One person out of nine suffers from osteoarthritis, making it one of the most common chronic diseases among humans. While not lethal, osteoarthritis may seriously impact one’s life and overall health condition. As this form of arthritis affects cartilage, its main effects include stiffness of joints up to the point where it is impossible to move the joint at all, and pain in the joints. Osteoarthritis commonly attack hands, knees, hips and spine, often effectively preventing the patient from actually moving.

Chronic osteoarthritis is here to stay. Once it shows up, there is no way back to full health. However, it does not mean that you have to lay down your weapon. You can still stop the disease from aggravating or even reverse it provided that you have acted soon enough.

First of course, contact your doctor. However, you can do much more than just taking pills. The most important thing you can do is to do exercises. First, you have to keep your joints moving if you want to strengthen them and reduce the cartilage loss. The best idea is usually to employ some aerobic-like exercise system or swimming. Weigh lifting may also be a good idea, but do not overdo it - your aim is to strengthen your joints, not to endanger them. Then, you need to reduce the stress put on joints and being overweight is the main reason of joints’ overbear. That’s why working on your diet a bit may also be in order.

Ice and hot baths are the two best methods of getting rid of the pain which comes along with osteoarthritis. Hot bath makes blood flow faster and muscles relax, thus decreasing the pain. The affected joints however, have to be treated with ice rather than hot water - unlike in case of rheumatoid arthritis, heat will only increase the pain.

If heat and cold are not enough, you may consider taking Acetaminophen. This pain killer is sold over the counter and is very effective in case of mild cases of osteoarthritis. In long-term problems however, it is usually a good idea to contact your doctor and ask for some stronger medications. A tip: do not get too attached to pain killers. Remember to discuss the whole issue with your doctor - osteoarthritis is here to stay, so may consider some pain to be better than ruining your health by abusing pain killers.

The second best thing that slows down the osteoarthritis is Omega-3 fatty acids. They are second only to frequent exercises. The only problem is that these nutrients are naturally found only in a few kinds of fish and in flax, making it very difficult to compose a healthy and varied diet capable of providing enough Omega-3 fatty acids. While Mediterraneans are generally able to get enough seafood to do it, North Americans most often rely on Omega Daily and other similar supplements to get enough Omega-3 fatty acids to lessen the impact of arthritis on their lives.

The bottom line is: if you have osteoarthritis, stay healthy. Overweight, lack of exercises and bad diet will only speed up the pace of arthritis. Staying fit and keeping your joints safe are two most important things you have to do.