The Arthritis Gardening Solution THE ARTHRITIS GARDENING SOLUTION: How to Get Rid of Your Arthritis Aches and Pains, Sleep Better, Lose Weight and Improve Your Appearance Through the New Science of (cid:147)Comfortable Gardening(cid:148)! William Bodri, MS www.arthritisgardening.com Copyright ' 2003 William Bodri 1 The Arthritis Gardening Solution MEDICAL DISCLAIMER PAGE This book is written to serve as a general reference to help arthritis sufferers to garden without pain and injury. The information is intended for general informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice, diagnosis or medical treatment. It is not intended to be a substitute for medical advice and care. We cannot accept medical or legal responsibility for having the contents of the book considered as a prescription for any person. Some of the guidelines outlined in this book are based on time-honored, common sense approaches that anyone can use. However, before undertaking any specific recommendations outlined in this book, you are urged to consult with your doctor. Anyone who experiences ongoing pain should seek advice from his or her physician or other licensed medical practitioner. You are urged to consult a physician concerning your own situation and any physical problems or medical questions you may have. You and your physician or licensed health practitioner must take full responsibility for the use of information in this book. Copyright 2003 William Bodri All Rights Reserved in all Media Top Shape Publishing, LLC 1135 Terminal Way, Suite 209 Reno, Nevada 89502 www.arthritisgardening.com eBook design by ebookgraphics 2 The Arthritis Gardening Solution TABLE OF CONTENTS What is Arthritis? (cid:133)(cid:133)(cid:133)....................................................................................... 4 Why It(cid:146)s Essential for People with Arthritis to Exercise (cid:133)(cid:133)(cid:133)............................ 6 How and Why Gardening as a Form of Exercise will Help You with Your Arthritis.(cid:133)(cid:133)(cid:133)............................................................................................. 12 The Heart of the (cid:147)Comfortable Gardening(cid:148) Way: Proper Gardening Movements................................................................................................... 17 Special Hints and Suggestions Particularly Appropriate for Individuals Gardening with Arthritis (cid:133)(cid:133)(cid:133).................................................................... 32 How to Select the Right (cid:147)Enabled(cid:148) Gardening Tools (cid:133)(cid:133)(cid:133)................................ 38 The Best Suppliers of Arthritis Gardening Tools and Supplies (cid:133)(cid:133)(cid:133)................. 42 Some Popular Methods for Managing Arthritis Pain (cid:133)(cid:133)(cid:133)................................ 49 How to Reverse Your Arthritis Naturally Using the Nutritional and Naturopathic Approach (cid:133)(cid:133)(cid:133).......................................................................................... 54 The Very Next Steps You Should Take (cid:133)(cid:133)(cid:133).................................................... 68 Books of Special Interest to the Arthritis Gardener (cid:133)(cid:133)(cid:133).................................. 71 The Best Health Books to Help Rid Yourself of Arthritis Forever (cid:133)(cid:133)(cid:133)............. 73 Links to Other Websites of Interest (cid:133)(cid:133)(cid:133).......................................................... 74 Where to find More Information on Arthritis Pain (cid:133)(cid:133)(cid:133).................................... 78 BONUS 1: How to Save an Average of 42%, and as Much as 89% Off the Cost of Your Arthritis (and Other) Prescription Drugs BONUS 2: Use these Meditations to Help Cure Your Arthritis and Silence Your Arthritis Pain BONUS 3: Grow these Plants to Clean Your Rooms of Poisonous Air and Toxins BONUS 4: Special Edition Coupons from Arthritis Gardening Tool Suppliers 3 The Arthritis Gardening Solution WHAT IS ARTHRITIS? Arthritis is a general term that refers to a variety of rheumatic diseases that affect the body(cid:146)s joints and connective tissues with pain, swelling, stiffness and inflammation. Almost 43 million Americans have arthritis, which is about 1 out of every 6 people. It is considered the number one cause of disability in the US. The most common types of arthritis are: • Osteoarthritis • Rheumatoid arthritis • Gout • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus • Ankylosing Spondylitis • Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis • Psoriatic Arthritis Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis and affects approximately 70% to 80% of the population over age 50. It is usually accompanied by morning stiffness, the crackling of joints, pain and discomfort, and disability in varying degrees. It occurs when the linings of your joints start to degenerate and fail to maintain their normal structure. When the cartilage that protects your bones starts to wear away, this leads to pain and stiffness in the joints. Modern medicine does not have a way to treat this chronic condition except by providing symptomatic, temporary relief through the use of painkillers and NSAIDS, which are (cid:147)Non Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs.(cid:148) Osteoarthritis is responsible for an enormous consumption of painkillers and NSAID anti-inflammatories that often produce devastating long-term side effects such as ulcers and gastrointestinal bleeding. Furthermore, these drugs do not stop the progression of osteoporosis. In the long run they have actually proven to worsen the condition because they mask the symptoms of the disease, which leads to an acceleration of joint destruction. As to rheumatoid arthritis, unlike osteoarthritis it is an (cid:147)autoimmune disease.(cid:148) In rheumatoid arthritis, the body(cid:146)s immune system turns against the body and attacks its joints and tissues as if they were foreign invaders. The joints hurt, swell and stiffen so that the person suffers aches, pain and fatigue. Technically, rheumatoid arthritis is characterized by chronic inflammation and thickening of the synovial lining of joints, and the destruction of the cartilage within 4 The Arthritis Gardening Solution the joints. This is what leads to the terrible pain and inflammation. The actual causes of rheumatoid arthritis are poorly understood although they are thought to involve contributing factors such as food allergies, leaky gut syndrome, hereditary factors, and microbes. The clinical picture of rheumatoid arthritis varies from occasional chronic joint inflammation to painfully deformed joints. The disease is also often accompanied by weight loss, low-grade fever, a general feeling of soreness, and sometimes depression. Although normally a debilitating disease, rheumatoid arthritis can be managed through a nutritional approach and appropriate exercise. The slow and gentle movements of gardening can help in managing this condition. 5 The Arthritis Gardening Solution WHY IT(cid:146)S ESSENTIAL FOR PEOPLE WITH ARTHRITIS TO CONTINUE TO EXERCISE Because of the pain or damage caused to their joints, people with arthritis often find it hard to stay active. Being inactive may actually increase the problems of arthritis sufferers because when people become less fit through lack of exercise, they become weaker and less flexible. Inactivity can also lead to weight gain, high blood pressure and heart disease. The pain of arthritis also often creates feelings of stress and helplessness, and the resulting health care costs often place a financial burden on those families dealing with arthritis. If there were some way to decrease these negative factors, it would be a great boon to arthritis sufferers and their families. Luckily there is. It used to be thought that people with arthritis should avoid all sorts of exercise for fear of hurting the joints even more. People often heard that arthritis is caused by the (cid:147)wear and tear(cid:148) on joints, and so they avoided exercise. However, medical studies have shown that exercise can help arthritics by producing a variety of various physical improvements. In fact, research studies and popular experience has shown that exercise helps people with arthritis in many ways. Your joints are made to move and if you rest a particular joint day after day, the muscles that support the joint will slowly weaken. Furthermore, the tendons that attach your muscles to your bones will become less elastic which, to a person suffering from arthritis, means even more pain and stiffness. When a joint is immobilized for a period of time, it initiates a series of physical changes that result in the total destruction of the joint in about four months. Even if you don(cid:146)t have arthritis or some other joint disease, this is destined to happen. Adhesions will begin to appear on the joint and it will begin to be covered by a strange tissue growth on its surface. Tears will occur where the tendons meets the bone. Ligaments will become lax and lose their strength, the cartilage that caps the ends of bones will start to degrade (in fact it will become perforated with ulcers), and the tissues will start to suffer enzymatic degradation. 6 The Arthritis Gardening Solution Regular joint movement and exercise prevents and even reverses this downward slide. Therefore, exercise is a powerful and necessary tool for managing arthritis. Exercise helps your muscles become stronger, your tendons become more limber, and even helps your pain and joint stiffness to begin to fade. There(cid:146)s another benefit to exercise as well. When people have osteoarthritis, it affects the cartilage of their joints. Staying active, however, will provide a healthy flow of oxygen and other nutrients to the cartilage that protects joints because cartilage doesn(cid:146)t receive nutrients from the bloodstream; moving joints moves the synovial fluid that surrounds joints, and this is what supplies the joints with life giving nutrients. Of course we’re not even mentioning the fact that the 1996 Surgeon General’s Report on Physical Activity and Health said that regular, moderate physical activity is beneficial in strengthening muscles and bones, increasing flexibility and stamina, decreasing fatigue, and improving the general sense of well-being. That’s just saying that exercise is good for you in general, but especially in the ways that will impact your arthritis. More recently, a study involving stretching and rheumatoid arthritis, published in the Journal of Rheumatology, found that arthritis patients could gain definite benefit from stretching activities which would help reduce pain, improve joint mobility, increase their energy levels, and relieve stress and tension. In addition, an article in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgery confirmed that many age- related declines in musculoskeletal function can be reduced through regular physical exercise. Exercise, for those with arthritis, is empowering in so many ways. When you have arthritis, exercise is beneficial because it: • Increases muscle strength • Reduces joint pain • Reduces stiffness • Increases flexibility • Increases blood flow to the muscles and joints • Increases endurance • Helps with weight reduction • Helps combat depression • Leads to an improved sense of well being 7 The Arthritis Gardening Solution In general, people who exercise stay healthier and live longer lives than those who are inactive. While this holds for all people, it is especially true for those suffering from arthritis who are often limited by their arthritic condition. An arthritis sufferer who wishes to feel comfortable must remember five things when exercising or staying active. They must use good body mechanics that alleviate joint strain by: 1. using their body leverage 2. using good posture 3. distributing their load over stronger, larger joints 4. not staying in the same position for long periods of time 5. reducing excess body weight Research shows that many people with arthritis can safely participate in regular exercise activities. Exercise keeps their joints flexible, and arthritis sufferers are advised to do at least 30-minuites of moderate physical activity or exercise per day. There are three types of exercise particularly beneficial to arthritics that can help reduce arthritis-related pain and disability. A variety of publications, including a recent issue of Geriatric Nursing, confirmed that these three exercise types could in particular benefit arthritis sufferers: • Range of Motion or Flexibility Exercises (cid:150) (cid:147)Range of motion(cid:148) refers to the normal degree of movement that a joint can experience in any direction, so you can think of range of motion in terms of flexibility. Range of Motion exercises help relieve stiffness and maintain the normal joint mobility often lost by arthritis sufferers. If you are interested in helping your muscles stay relaxed, increasing your joint flexibility or just maintaining it, you must perform this type of exercise on a regular basis. Range of Motion exercises are gentle, low intensity exercises that you should perform every day, or every other day. Gardening provides ample opportunity to perform this type of exercise: bending and stretching to plant, weed or prune plants can help your joints stay flexible. • Strengthening Exercises (cid:150) Strengthening exercises are more vigorous than flexibility exercises because they help to increase your muscle strength. When your muscles are stronger, this increases your ability to lift, pull and push whenever you need to do so in your daily life. Strengthening exercises also assist in maintaining proper posture, which is important to arthritics. 8 The Arthritis Gardening Solution Strengthening exercises are basically resistance exercises. They ask your muscles to work a bit harder than usual, which happens when you try to lift an arm or leg against gravity or some other force. Another example of strengthening exercises is using weight machines to provide resistance to your muscles. Muscles become stronger by strengthening activities and become capable of working longer. The benefit of stronger muscles is that they protect joints affected by arthritis. Strengthening exercises can be performed every day or every other day, and the tasks of gardening provide a variety of instances where strength comes into play: carrying things, digging in the garden, hoeing, turning compost, and other clean-up activities. • Endurance, Aerobic or Cardiovascular Conditioning Exercises (cid:150) These exercises use the large muscles of your body in repetitive, rhythmic movements. This is the kind of exercise that burns calories and helps you control your weight, which is a factor for arthritics since extra weight puts extra pressure on the joints. Endurance activities help your heart and lungs stay healthy. Endurance exercise also helps improve cardiovascular fitness and with better blood circulation, your emotional mood and well being. Various medical studies have shown that aerobic exercises can actually help reduce the joint inflammation typically suffered by those with arthritis. Walking, swimming, treadmills, rowing machines, dance or bicycling, sweeping or shoveling the driveway, playing golf, walking the dog are all examples of this type of exercise. So are mowing the lawn, raking leaves, hoeing a garden, spreading mulch or pushing a wheelbarrow. As we get older, time starts to take its toll on our bodies. This is why many people over the age of 50 get osteoarthritis, which is degeneration of the joints. Our bones also suffer degradation over time, as do our muscles. By the time a 30 year old reaches 70 years of age they(cid:146)ll lose about 25% of their muscle mass, and another 25% by age 90. This means that exercise becomes more important as you age, for exercise will prevent bone loss and muscle wasting. Aerobic exercise can increase blood circulation to your arthritic joints and tissues, promote weight loss, reduce joint stress, ease pain, and slow the progression of arthritis. They(cid:146)ll help you maintain muscle balance and function. 9 The Arthritis Gardening Solution Range of motion exercises will help keep joints flexible. If you want to keep the flexibility you already have, you have to engage in range of motion exercises. But since most people hate to exercise, what daily activity will naturally produce this sort of activity? To build muscles and reverse the bone loss of osteoporosis that normally occurs with aging, strengthening exercises are important that involve resistance such as the raking, hoeing and other activities encountered in gardening. These types of activities will build muscle strength and endurance. This is just a short synopsis as to why gardening is a perfect solution for the exercise needs of arthritis sufferers. But more on that in the next chapter. We have just one more thing to go over before we conclude, which is to puncture some of the common myths about exercise and to show how they don(cid:146)t apply to gardening. Here are the 5 most common myths about exercise and why they(cid:146)re all wrong: Myth 1. Exercising makes you tired Actually, as people exercise and become more physically fit, most individuals feel they have even more energy than before due to their exercise. Regular exercise helps you reduce fatigue as well as manage stress. As you(cid:146)ll see, gardening also provides these benefits and offers a calming influence for your life. Myth 2. Exercising takes too much time It only takes just a few minutes a day to become more physically active, such as working in a garden. You just have to get up off the couch or sofa and do it. Regular exercise doesn(cid:146)t need more than 30-60 minutes several times a week. If you get into an exercise routine through gardening, then physical activity can become a natural part of your life. Myth 3. All exercises give you the same benefits Only certain types of sustained exercise can burn off calories and only certain others give you increased flexibility or muscle strength. It all depends on the 10