Causes, prevention, pain relief from osteoarthritis
The dehydration - osteoarthritis link is as strong as the other arthritis links.
Learn how dehydration causes osteoarthritis, how to prevent osteoarthritis easily & how to get osteoarthritis pain relief or “cure.”
How dehydration causes osteoarthritis
Dehydration causes osteoarthritis in 2 stages:
1) Other pages on this site have explained how the cartilage between joints is maintained & repaired only if there is adequate water available. Cartilage is mostly water.
Even under mild dehydration, available water goes to the most high priority systems like the heart & brain. So, lower priority areas are the first to dehydrate. The cartilage is one such part.
Cartilage dehydration is the first stage in osteoarthritis.
2) When there is not enough cartilage between joints, joints rub against each other produce friction. This friction leads to the inflammation which is the hallmark of osteoarthritis.
How to prevent osteoarthritis
The answer is easy. Be sure to stay hydrated at all times.
Moreover, prevention of osteoarthritis is much wiser than curing it because rebuilding cartilage is a long, tedious process.
Click on the navigation tab “How much water” for helpful guidelines on drinking enough water to maintain health.
Be sure to add ¼ tsp of sea salt to every 1 - 2 quarts of water for optimal benefits.
Especially, if there is a family history of arthritis, be sure to make healthy hydration one of your health priorities.
Osteoarthritis pain relief
As suggested above, it is best to prevent osteoarthritis than try to manage its pain or curing it.
However, if you are dealing with osteoarthritis, you should immediately start assuring you are drinking enough water.
Immediate increase in water intake may offer osteoarthritis pain relief quickly. But, it is not certain. It is very possible that it will take weeks or months for the extra water to help build cartilage.
So, especially with osteoarthritis, be patient. Continue meeting your goal for water each day.
In addition to breaking the dehydration osteoarthritis link, two other strategies should be incorporated into your plan.
Obviously, be sure you are drinking lots of healthy water. Invest in a water filter to keep contaminants from mucking up your efforts. Also, filtered water will taste better encouraging you to drink more.