As you get older, you may find yourself experiencing pain in your joints. This can cause discomfort when you sleep, sit too long, climb steps, do yard work, or even open a letter.
To get through the day, you may have considered seeking relief from one of the countless pain-relieving arthritis drugs on the market. But I need to warn you what big of mistake that can be — especially since a new study shows that two major types of drugs used to treat arthritis just make the condition worse…
Drugs linked to long-term side effects
For this new study published in the American Journal of Medicine, researchers used MRI scans of the knee for 395 patients, ages 51 to 80. Specifically, they observed the amount of cartilage and presence of cartilage defects in patients’ knees at the start of the study as well as three years later. They also recorded use of patient medications.
Shockingly, after three years, patients who used non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) — like a COX-2 inhibitor (Celebrex®) or ibuprofen (Advil®, Motrin®) — experienced defects in knee cartilage and loss of cartilage.
That’s pretty sad. Especially since arthritis pain-relieving prescription drugs, like Celebrex®, are taken annually by 35 million Americans…
But, all in all, the sad findings shouldn’t surprise us much.
COX-2 inhibitors, which are supposed to work by blocking an enzyme responsible for inflammation and pain, have a long history of serious side effects…
In fact, the FDA took two other COX-2 inhibitors — valdecoxib (Bextra®) and rofecoxib (Vioxx®) — off the market after just a few years because of their dangerous side effects. And even Celebrex® — the only COX-2 inhibitor left on the market in the U.S. — can increase the risk of suffering a deadly heart attack or stroke.
Plus, Celebrex® isn’t very effective for most people!
In fact, a meta-analysis by Harvard University on arthritis knee pain found that only 30 percent of patients who took it experienced reduced pain. And even then, the pain was only reduced by 30 percent.
Of course, an NSAID like ibuprofen or aspirin can help you deal with acute pain while recovering from an injury. But as this study shows, NSAIDs just aren’t the answer for long-term arthritis pain.
Plus, as cartilage begins to erode, many people turn to more extreme measures…
Have we forgotten “First, do no harm”?
If you’re a long-time reader of my Daily Dispatch, you know how I feel about orthopedic surgeons — they’re just out to make a buck.
In fact, in one recent, eye-opening study, U.S. researchers found that when it comes to knee replacement surgeries:
- Only 44 percent are “appropriate”
- 22 percent were “inconclusive”
- A whopping 34 percent were considered “inappropriate” or “unnecessary” from the start
Furthermore, orthopedic surgeons don’t have to be nearly as skilled or precise as carpenters or cabinet markers since they rely on the body’s natural healing ability to recover from their brutal approaches.
In many cases, it can take years before the body fully recovers from the surgeon’s handiwork. And that’s if you’re lucky…
Many patients live with life-long pain resulting from the surgery itself!
Plus, all the hacking, sawing, and hammering involved in joint replacement surgery disrupts normal blood flow, nerve supply, tendons, and muscles. No wonder the risk of heart attack and pulmonary embolism — due to blood clots from damaged blood vessels in the legs — remains elevated for months to years after surgery.
Before I talk about your natural options for rebuilding joint pain, let me make one side note about steroid injections…
I know many people think steroid injections can provide a quick fix to avoid surgery. But in reality — the expensive injections rarely work. And the effects don’t last. Plus, they can lead to dangerous fungal infections and even cause the cartilage to degenerate over the long-run.
So why settle for just “managing” joint pain with drugs, surgery, or steroids — if they’re not even effective in the first place?!
Instead, I suggest you reverse the cause of your joint pain: inflammation. And it’s easy to do with three simple, all-natural botanicals…
Natural solutions trump surgery or drugs
In my view, you should always try natural approaches before resorting to surgery or drugs.
But don’t bother taking glucosamine and chondroitin, the darling supplements routinely recommended by some “natural-know-it-alls” for decades. Recent studies have shown that these tired, old joint supplements aren’t all that effective.
For starters, these compounds aren’t easily absorbed in the gut. It’s very unlikely that the full effectiveness of them will make the trek into your cartilage.
Secondly, glucosamine and chondroitin don’t stop inflammation. And reducing joint inflammation is a very important first step in naturally rebuilding cartilage.
You can reduce inflammation and rebuild cartilage with my ABCs of joint health — ashwagandha, boswellia, and curcumin.
I’ve even had readers tell me they canceled their joint surgery after using these supplements for just two to three months!
So, forget the drugs and avoid the surgery. Simply look for 400 – 500 mg daily doses of my ABCs instead. To learn more about my drug-free plan for easing and eliminating arthritis pain, check out my Arthritis Relief and Reversal Protocol. Simply click here to learn more or enroll today.
Source:
“Do NSAIDs Affect Longitudinal Changes in Knee Cartilage Volume and Knee Cartilage Defects in Older Adults?” The American Journal of Medicine (2009) 122, 836-842.