to occur in any joint or entire joint network.
Major Disease Process in Joint Disease
As understood per Ayurveda, it is the imbalance in Vata, Pitta, and Kapha that causes joint pain, with Vata imbalances being the most common. Let’s find out how the imbalances of doshas and the rise in ama impact joint health in a degenerative manner:
- Sandhivata, to a certain extent, coincides with osteoarthritis, which is characterized as dry and rough.
- Toxins or ama get deposited in the joints and may bother anyone with amvata.
- Joints turn inflamed with the surface red and swollen may bother anyone with pitta increase.
- With the rise in Kapha in joints, one experiences heaviness, followed by rigidity, inflexibility, and swelling.
What Are The Symptoms of Joint Pain?
Symptoms of joint pain will surface as per the vitiation in doshas in joints.:
Vata
- Joints are turning rough and dry.
- Cracking sound felt in joints
- Lack of flexibility
- Cramps and rigidity
Kapha
- Feeling of heaviness
- Development of sores or lumps
- Sensation of coldness
- Lack of mobility or slow movement
Pitta
- Inflammatory pain
- Swelling
- Redness and burning sensation
- Discomfort in mobility
How to Diagnose Joint Pain in Ayurveda?
Verification of whether joint pain exists in the body or not, and the level of severity, is done by:
- Pulse examination, or Nadi pariksha
- Verifying the patient’s overall health status based on diet, lifestyle, and history of any disease
- Analyzing the Prakriti of the patient by dosha increase.
- Verifying how far the symptoms have made the joints and bones weak through swelling, burning sensation, pain, and stiffness.
- Scientific analysis will go further in verifying the range of arthritis.
Based on Ayurvedic principles, the physician will be able to verify the root cause and come up with a customized treatment for joint pain accordingly.
What Are The Different Types Of Joint Pain?
Ayurveda describes 100 forms of joint pain that may affect any person depending on dietary reasons, lifestyle, the process of aging, the level of injury, mental orientation, ama or toxins, and the influence of cold and dry weather factors.
In a broader sense, there are mainly two forms of arthritis or joint pain as per the influence of Vata increase:
Sandhivata: The process of aging weakens the cartilage of the joints and makes the person suffer chronically from this form of joint pain, which is identified as osteoarthritis.
Amvata: It happens when the toxic fluid accumulates in the joints. Pathological studies confirmed its similarity with rheumatoid arthritis.
Which Parts Of The Body Are Affected By Joint Pain?
Ayurveda states that vata resides in the joints and bones. Overuse of joints or performing posture in a repetitive manner, deficiency of nutrition, and lack of movement may affect the joint and its connective tissues, which may be muscles, tendons, ligaments, and blood vessels. Either the pain may be localized or spread across the entire joint network, which may be:
- Knees ( Janu Sandhi)
- Hips (Kati Sandhi)
- Spine ( Prushtha)
- Hands and Wrists ( Hasta and Mani Bandha Sandhi)
- Shoulders (Amsa Sandhi)
How Does Joint Pain Affect The Muscles?
Muscles are equally affected when there is persistent pain, swelling, stiffness, and inflammation in joints. Depending on the type of joint pain, muscle pain may disappear. However, the chronic pain in the joints would continue to persist and bother the person.
What Are The Complications Of Joint Pain?
Joint pain, if it is not treated on time, may have a further negative impact on the physical and mental health of any person:
- Difficulty in mobility
- Burning sensation and swelling
- Leading to physical deformities
- Loss of stamina and strength in joints
- Imbalance of doshas
When To Seek Medical Help For Joint Pain?
If joint pain is not disappearing even after trying different home remedies for a week or so, stiffness and inflammatory conditions may be restricting your movements, In such situations, seeking medical help will be essential to your recovery.
Natural Home Remedies for Joint Pain
Certain herbs are gifted with amazing medicinal properties to manage your joint pain with home remedies like:
Aloe Vera: It controls the burning sensation, pain, and swelling in gel or powder. It can also be taken orally to help the joint pain subsides and repair tissues.
Cat’s Claw: It is extracted from the bark of a tree existing in the Amazon forest because it has the potency to heal any type of joint disorder from the root.
Eucalyptus: As an essential oil, it does give relief from rheumatoid arthritis symptoms. Naturally, however, it is required to be blended with a specific carrier for effective results.
Ginger: For a pain-relieving experience from any form of joint pain, ginger is administered orally or topically.
Green Tea: Green tea’s antioxidants provide a pain-relieving experience from toxins accumulated in the joints. Drinking it in the form of a beverage will reveal positive reactions in the body and mind.
Diet Recommendations for Joint Pain
Research has confirmed that the presence of certain nutrients in different food items would make the joints and connective tissues stronger and more active:
1. Omega-3 Fatty Acids: Eating mackerel, sardine, or any form of seafood would increase lubrication in the joints and control cartilage loss.
2. Calcium: Ideally, any green leafy vegetable, dairy product, and fortified cereals are joint pain relief foods because of their high calcium content.
3. Vitamin D: Vitamin D enables the absorption of calcium, which may be easily available in different foods. which may be available in salmon, tuna, mackerel, and fortified milk.
4. Vitamin C: Vitamin C helps in reducing the toxins or ama accumulated in the joints, and you will get this specific mineral from various fruits and vegetables.
5. Anthocyanins: It is another form of detoxifying agent present in various forms of berries that is highly effective for joint health.
6. Polyphenols: This form of bioactive compound is present in green tea and drinking it will stop cartilage destruction.
7. Diallyl Disulfide: To deal with weak cartilage or ailing bones, which are prevalent among the elderly, the consumption of garlic, onions, and leeks becomes necessary because they are high in diallyl disulfide.
Lifestyle Modification for Joint Pain
To experience a positive response in your joint health, there is a need to make certain lifestyle modifications, which may be:
- Verifying your weight and diet
- Performing yoga poses for joint pain, the easiest ones are balasana and chair pose.
- Encouraging healthy habits to maintain joint health.
- Relaxing and taking adequate sleep for 7 to 9 hours and not keeping yourself in the same posture for longer periods.
- Do not drink alcohol or smoke cigarettes, which may weaken your cartilage and muscles.
Conclusion
Attending to the mild to extreme form of symptoms of joint pain with ayurvedic herbs and oils may have long-lasting effects. An increase in vata dosha may make the person go through mild to severe conditions in joints and bones. Neglecting proper diet and nutrition may further cause degeneration of cartilage and bones. Amongst the 100 forms of arthritis, the most common are sandhivata and amavata.
The nature or Prakriti of a person would indicate the type of joint pain in Ayurveda. It is possible to manage joint pain by massaging with medicinal oils and consuming herbs, calcium, and vitamin-D-enriched foods. Further yoga and light exercises may boost circulation and relaxation in joints.
Bachelor of Ayurveda Medicine and Surgery. general physician, nadi parikshan, online consultation. Dr Mansi is a renowned general physician who holds an experience of more than 5 years. She specializes in treating issues related to respiratory problems, colds, gastrointestinal issues, diabetes, asthma, and more. She aims to study the problem in-depth and treat it to the root, providing a holistic solution.