Four Changes That Helped Me Heal Arthritis
Lifestyle shifts that helped me reduce inflammation and rebuild healthy joints
Photo from Dmitry Molchanov on Shutterstock
Introduction
My hands and wrists have always been the most special- and vulnerable- parts of my body.
Growing up, they allowed me to pursue my passion for playing harp; then as an adult, they were the part of my body hit hardest by Lyme disease arthritis. When arthritis struck three years ago, it felt like I lost my hands and everything I relied on them for. Playing harp, doing my job, writing, and even combing my hair all became too painful.
Yet today, my hands are strong and healthy and I’ve even achieved a personal milestone: taking aerial arts classes and using my hands to support my entire body. The improvements didn’t come from curing Lyme disease- after struggling for months to eradicate Lyme bacteria from my body, I switched my approach. Instead I focused on healing my gut and reducing systemic inflammation; stabilizing my joints and strengthening supporting structures; and improving blood and nutrient flow. My goal was to support my body to reach a state where disease could no longer thrive in it.
After three years of trying many things, I want to share the four lifestyle changes that have helped me most in healing from arthritis and rebuilding my joints. While Lyme arthritis is distinct from osteoarthritis or RA, most of the advice I’ve shared is relevant to all forms. Managing and healing arthritis can be a long, exhausting, and often expensive journey, but it doesn’t have to be a life sentence.
1. Changing How You Eat
Tips to stop triggering inflammation and start rebuilding
Nothing has improved my arthritis as dramatically as changing the way I eat. A few months after my diagnosis, I went to a nutritionist who tested for food sensitivities and found that dairy (casein), soy, and corn were my major inflammatory triggers. I cut them out of my diet along with processed foods and alcohol and within a few weeks, the worst of my pain was gone. Though food sensitivities remain controversial and poorly understood, a post from the Harvard Health Blog acknowledges, “It appears that exposure to specific foods may create an immune reaction that generates a multitude of symptoms. The symptoms…can be quite disruptive and include joint pain, stomach pain, fatigue, rashes, and brain fog.”
In addition to removing certain foods from my diet, I adopted a clean Mediterranean diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and clean proteins, especially fish. As a 2016 study on the health impact of the Mediterranean diet reports:
“the results of several studies suggest that the MedDiet may have a dual effect on the prevention of CVD, improving classical cardiovascular risk factors and also having an intense anti-inflammatory effect. In fact, epidemiological studies have shown that the MedDiet may exert its effect partly through mechanisms such as improved lipid profile and reductions in blood pressure or insulin resistance.”
Though I aim to get most nutrients through my diet, I also take a set of supplements I’ve found to be incredibly supportive of my joints and overall health: Omega-3 fish oil, Monolaurin, vitamin D, vitamin C, Magnesium, and a B-complex multivitamin. The fish oil improves my joint flexibility and vitamin D and Magnesium support bone development; vitamin C and the B-complex formula offer overall support and help me fight off infections if I’m worn down; Monolaurin helps me re-build my gut, heal yeast infections, and support my immune system.
Over the years I’ve gotten so many recommendations on diet and supplements that it’s been overwhelming- and expensive- at times. I’ve shared my diet and the supplements I take not as medical advice, but as guidance from personal experience. After trying dozens of other options, these are the supplements and diet that seem to best support my joints and overall wellbeing.
2. Cold Exposure
How the Wim Hof Method benefits those with arthritis
I first learned about Wim Hof through journalist Scott Carney’s fascinating article “The Ice Man Cometh.” When Carney initially met Hof, he was skeptical of Hof’s claims that he could teach people to consciously control their body temperature and immune systems and set out to expose him as a charlatan. But after just a week of studying the method, Carney became a convert himself and ended up scaling Mount Kilimanjaro with Hof- in just a bathing suit.
In 2014, the same year Carney’s article came out, Hof gained the attention of the scientific community when he and a group of trainees exhibited control over their inflammatory responses in a research study, a feat previously thought impossible. It became clear that Hof’s method could offer benefits not only for extreme athletes, but for those with chronic illnesses.
What ultimately drew me to the Wim Hof Method (WHM) were claims that it could offer major improvements for individuals with Lyme disease and arthritis.
As I researched the WHM, I learned it relies on three simple pillars: cold therapy, breathing, and commitment. According to Hof, cold therapy conditions the vascular system and improves blood flow, breathwork changes the body’s biochemistry from acidic to alkaline, and commitment creates the patience and dedication necessary for long-term change. Over time, the three pillars work synergistically to reduce stress and inflammation, strengthen the immune system, and increase energy and vitality.
While the promises are major, getting started with the WHM is surprisingly simple. On a daily basis, I now do the following practices outlined in detail in Hof’s book:
The WHM Basic Breathing Exercise: Cycles of 30–40 deep breaths followed by retention and recovery phases.
Ice baths for the extremities: A practice for those who suffer from cold hands and feet. It wakes up the vascular system for better blood flow and warmer extremities over time.
Cold showers: To get started with cold exposure, Hof suggests simply switching to cold water at the end of a shower. As little as 30 seconds of cold exposure can make a difference and in Hof’s own words:
When you take a cold shower, all of those little muscles in your vascular system — millions of them — are activated and exercised. Within ten days of taking these showers, you will notice that your heart rate has decreased significantly, as much as fifteen to thirty beats per minute, and that it remains that way twenty-four hours a day. That translates to a lot less stress. — The Wim Hof Method: Activate Your Full Human Potential
A few weeks in, I’ve found the WHM lives up to its promise. My resting heart rate has begun to drop and my HRV stays elevated for hours after a cold shower, indicating an improving stress response.
My regular ice baths and cold showers (currently at 2 minutes, 15 seconds) are getting easier and better blood flow in my hands has improved the strength and sensation in my fingers. On top of all that, I’ve found that a cold shower puts me into a deep and peaceful sleep after.
3. Strength Training and Calisthenics
Stabilize your joints and strengthen your body
Fitness is key to supporting your joints, but the type that’s best will depend on your current state of health. When I first began working out, my musculoskeletal system was so imbalanced from Lyme disease that I needed to rebalance it before doing anything else. The book “Pain Free” by Pete Egoscue helped me stabilize and strengthen my shoulders, hips, knees, and even feet. The Egoscue Method, which involves gentle exercise protocols for each part of the body, helps restore structural muscles and ultimately proper alignment.
After rebalancing my alignment through the Egoscue Method and reducing inflammation through diet, I wanted to start building strength. I took up strength training with a group of friends and more recently started calisthenics, or body weight training. I’ve found both types of training to be complimentary and incredibly helpful: Calisthenic routines help me focus on improving joint mobility and overall coordination while strength training helps me build muscle mass and bone density. Though I’m highly flexible, improved mobility in my hips and shoulders through calisthenics has helped me improve my form and range of motion during strength training.
Both calisthenics and strength training require proper fundamental form to avoid injury but they are fantastic ways to support your joints and build strength. If you’re new to both, consider reading a book like “Becoming a Supple Leopard,” which walks through how to set your posture and prime your body to perform exercises correctly in order to avoid injury and optimize your movements.
4. Getting a Good Night’s Sleep
The foundation that supports everything else
I’m a night owl by nature and used to stay up late reading books or hopping down rabbit holes on Wikipedia. It wasn’t until arthritis hit me that I learned the value of a good night’s rest. In the first few months after my diagnosis, I would wake up suddenly at night from pain shooting down my leg to my big toe. Nights of bad sleep left me in a bad mood in the morning with no energy to cope with additional stress — a vicious cycle that’s common for those with arthritis.
Recently, I began tracking my health metrics with a Garmin wearable that’s given me useful insights into my sleep patterns and how I can improve them. So far I’ve found:
Cold showers before bed lower my heart rate and help me sleep more deeply and soundly
Meditation and breathwork help me fall asleep and stay asleep
Magnesium relaxes my muscles and eases me to sleep if I’m tense
Weighted blankets feel wonderful and help me fall into a deep sleep. I have yet to measure the effects, but there’s some evidence that weighted blankets help reduce anxiety and stress through deep pressure stimulation.
Though I’m still forming my own rituals around sleep, I’ve already started to see improvements. When I sleep through the night, my heart rate variability (HRV) in the morning is 10 points higher on average than when I wake up at least once, which translates to a huge reduction in stress. My body thanks me with more energy, better mood, and stronger joints.
Conclusion
Regardless of your starting state, I believe the human body has an incredible capacity to heal and re-build itself.
The good news is that these changes work synergistically: If you improve your diet, you have less pain and more energy for exercise; if you take a cold shower after exercising, you rest better. Every time you support your body, you set off a virtuous healing cycle.
