Has anyone tried acupuncture for relief of arthritis pain in your hands? Or any alternative solutions other that pain medicine?
My hands are so bad that I can barely pick up my phone or gun from the nightstand in the morning. And the numbness drives me crazy trying to sleep. They do get a little better as the day progresses.
I have not seen a doctor yet. You guys are my first call for suggestions.

My opinion from a guy with three compression fractures in my lower back. Acupuncture can be amazing. It’s hard to find someone who is highly trained.
One other possible direction to research is Dr Ken Berry on you tube. He has the belief that diet is the cause of many of today’s ailments and usually leaves links to actual studies to back up what he says.

Thanks TBH, my diet is not bad, but I think my problem stems from 5.5 years of OTR driving and gripping the wheel too tightly. And carrying 90 lb cases with a soft handle. It didn't bother me until about a year ago.

The funny thing is when I am at the range, I do not notice it at all.

quote:

Originally posted by TBH:
My opinion from a guy with three compression fractures in my lower back. Acupuncture can be amazing. It’s hard to find someone who is highly trained.
One other possible direction to research is Dr Ken Berry on you tube. He has the belief that diet is the cause of many of today’s ailments and usually leaves links to actual studies to back up what he says.

The numbness is probably coming from nerve compression of the brachial plexus in your neck.

Many, if not most, persons stand with their head too far forward. Computer work exacerbates this.
There is an old fashioned posture exercise that might help the nerve compression, I can post it or send it if interested.

TBH is correct, in that diet (plus lack of exercise) is the cause for most health problems. Probably 90% of our health issues are diet and exercise related. However there are several types of arthritis, and osteoarthritis is a wear and tear issue. But this can be caused by being overweight.

I'd get to a doctor. Get checked for Rheumatoid Arthritis vs. Osteo Arthritis. What you describe (in the AM) sounds like my RA was. There are great meds that can fix you up now. Which wasn't always the case. Don't play around. You don't want the joints to be damaged.

There are many reasons why people transition to a LCHF, carnivore/ketovore, Atkins, call it what you will but eliminating sugar, seed oils and grains will decrease systemic inflammation. Dr. Ken Berry is 100% correct along with dozens of other health practitioners who refuse of profit off the disease management model of Healthcare.

I don't have any pets. I am my own pet and I feed myself accordingly. By all means, consult your human-type veterinarian but unlike the traditional veterinarian, the human version won't likely consider diet as a factor.

I'd try some Cissus.

I don't know about Accupuncture, never done it but Nerve flossing might be the ticket if numbness is the issue. Like Steve said, it's likely stemming from the neck, elbow, or carpal tunnel situation. All that stuff is inflammation and irritates the function of the nerves.

If it's arthritis, there's data suggesting fasting can improve it a lot. But as stated above, diet is huge. Flour, sugar, and processed oils are the enemy. After that, stuff like fish oil and Cissus might help, in the absence of inflaming agents like flour, sugar, excess cals etc.

Best of luck man. Pain sucks.

I have arthritis in both hands and my joints are messed up so my fingers are at weird angles. It is getting bad enough my trigger finger doesn't bend much. My doctor checked and not rheumatoid arthritis, just orthoarthritis. Not much they can do, but massage and creams help. I have had acupuncture for my back and hips, helped until they did surgery. Good luck.

Acupuncture is TCM or "traditional Chinese medicine"

Another name for TCM is quackery. It is all old wives tales and none of it is based on actual scientific controlled experimentation and analysis. That it persists in the modern world is solely because the CCP does not want to give credit to western science and medicine.

I've been in Asia enough and heard enough absurd claims and been given enough useless medicine to know better. They really have a superstitious and unscientific view of the world, which is a primary reason China did not progress out of the dark ages if not for western influence.

If you think CCP Chiropractor sounds legit, go for it. I don't.

The best medicine I ever had is this:

I had a bad summer cold/flu in China. My best friend/bartender made me a hot tea with lemon, honey, and Irish whisky. I don't know if it killed the virus, but I felt better and better with each round...

Second best was hot Coca Cola with Ginger at the hotel.

Interesting. Steve, I would love to see the exercise. Ironmike57@me.com

After reading about the diet, I am guilty of overdoing what has been posted, especially the sugars. And I am overweight. And I get next to zero exercise.

I will pay heed to the suggestions. I want my hands back!

Thank you Gentlemen.

quote:

Originally posted by c1steve:
The numbness is probably coming from nerve compression of the brachial plexus in your neck.

Many, if not most, persons stand with their head too far forward. Computer work exacerbates this.
There is an old fashioned posture exercise that might help the nerve compression, I can post it or send it if interested.

TBH is correct, in that diet (plus lack of exercise) is the cause for most health problems. Probably 90% of our health issues are diet and exercise related. However there are several types of arthritis, and osteoarthritis is a wear and tear issue. But this can be caused by being overweight.

I just sent the posture exercise to Ironmike.


bgouker, with fingers splayed out a different angles, it could be erosive arthritis or severe osteoarthritis.

What causes RA and most auto-immune diseases is a cross reaction to a low grade bacterial infection. The immune system mounts an attack against anything that has markers on the cell surface that are similar to what the bacteria has. When you ingest sugar, carbohydrates to turn into sugar, you are feeding the bacteria. Your immune system has a limit to how fast it can kill off the bacteria invaders, and can be overwhelmed.

Most drugs that treat autoimmune diseases reduce the body's immune response. This allows the bacteria numbers to increase. Better to cut off the food supply to the bacteria so the immune system can stop the problem.

My right hand is hurting so badly that I can't make a fist and am getting concerned as to whether I can fire a gun for much longer.

Getting old is fun, sometimes, and other times it kinda stinks.

Bob

Several persons asked for the posture exercise, so I am posting it here. Note that the goal is for the center of the head/ear canal to be directly over the center of the shoulders. If your chest is thick, no need to push the head all the way to the wall.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: c1steve,

Acupuncture works. I go back every 6-8 months for a couple sessions. It also works for stress.

It was one of the things I had done in my jock days, but that was about regaining function/getting muscles to relax.

Most of the stuff I did back then was about being able to keep going, more than healing. (I'm still an idiot, but I was dumb in a special way, back then.)

Weight loss/yoga/egoscue does a lot.

I made a change to the instructions for the posture exercise. Heels are typically 3"-4" from the wall, and can be more.