As the human body ages, most people assume that “wear and tear” will take over and deplete their health. This isn’t always true, and it’s important to separate fact from fiction when discussing joint health problems.
Osteoarthritis is a painful, inflammatory joint condition that can make it difficult to function. Some folks refer to it as “just” arthritis, but this minimizes the incredible discomfort and damage it causes. Living with this condition can feel impossible at times.
You don’t have to sit back and let joint health problems take over your life as you age. Learn more about osteoarthritis so you can make the best decisions for your health and pain management.
Developing Osteoarthritis: What’s Happening to Your Joints?
Before you can appropriately manage this condition, you must learn what’s happening in your joints. Developing osteoarthritis is not inevitable, but unfortunately, it is common, especially in aging adults.
What Is Osteoarthritis?
Osteoarthritis is an inflammatory joint condition that occurs when the cartilage that supports and connects your bones wears away. As a result, your bones grind together, and the spaces around your joints become inflamed and tender.
Is This Condition Inevitable?
No. Osteoarthritis is not just a “normal” part of aging, nor is it inevitable. As science and research advance, it’s becoming more obvious that osteoarthritis is the result of many risk factors interacting with each other.
Certain risk factors make it more likely that you’ll develop osteoarthritis. Many of them are preventable through lifestyle changes and a proactive approach to protecting your joints.
Who Gets Osteoarthritis?
Age is a big risk factor for osteoarthritis, but again, this condition is not inevitable. Here are some of the risk factors for developing osteoarthritis.
Stress, Strain, and Injury
Any type of strain or stress on your joints can lead to osteoarthritis later in life. Even if your joints feel fine when you’re younger, you’re still at risk if you’ve experienced harsh impacts or prolonged joint strain.
Sports injuries, obesity or being overweight, and physically demanding jobs all put you at a higher risk of developing osteoarthritis. All these risk factors slowly degrade the cartilage between your bones. These tissues can only support lots of impact, weight, or use for so long.
Genetics and Sex
Your genetics play a role in whether you develop joint health problems. Having a family history of osteoarthritis raises your chances of dealing with the same condition.
An estimated 60% of osteoarthritis patients are women. This means that if you were assigned female at birth, you’re at a slightly increased risk of developing osteoarthritis. However, through a healthy lifestyle, you may be able to prevent it.
The Silent Pain of Living with Arthritis
To the outside world, you might appear healthy and fully capable of living your daily life as normal. However, arthritis pain can stop you in your tracks. It can be intense or even disabling.
If your condition gets bad enough, you might find yourself unable to walk around, twist, or pick things up. Osteoarthritis pain is not something to ignore or minimize.
Swelling and Inflammation
The inflammation doesn’t just happen inside your body. Sometimes, your joints may become swollen, tender, and visibly inflamed. When this happens, chances are you can’t move the affected joints much. Any impact, no matter how slight, may throw you into a pain flare.
Crepitus
Some osteoarthritis patients experience a crunching or grinding sensation (crepitus) when moving the affected joints. This can be terrifying and uncomfortable, leading to increased mental stress and physical pain.
Weakness and Limited Mobility
Osteoarthritis causes muscle weakness, fatigue, and limited mobility. You might not be able to move your body in ways that feel good to you or allow you to keep up with others anymore. These limitations not only affect you physically, but they also come with a mental price tag as well.
Stigma and Shame Around Aging
Some people might feel like their osteoarthritis symptoms mean they’re “getting old.” While there should be no shame in aging, social stigmas suggest otherwise. Experiencing these symptoms might make you feel embarrassed about your age.
If you struggle with joint pain, others might not see what you go through. You might feel pressured to “just get over it” or take pain medication to keep up with everyone else. This can also create feelings of shame and contribute to a poor stigma around joint health problems.
Treating Osteoarthritis: Enjoy a Better Quality of Life
Getting an osteoarthritis diagnosis doesn’t mean you’ll never be able to enjoy life and movement again. With the proper therapies, especially early treatment, you can improve your comfort and quality of life. Here are some of the best options for treating osteoarthritis pain and inflammation.
Stem Cell Therapy
Stem cells are at the forefront of regenerative medicine. These cells, also known as “blank” or “programmable” cells, can develop into specialized tissues, like cartilage. This makes them useful for regenerating and healing wounds, damaged tissues, and inflamed areas of your body.
One advantage of stem cell therapy is that it’s drug-free and comes with almost no risks to your health.
Stem cell therapy may also reduce your pain and increase your mobility. It gets to the root cause of your joint problems instead of covering up the symptoms.
Exercise and Physical Therapy
Getting more movement in your day may help reduce the severity of your osteoarthritis symptoms. Regular physical activity prevents the painful stiffness that osteoarthritis patients often experience.
Exercise also assists in weight management, which is key to reducing your joint pain. Every extra pound of body fat adds about four times the amount of pressure onto your joints.
Whether you (gently) exercise on your own or enlist the help of a physical therapist, your joints will thank you for it.
Get the Proper Support for Your Osteoarthritis
Living with osteoarthritis can be challenging, but you’re not alone. There are steps you can take to improve your quality of life with this condition. Evaluate your treatment options to find what works best for you. Visit our website to learn more about osteoarthritis pain.
Living with any type of arthritis is painful, debilitating, and frustrating. You miss out on a lot of the physical activities you used to love. This condition can even make it harder to keep up with children and grandchildren.
Your long-term health is worth fighting for. When it comes to osteoarthritis pain management treatments, it’s important to know your options. Here are some pain relief methods to try when managing your osteoarthritis over time.
How Osteoarthritis Develops and Becomes So Painful
The joint pain and inflammation alone can keep you off your feet for days. Along with severe pain, osteoarthritis also causes damage to your cartilage and joints, affecting your mobility and activity levels.
Cartilage Breakdown Leads to Joint Pain
If you’ve dealt with osteoarthritis pain, you might wonder what led you to develop this condition. The root cause of osteoarthritis is cartilage degradation. This means that the rubbery cushion between your bones starts to thin and eventually wear away entirely.
When your joints no longer have adequate cushioning or support between them, they start to rub together. This leads to inflammation, irritation, and intense pain. As the bones rub together, they also break down and lose some of their function.
Risk Factors for Developing Osteoarthritis
There is no single universal cause of osteoarthritis. Certain risk factors can increase your chances of developing this condition. If you have multiple risk factors at once, your chances are even higher.
Some risk factors for developing osteoarthritis include:
These risk factors don’t guarantee you will develop osteoarthritis, but they do play large roles in this condition.
Continuous Inflammation and Discomfort
Osteoarthritis can feel like a never-ending cycle. Once your joints start grinding against one another, you develop inflammation, which leads to even more pain and discomfort.
Over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medications may not resolve your pain, and they certainly don’t treat the root cause of it. In order to experience osteoarthritis relief, you need to prevent the inflammation from occurring in the first place.
At-Home Remedies and Lifestyle Changes
You may be able to control your osteoarthritis pain with lifestyle modifications. This means changing how you move, eat, sleep, and respond to stress in your daily life. Try these at-home therapies and improvements if you want to take the natural pain treatments for osteoarthritis.
Flexibility and Mobility Exercises
You must be careful when exercising with osteoarthritis. Some high-impact activities can make your pain worse. However, strength training, conditioning, and mobility exercises can improve your condition.
Certain stretches and gentle movements can help support your joints and reduce the burden on your bones. This ultimately leads to reduced pain and more mobility over time.
Cold Therapy
Cold temperatures can help reduce inflammation and swelling near your joints. This is because cold conditions trigger a restrictive mechanism in your blood vessels, reducing the blood and fluid supply to the affected areas. If you struggle with inflamed cartilage and joints, cold therapy might be just what you need.
Try applying an ice pack or sitting in an ice bath (with a doctor’s approval) for up to 20 minutes. It’s best to alternate cold and hot applications for the best results.
Heat Therapy
Similar to cold therapy, heat therapy works by changing the blood flow around your inflamed joints and cartilage. Heat opens up your blood vessels, allowing more blood and fluid to reach the affected area. This can supply oxygen, nutrients, and regenerative compounds to your joints.
Alternate applications of hot and cold compresses, using each for up to 20 minutes. You should experience a temporary reduction in swelling and discomfort.
Rest and Sleep
Getting plenty of rest is essential for restoring your joint and cartilage health. Your body needs sleep to rebuild damaged tissues and relieve pain effectively. If your pain is debilitating, try resting the affected area for a few days and catching up on some much-needed shut-eye.
Natural Joint Pain Treatments
From acupuncture to massage, many patients benefit from alternative pain relief therapies. If you want to avoid over-the-counter drugs, these natural pain treatments might be right for you.
Therapeutic Massage
You can perform self-massages at home or go to a licensed professional for these services. Either way, massage has been shown to improve blood circulation to injured areas and relieve some pain and discomfort. You may even notice improvements in your mobility after a restorative massage.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture uses tiny needles to activate trigger points in your body and release tension and pain. Some patients have experienced noticeable improvements in their osteoarthritis pain after regular acupuncture treatments. Contact an acupuncturist to see if this therapy is right for you.
Regenerative Medicine: Stem Cell Therapy for Osteoarthritis Pain
Stem cell therapy is a drug-free alternative you can use to treat your osteoarthritis pain. The potential healing properties of your body’s “blank cells” may lead your joints and cartilage to strength and health again.
How Stem Cells May Relieve Your Pain
Stem cells can be programmed to develop into almost any kind of cell your body needs. In osteoarthritis patients, this means turning them into cartilage tissue.
Stem cells may be able to regenerate damaged soft tissues around your joints, leading to more comfortable movements. This can help you regain some mobility and experience lower pain levels over time.
Low Risk of Side Effects
When you’re dealing with debilitating joint pain, the last thing you want is painful side effects from the treatment you’ve chosen. Stem cell therapy is known for its high safety profile since it uses human cells to regenerate damaged tissues. This means there’s little to no risk of adverse reactions.
Stem cell treatments are fast, generally safe, and potentially very effective at treating osteoarthritis pain. If you want to try a new avenue for joint pain relief, consider regenerative medicine.
Tackle Your Arthritis Pain Your Way
You have the final say in how you treat your osteoarthritis pain. Whether you opt for natural at-home remedies or test out regenerative medicine, what’s important is that you have choices. Take control of your health and mobility again with these pain management treatments for osteoarthritis.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, four million adults in the United States have fibromyalgia. It’s an often-misunderstood condition that leads to systemic joint and muscle pain, along with fatigue, making daily life very difficult. To deal with the pain the condition causes, it’s important to understand why it occurs. Learn more about fibromyalgia and your pain management options.
What Is Fibromyalgia? Symptoms and Causes
Fibromyalgia is a condition that leads to pain and tenderness all over the body. It’s a chronic condition, though symptoms tend to come and go. During flare-ups, the pain can be significant enough to interfere with daily life while also affecting sleep, leading to mental and physical distress.
During a flare-up, you can experience:
Fatigue
Pain
Headaches
Face and jaw pain
Bladder control issues
Digestive problems
Insomnia
It’s not clear what causes fibromyalgia, but scientists have found that certain conditions, as well as stress, can trigger it. You are also more likely to have this condition if you have a relative who suffers from it. Women are twice as likely as men to develop it.
People living with conditions like arthritis, depression, anxiety disorders, and irritable bowel syndrome are more likely to develop fibromyalgia.
Fibromyalgia can affect people of all ages, including children, but it’s more common in those who are middle-aged.
Diagnosing Fibromyalgia
If you’re experiencing symptoms, your doctor will likely perform a physical exam and discuss your medical history. There’s no test that can officially diagnose fibromyalgia, so your doctor will do what’s called a differential diagnosis — a kind of investigation that functions via a process of elimination.
Your doctor may order blood work to check hormone levels and look for signs of inflammation to help eliminate other diseases.
During the physical examination, your doctor will likely check for the presence or absence of tender spots by using light pressure.
Most of the time, if you have generalized pain that lasts for three months or more without any other underlying conditions, you’ll receive a diagnosis of fibromyalgia. The pain has to be spread throughout your body to get this diagnosis.
Treating Fibromyalgia: What You Can Expect
There isn’t one treatment that works for everyone. Usually, your doctor will try a number of different options, combining them to offer the most effective results.
Your provider will likely treat the condition depending on the symptoms you’re currently experiencing. There are stages of treatment, though these aren’t treatment plans that can be followed in order because the condition can affect you differently during every flare-up.
Exercise to Loosen Muscles
In some cases, turning to physical exercises, including stretching, can help loosen your muscles and ease some of the discomfort.
Low-impact exercises like walking and swimming help build flexibility that can improve your movement during flare-ups while simultaneously helping manage pain with the release of endorphins they stimulate. Exercise may also help you get better sleep.
Medications for Symptom Management
Over-the-counter medications can help manage pain, as can narcotics, though your doctor will prescribe these with care since they can lead to dependence.
Antidepressants can often also help the process, easing some of the fatigue and pain. For those who have trouble sleeping because of fibromyalgia, sleeping aids are often a good choice.
Heat and Cold Therapy for Milder Pain
In some cases, heat and cold therapy is also effective in managing some symptoms, especially if they’re mild. Alternating hot and cold packs helps the muscles release some of the tension that could be causing pain.
Occupational Therapy for Everyday Tasks
Turning to an occupational therapist is a great way of finding out how to restructure your life when you experience flare-ups. This type of therapist can help make adjustments to your work areas while also helping you find better ways of performing certain tasks so that you experience fewer symptoms.
Massage and Acupuncture to Improve Range of Motion
Massage therapy is a trusted technique. It relies on the manipulation of your muscles and soft tissues, increasing blood flow and improving range of motion while helping reduce pain. For many, it helps relieve stress, too, which can impact the severity of the symptoms.
Acupuncture is also helpful, with the needles affecting blood flow levels and even how certain neurotransmitters in the brain work.
Lifestyle Changes for Flare-Up Reduction
Making changes to your everyday life is an important way of helping minimize the symptoms of flare-ups, so try to incorporate some into your daily life. The right options can depend on your preferences. Some people turn to meditation, while others prefer to do breathing and mindfulness exercises.
The variety of treatments available include platelet-rich plasma therapy and stem cell therapy, which uses mesechymal stem cells to reduce inflammation and help calm the immune system. This makes it possible to better handle symptoms when you do have a flare-up.
Stem cell therapy is easy to combine with other treatment options and doesn’t require a long recovery period or the stress of dealing with side effects. Stem cell therapy and other regenerative medicine options help treat the underlying triggers like inflammation, so you’re not just covering symptoms with medications.
Living With Fibromyalgia
It can seem daunting to live with a chronic condition like fibromyalgia, but with some lifestyle changes and an understanding of what triggers your flare-ups, as well as a combination of treatments, you can better manage the condition.
If you’re dealing with fibromyalgia, ask your doctor whether an option like stem cell therapy and other regenerative medicine treatments can help.
Choosing options that target inflammation and trying to get to the underlying cause of the problem instead of only masking the symptoms can make it possible to live a happy and healthy life with fibromyalgia. To learn more about pain management for Fibromyalgia visit our website or contact us now!
The National Library of Medicine states that 10% of people over 55 in the United States have disabling knee osteoarthritis. If you are one of these people, finding the right treatment can be challenging, especially if you don’t want to become dependent on pain medications or go through an invasive knee surgery.
For some, surgery can be the only option, but for many others, some management strategies and less invasive options could offer relief from symptoms.
What Is Knee Osteoarthritis? Understanding the Symptoms and Causes
Osteoarthritis of the knee occurs when the cartilage in your knee joint starts to break down. This causes the bones to rub together, leading to stiffness, swelling, and pain that can interfere with your life.
Women are more likely to develop knee osteoarthritis, as are people over the age of 40, but genetics and other factors can cause it in younger people.
Pain is the most common symptom of this condition, but there are other signs, including:
A puffy or swollen knee
Hearing a grinding or cracking noise when you move
Knee stiffness
Knee that locks up or feels stuck
Knee that feels wobbly
There can be many causes of knee osteoarthritis. Having a body mass index of 30 or more puts pressure on your knees and can cause inflammation. This inflammation can lead to arthritis or make existing arthritis worse.
You can also develop this condition if you suffer a knee injury or have a prior knee injury. If you have close relatives who’ve had knee osteoarthritis, you’re also more likely to struggle with this problem.
If you frequently put stress on your knees, whether by playing sports or as a result of your job, you can also develop osteoarthritis in your knee.
Treating Knee Osteoarthritis
If you have signs of osteoarthritis, there are a number of treatment options you can talk to your doctor about.
Maintaining a Healthy Weight
If you have risk factors that can increase your chances of developing knee osteoarthritis or if you already have the condition, ensuring your weight is healthy is vital. The Arthritis Foundation states that being just 10 pounds overweight can put 15 to 50 pounds of extra weight on your knees. That makes the development of osteoarthritis more likely.
Losing weight allows you to reduce some of that strain on your knee joints. Aside from that, losing weight also helps reduce inflammation throughout the body, which can help with arthritis.
Getting Regular Exercise
Those who have knee osteoarthritis can also benefit from getting regular exercise. It can help you lose weight, increase your mobility, and build up muscle strength to support your knee joints.
It is important to choose low-impact aerobics options that are suitable for your health level. These can include:
Swimming
Cycling
Yoga
Stretching
Walking
Riding a stationary bike can be very helpful for maintaining strength in the hamstring muscle groups without putting extra pressure on your knee. It’s best to have a doctor or physical therapist at your side to help you put together an exercise plan.
Using Medications for Pain and Swelling Relief
For people who are dealing with a lot of pain and swelling, one option is to turn to medications. Over-the-counter painkillers are one option, and many of them offer anti-inflammatory properties that help with the swelling that might be impeding you from moving freely.
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like ibuprofen, as well as acetaminophen for those who can’t take NSAIDs, can be helpful for osteoarthritis pain.
If these aren’t effective, there are prescription options your doctor could recommend. These may include opioids and even injectable steroids for people with severe inflammation.
Prescription medications can cause side effects. Because they don’t actually do anything to heal your body and only help you manage the symptoms of knee osteoarthritis, the moment you stop taking them, the pain and inflammation will usually return.
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy uses the platelets in your blood, which have clotting abilities and can stimulate many healing processes.
By separating the platelets from the other components in your blood, like white blood cells, red blood cells, and more, and concentrating them in the liquid portion of your blood, you can give the treatment area a boost of growth factors. These growth factors encourage the healing process.
Stem cell therapy uses stem cells gathered from your fat or bone marrow to stimulate the regeneration of damaged tissue. Stem cells have endless regenerative powers, and they’re able to transform into the exact type of cells you need.
Regenerative medicine offers the chance to decrease inflammation in the area, allowing blood to flow more freely and bring with it oxygen and nutrients. Less inflammation can also mean less pain because you aren’t putting as much pressure on nearby nerves.
Another benefit of regenerative medicine is that it is minimally invasive, so you don’t have to worry about a long recovery period. Most people are good candidates for this type of procedure as well.
Choosing Surgery
In severe cases, surgery may be the only way to treat knee osteoarthritis. You can get arthroscopic surgery, which is less invasive because it uses an arthroscope. This is a small camera that guides the surgeon in repairing the damaged area.
A total knee replacement can be another option. It can be done as minimally invasive or open surgery, depending on your overall health.
Stem cell therapy can still apply as a post-surgery option to help speed up recovery and manage inflammation and pain during the healing process.
Getting Relief from Knee Osteoarthritis Symptoms
If you are struggling with knee osteoarthritis, getting relief from the inflammation and pain can mean considering all available treatment options. By turning to your doctor, you can make sure you have the best chance of achieving the help you deserve.
In the United States, about 30 million men have some form of erectile dysfunction, according to research conducted by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Erectile dysfunction can occur in men of any age, though it’s most common in those who are older. Despite this, it’s not a normal part of aging. There are many causes of erectile dysfunction, from emotional to physical. However, most people are unaware of a few risk factors that could affect your chances of developing this condition.
Understanding Erectile Dysfunction
Erectile dysfunction is a condition in which you are not able to get or maintain an erection firm enough for sexual intercourse. It can be a long-term or short-term problem.
There are a few types of erectile dysfunction. One type is vascular erectile dysfunction, which results from issues with the blood vessels that send blood to the penis or the valves that hold blood. This is the most common form of erectile dysfunction.
Neurogenic erectile dysfunction occurs as a result of nerve problems that stop signals from traveling from your brain to your penis. It can occur after trauma, radiation therapy, or conditions like spinal stenosis and multiple sclerosis.
Hormonal erectile dysfunction occurs when you experience testosterone deficiencies, while psychogenic erectile dysfunction involves psychological causes.
Surprising Risk Factors for Erectile Dysfunction
Most men are aware that blood pressure issues, antidepressants, and even drinking alcohol can cause erectile dysfunction. Still, there are some surprising factors that can make your chances of dealing with this problem more likely.
1. Sleep Apnea
Sleep apnea is a condition in which your breathing stops and restarts many times as you sleep. This irregularity leads to poor rest. Scientists have noticed that men who have sleep apnea have a higher risk of developing erectile dysfunction.
The reason is not entirely clear, but it could be because the lack of sleep leads to dips in testosterone levels. Sleep apnea also restricts oxygen. Testosterone and oxygen are both crucial for maintaining healthy erections.
Sleep apnea also leads to fatigue and potentially higher stress levels, all of which impact sexual function. Scientists have found that treating obstructive sleep apnea can also help erectile dysfunction symptoms.
2. High Cholesterol
Having high blood cholesterol levels could also put you at a higher risk of developing erectile dysfunction. Perhaps the most common cause is the narrowing of blood vessels, also called atherosclerosis. High cholesterol levels can make this more likely to occur.
Cholesterol is a fat-like substance in the blood that your cell membranes need and that helps produce certain hormones, bile acids, and vitamin D. At high levels, however, cholesterol builds up in artery walls and causes plaque, which narrows them.
When that occurs, your penis doesn’t receive the amount of blood it needs to get and maintain an erection.
3. Cycling
Although maintaining an active lifestyle tends to help with erectile dysfunction, cycling could be causing more harm than good.
Hard bicycle seats often press on the perineum, which is the area between the scrotum and the anus, causing a compression of blood vessels. The compression makes it more difficult for the penis to get the needed blood flow.
Scientists recommend using a softer seat or taking shorter rides to prevent the problem. Make sure to speak with your doctor about this if you suspect cycling could be causing erectile dysfunction issues.
4. Canned Foods
Perhaps one of the most surprising risk factors of erectile dysfunction is the frequent eating of canned foods. Cans that hold food often contain the chemical bisphenol-A, also called BPA. BPA can affect your hormones, stimulating the production of female sex hormones and suppressing male sex hormones.
5. Certain Medications
Lots of medications have the potential to affect sexual function, especially in men. This is because they can interfere with hormone pathways.
One of these types of medications is selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). These medications are antidepressants that function by increasing the levels of serotonin in the body, elevating your mood. The problem is that serotonin decreases sex drive.
Blood pressure medications may also affect sexual function. Diuretics or ACE inhibitors decrease the blood flow that reaches the penis, making an erection more difficult to achieve.
Other medications that could affect sexual function are those that treat Parkinson’s disease, antihistamines, and even non-steroidal anti-inflammatory disease. It is always a good idea to speak with your doctor about the side effects of any medications you take and to work with them to find alternatives.
6. Leading a Sedentary Lifestyle
Another factor that can put you at risk of developing erectile dysfunction is leading a sedentary lifestyle. Being sedentary can cause decreased blood flow. Not leading an active life also makes it harder for your heart to function at its best.
Even moderate exercise stimulates your body to produce nitric oxide, which is a short-lasting chemical that keeps your arteries open, including the ones that allow blood to flow into your penis.
A sedentary lifestyle is associated with higher levels of fat in the body. The more fat you have, the more estrogen your body is likely to produce, which means your testosterone levels dip. It can also lead to a higher risk of developing diabetes, which impacts insulin resistance and makes the development of erectile dysfunction more likely.
Treating Erectile Dysfunction
Struggling with erectile dysfunction can affect your self-esteem, moods, and relationships. If you are dealing with this issue, it’s essential to reach out to your doctor for help.
One option that offers the chance to get relief from erectile dysfunction is regenerative medicine. Regenerative medicine treatments like stem cell therapy focus on doing more than just treating the symptoms of the condition: they can help to treat the underlying problem that led to erectile dysfunction issues in the first place.
If you are dealing with erectile dysfunction, consider asking your doctor about regenerative medicine. With these minimally invasive treatments, you could allow your body to start healing itself.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that an average of 795,000 people each year in the United States suffer a stroke. The majority of these are new strokes. Knowing whether you have a high risk of suffering a stroke is important, but so is knowing what you can do to lower your risk.
One important step you can take for stroke prevention is exercise. Learn more about what causes strokes and why exercise can be such an important prevention tool.
Understanding Strokes: What They Are and What Causes Them
You can think of a stroke as the equivalent of a heart attack on your brain. It is a life-threatening condition that occurs when a part of your brain doesn’t receive an adequate amount of blood. Strokes usually occur from experiencing bleeding in the brain or a blocked artery.
There are two main types of strokes: ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes. Ischemic strokes happen when cells don’t get enough blood and therefore don’t get enough oxygen. An ischemic stroke occurs if something blocks blood vessels in the brain. Blood clots can lead to ischemic strokes.
Hemorrhagic strokes lead to bleeding in or around your brain. It can occur if a blood vessel in your brain breaks open and causes bleeding that puts pressure on your brain tissue. It can also happen if you experience bleeding in the space between the brain and its outer covering.
The symptoms of a stroke vary depending on which areas of the brain it affects. You can experience one or more symptoms like:
Difficulty speaking
Blurred or double vision
One-sided weakness
Paralysis
Loss of muscle control on one side of the face
Loss of coordination
Dizziness
Vomiting
Nausea
Slurred speaking
Partial or total loss of one of the senses
Memory loss
Seizures
Headaches
The cause of the stroke can depend on the stroke type. Ischemic strokes usually occur because of blood clots, while hemorrhagic strokes happen as a result of high blood pressure, brain cancers, brain aneurysms, and more.
Some factors can put you more at risk of suffering a stroke. These are:
Obesity
Smoking
Poor diet
Physical inactivity
Diabetes
Strokes have the potential to occur at any age, but the risk rises as you grow older. If there’s a history of strokes in your family, you’re also more likely to suffer from one yourself. Drinking too much alcohol is another way to increase your chances of a stroke.
How Exercise Helps to Prevent Strokes
Exercise plays a role in reducing several stroke risk factors, including diabetes, high blood pressure, and even stress. For primary stroke prevention, high blood pressure is the most important risk factor. Physical activity helps control blood pressure because it improves vascular function.
Type 2 diabetes increases the chances of having a stroke because excessive blood glucose levels over time increase fatty deposits. These deposits narrow or block blood vessels, cutting off blood to the brain. Exercise helps improve glycemic control, so it can be an important way of managing your type 2 diabetes.
Exercise also helps promote lower cholesterol levels. Having high cholesterol levels causes plaque buildup in your arteries, including those that send blood to your brain.
For older people or those with certain medical conditions, turning to light exercise may be beneficial. Some options include gardening, taking walks, and even doing housework. The key is to avoid being inactive for long periods.
For adults who can manage moderate exercise, it’s important to engage in at least 2 ½ hours of exercise per week. You can choose activities like cycling, brisk walking, swimming, or anything else that gets your heart rate up.
Other Lifestyle Changes for Stroke Prevention
Besides adding more physical exercise to your life, you can also turn to other strategies to help prevent a stroke. For one thing, if you smoke, you should quit. Smoking significantly damages blood vessels, triggering plaque formation and even causing blood vessel breakdown. Smoking increases your blood pressure, too.
You should take a close look at your diet. Eating a diet that causes higher cholesterol levels can contribute to the development of plaque. Plaque narrows arteries and makes blood clots more likely.
Stick to lean proteins, unsaturated fats, fruits, and vegetables, and avoid sugary foods and saturated fats. You should also add fiber-rich foods to your diet. It is also important to cut down on the amount of alcohol you drink. Alcohol increases your blood pressure, making blood clots more likely to happen. Blood clots can cut off your blood supply and lead to strokes.
Another important step you can take if you want to prevent a stroke is to incorporate stress management techniques into your day. Stress makes the heart work harder, which increases blood pressure.
At the same time, sugar and fat levels in the blood also increase when you experience stress. They impact arterial health as well. All these factors may lead to the development of clots. Finding ways of managing stress goes a long way toward addressing these issues.
You can opt for doing deep breathing exercises, as well as focusing on mindfulness strategies to help you stay in the present. Some people benefit from meditation or yoga, while others do better if they take time to exercise. Taking up relaxing hobbies is another excellent option.
Regenerative Medicine: Can It Help with Strokes?
Working to prevent strokes is important, and your strategies for doing so can be as simple as adjusting your diet and adding exercise to your daily routine. If you’ve already experienced a stroke, however, you can also use these strategies to prevent future ones. Lowering your blood pressure, managing your diabetes, and lowering stress levels can all help.
If a previous stroke has left you with symptoms that affect your life, a treatment option that shows promise is stem cell therapy. Stem cell therapy encourages your body to heal using its natural processes, allowing you the chance to regain some of your brain’s lost function. Ask your doctor about regenerative medicine options like stem cell therapy.
This website and its contents are not intended to treat, cure, diagnose, or prevent any disease. Stemedix, Inc. shall not be held liable for the medical claims made by patient testimonials or videos. They are not to be viewed as a guarantee for each individual. The efficacy for some products presented have not been confirmed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
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Request Information Packet
We'll send your FREE information packet that outlines our entire personalized, stress-free stem cell treatment process!
Thanks for your interest!
Request Information Packet
We'll send your FREE information packet that outlines our entire personalized, stress-free stem cell treatment process!
Thanks for your interest!
Request Information Packet
We'll send your FREE information packet that outlines our entire personalized, stress-free stem cell treatment process!
Thanks for your interest!
Request Information Packet
We'll send your FREE information packet that outlines our entire personalized, stress-free stem cell treatment process!
Thanks for your interest!
Request Information Packet
We'll send your FREE information packet that outlines our entire personalized, stress-free stem cell treatment process!
Thanks for your interest!
Request Information Packet
We'll send your FREE information packet that outlines our entire personalized, stress-free stem cell treatment process!
Thanks for your interest!
Request Information Packet
We'll send your FREE information packet that outlines our entire personalized, stress-free stem cell treatment process!
Thanks for your interest!
Request Information Packet
We'll send your FREE information packet that outlines our entire personalized, stress-free stem cell treatment process!
Thanks for your interest!
Request Information Packet
We'll send your FREE information packet that outlines our entire personalized, stress-free stem cell treatment process!
Thanks for your interest!
Request Information Packet
We'll send your FREE information packet that outlines our entire personalized, stress-free stem cell treatment process!
Thanks for your interest!
Request Information Packet
We'll send your FREE information packet that outlines our entire personalized, stress-free stem cell treatment process!
St. Petersburg, Florida
