Osteoarthritis - can an alternative cure avoid surgery?

Natural therapies also help
Osteoarthritis usually begins with weather sensitivity, morning joint stiffness, cracking and crunching in the joints. In the beginning, sufferers usually only complain of pain when clearly stressed. In the course of the disease, these usually increase drastically. These typical stress and movement-related pains cause sufferers to move little. Although this relieves pain in the short term, it permanently worsens symptoms because the articular cartilage needs regular exercise so that it remains supple. Stiffening osteoarthritis joints completely helps at the end of the disease often only an artificial prosthesis. In addition to pain-relieving drug therapies and cures, lead to a long-lasting pain relief. Movement without pain becomes possible again - a first step to slow down osteoarthritis.

"According to medical opinion, the joint wear in osteoarthritis is considered incurable," explains Univ.-Doz. Dr. Bertram Hölzl, scientific director of the Gasteiner Heilstollen. Although drug therapies help alleviate the symptoms and slow down the progression of osteoarthritis, they often have side effects. With targeted cures, the wear can be reduced without negative side effects. Many providers have developed sophisticated offers. "In the case of osteoarthritis, cures are particularly effective if they consist of exercise therapy, muscle-relaxing and physiotherapy programs," explains Dr. med. Hölzl. They help to strengthen important muscle groups by stretching and strengthening and so relieve diseased joints. What is special about a cure are the - usually local - natural remedies.

For example, the natural remedy radon in Gasteinertal. Spa guests travel by therapeutic train several times by train into a healing tunnel and spend about an hour on the therapy stations. Here radon, heat and high humidity work. The tropical temperatures of up to 41.5 degrees combined with a high humidity in the tunnel through the relaxation and increased blood flow of muscles for pain relief. Above all, however, experts in radon heat therapy attribute pain-relieving effects. "Radon has positive effects on both muscle, tendon and ligament pain and on the inflammatory processes in the joint itself," commented Dr. Hölzl. This pain relief lasts on average for about 9 months [1]. Reduce pain, makes it easier for those affected to integrate movement back into everyday life. Although cures can not cure osteoarthritis, they provide great relief from pain and help stem the closure of the joints. It is often possible to avoid total endoprosthetic surgery thanks to treatments with radon and heat - or at least delay it. Health insurance companies often take about 90 percent of the therapy costs for cures with radon heat therapy.