Your Osteoarthritis Relief Options
Wondering what relief options there are for mild osteoarthritis? Making sense of which osteoarthritis management methods are right for you is critical for making sure those cricks and creaks and achy joints don’t hold you back. We believe in the outsized joy of life’s small things – like tying your shoes to go for a walk. In the meantime, sit back and relax as we explore your osteoarthritis management options together.
Osteoarthritis is a very common disease that affects your joints. All of your joints are cushioned by a slippery substance called cartilage. Osteoarthritis occurs when your knee cartilage or other joint cartilage deteriorates, leaving the bones in your joints without a sufficient lubricating, protective barrier. As a result, the joint bones rub and grind against one another when you move, which can be quite painful.1
Common causes of osteoarthritis include:
- Wear and tear
- Being overweight
- Repetitive use
- Previous injury
Medications for osteoarthritis
If you’re scratching your head thinking what to use for osteoarthritis pain, we’re here to make sense of your options. Medications can help relieve pain. The type of medication you can use may depend on the severity of your pain. There are a number of medication options for osteoarthritis management.
Oral medications
Over-the-counter medications such as paracetamol, or ibuprofen, or diclofenac may be taken for osteoarthritis management. Speaking with your pharmacist can help you decide what to take for osteoarthritis.
Topical medications
Topical medications can include pain relief medications or anti-inflammatories. Topical medications may be applied through a range of delivery methods, such as gels, creams, patches, or ointments that are rubbed into your skin, such as Voltaren Osteo Gel 12 Hourly that targets pain with the NSAID diclofenac. Voltaren Osteo Gel 12 Hourly is effective pain relief for mild osteoarthritis of the knees and fingers, and the pain flare up it can cause. Voltaren Osteo Gel 12 Hourly may be just the osteoarthritis relief option you’re looking for to regain some of your freedom of movement.
What else can you do for osteoarthritis?
Much more than just medication, osteoarthritis management includes many non-medicated treatments and lifestyle adjustments.
- Maintain a healthy body weight
- Eat a nutritious diet designed for joint health
- Get active
- Stay positive
Discover how small lifestyle changes can make a big difference in relieving osteoarthritis pain. Living with osteoarthritis can be a major pain—literally. But don’t let it get you down. There are plenty of ways to help relieve osteoarthritis pain, from maintaining... a healthy weight to embracing holistic therapy methods. Simple lifestyle changes can make a big difference. Get started with these strategies.
Maintain a healthy body weight
Being a healthy weight is important for everyone, but especially for those suffering from osteoarthritis.2 Excess weight places increased stress on your joints. Losing even just a few kilos can help you reduce pressure and provide relief in areas such as ankle pain, knee pain, and hip pain. For your best odds of long-term weight loss success, take off the kilos slowly using a healthy eating plan and regularly engaging in physical activity.
Eat a Nutritious Diet
If you experience osteoarthritis pain, what you eat is not just about your weight — it’s also about what types of food you put in your body. A donut or a piece of pizza might be more tempting than a salad or a bowl of veggies, but it’s important to keep an eye on what we put in our bodies. Some research, for example, suggests it could be a good idea to reduce processed sugar and saturated fats in your diet.3
Foods, such as fish, olive oil, fruit, nuts, and leafy greens, fill your body with nutrients that might help combat inflammation throughout the body, according to some research.4,5
Get Active
When you’re experiencing pain, physical activity may feel like the last thing on your to-do list. Surprise! Exercising is one of the best ways you can decrease osteoarthritis pain. It reduces joint stiffness, improves your range of motion, and builds muscle strength, which helps offload some pressure on your joints. The weaker your muscles are, the more work your joints have to do to support and stabilise your body.6
Low-impact exercising like walking, biking, yoga, swimming, and even light weight training are all approved for osteoarthritis and shown to have a positive impact on osteoarthritis management.7 Plus, they can be great mood boosters. Win win! Whatever exercise you choose, be sure to keep it low impact. Certain types of exercise that involve high-impact activities can lead to pounding or twisting of your joints over time, raising your risk of injury.8 You may choose to work with a doctor or physical therapist to find out which exercises are right for you.
Stay positive
Pain is almost never just physical. It has deep emotional and mental components as well. Being in pain can affect your way of thinking about your life. Negative thoughts and feelings of hopelessness can make pain feel more intense and make it more difficult to manage.12 That’s why it’s very important to manage your thoughts and feelings alongside your physical reactions to pain. A little mind of matter never hurt. In fact, it can even help.
Here are some mindful techniques you may consider adopting as part of a holistic approach to osteoarthritis pain management:
- Relaxation therapies such as meditation or yoga
- Cognitive behavioural therapy, a combination of talk therapy and behaviour modification
- Acupuncture
To keep negative thoughts at bay, it’s helpful to continue engaging in activities that you enjoy and to surround yourself with people who support you as much as possible.
Some supplements may be helpful in protecting your joints, which is beneficial when managing osteoarthritis. While not clear-cut treatments, some supplements have shown evidence that they might help deal with the symptoms of osteoarthritis, making them an osteoarthritis relief option you may want to explore.
TENS, which stands for transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation, is a non-medicated therapy that works by painlessly stimulating your nerves via electrodes worn on the skin in order to help block pain signals to your brain.
Working with a physical therapist can help you learn exercises that alleviate pain and increase your range of motion. Physical therapy can include strength training and aquatic therapy, among others, to help improve joint mobility and function.10 Reach out to a physical therapist in your area for a consultation if you would like to explore this osteoarthritis management option.
Massage can be a helpful osteoarthritis management option when used as a supplement to lifestyle and medicinal relief options. Tense, tight muscles can place extra strain on your joints. Massage therapy can help relieve osteoarthritis pain temporarily.11
When it comes to topical solutions, what can you do for osteoarthritis pain? Voltaren Osteo Gel 12 Hourly is effective for osteoarthritis pain management. It is an over-the-counter anti-inflammatory, kind of like osteoarthritis pain management in a tube. An alternative to pills, Voltaren Osteo Gel 12 Hourly is an effective, on-the-spot osteoarthritis relief option. Use Voltaren Osteo Gel 12 Hourly for mild osteoarthritis of the fingers and knees to target pain directly at the source simply by rubbing some into your skin.
How does Voltaren Osteo Gel 12 Hourly work to relieve mild osteoarthritis pain?
Voltaren Osteo Gel 12 Hourly works by delivering a dose of diclofenac, an anti-inflammatory medicine that will help you start to move more with less pain. Voltaren Osteo Gel 12 Hourly creates a reservoir of diclofenac when applied regularly, which gives the skin a source of the active ingredient throughout the day for lasting relief of pain and inflammation, and effective mild osteoarthritis pain management.
Our Emulgel Technology
All of our gels use our special Emulgel technology. Emulgel technology helps the gel to penetrate deeply into the skin to enhance delivery of inflammation-relieving diclofenac to the site of pain and swelling.
The Emulgel technology is a unique combination of a gel and cream providing both a cooling and soothing effect when applied to the skin. Rubbing in the Emulgel can create an extra opportunity to give yourself a soothing massage at the site of pain and inflammation. The massage you can give yourself when applying Voltaren Osteo Gel 12 Hourly is an extra little perk that you can do for mild osteoarthritis pain.
How to use Voltaren Osteo Gel 12 Hourly to relieve mild osteoarthritis
Using Voltaren Osteo Gel 12 Hourly for osteoarthritis is simple and straightforward. Our packaging is designed with you in mind. It is easy to open, even if your fingers or hands are sore or stiff. Our Easy Open Cap is easy to use, especially if you have mild osteoarthritis.
Using Voltaren Osteo Gel 12 Hourly for osteoarthritis pain management couldn’t be simpler. Here’s how to use Voltaren Osteo Gel 12 Hourly...:
- Open your tube of Voltaren Osteo Gel 12 Hourly:
Easy Open Cap- Tamper evident tabs located on each side of the flip-top cap will break when the cap is opened for the first time. Before first use check if the tamper evident tabs are not broken.
- Just flip the cap lid.
- Use a finger, thumb, side of your hand or even edge of a table against the underside of the cap lid to open the flip-top cap. Easy peasy!
- Squeeze out an amount ranging in size from a cherry to a walnut, depending on the size of the area to be treated.
- Gently rub into the skin above where you are experiencing pain
- Apply Voltaren Osteo Gel 12 Hourly as per instructions on the product label
- Start to regain your joy of movement.
Use for up to 21 days for mild osteoarthritis pain management, unless indicated otherwise by your doctor. As soon as your pain subsides, stop using Voltaren Osteo Gel 12 Hourly. If your pain and swelling do not improve within 7 days, or if it gets worse, please consult your doctor.
Do not apply to skin with conditions such as cuts, open wounds, or on skin that has a rash or eczema. Discontinue the relief options if a skin rash develops after applying the product.
A brace or wrap commonly used for injuries like sprains can be used but do not use under airtight (plastic) bandages. Voltaren Osteo Gel 12 Hourly should not be used with air-tight or water-tight dressings, however, non-sealed breathable bandages can be used. For further details regarding precautions of using Voltaren Osteo Gel 12 Hourly or other products, please read the product label and leaflet, and if in doubt consult your doctor or pharmacist.
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1. Diclofenac
Voltaren contains effective active ingredient diclofenac.
Voltaren Osteo Gel 12 Hourly comes in a strength of 2.32% diclofenac diethylamine.
The formula lasts up to 12 hours
2. Penetration
This means making sure the diclofenac gets through the skin and to the site of the pain. Voltaren Osteo Gel 12 Hourly's micro-emulsion formula contains a permeation enhancer for up to 3x greater skin penetration*.
Penetration into the muscle tissue or joint, allows the active ingredient to target pain and inflammation directly at the source.
*compared with Voltaren Emulgel, in vitro study
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