HELP IM GOING THROUGH A "FLARE UP" WHAT CAN I DO TO STOP THE PAIN?

A flare up is when your chronic disease symptoms start to act up or worsen. They can last days, weeks or months. For Rheumatoid Arthritis a flare up usually comes with a lot of pain! Its taken a full year to find just a few products and tricks that really help me when Im flaring up so I thought I'd share them with you! These products will work with normal arthritis and joint pain as well as RA.

1. Farm to Pharma CBD HOT CREAM

This is probably my very favorite find! You can apply this cream directly to your skin, muscles and joints. I usually feel relief in 1-2 minutes which is incredible. One pump will go a long way so this bottle will last me forever! It smells like pepermint and contains so many natural ingredients including Capsicum or pepper oil which causes the warm sensation. STORY TIME: Over the Summer I took a trip to Washington D.C with Dixie State University to attend a leadership conference. We walked over 10 miles each day, which if you have RA, you know Humidity and walking long distances is really hard on your joints. So I went to a Walgreens and bought some Capsicum oil that was supposed to help with the pain, LET ME TELL YOU I MADE A MISTAKE. MY WHOLE LEG STARTED TO BURN. I had to go buy some milk and soak it off. Okay but for real, Capsicum is really awesome in little amounts like in this CBD HOT CREAM. However, I would stay away from using large amounts of Capsicum in super humid areas during the summertime.

2. TURMERIC or CURAMIN

Not too long ago I found this hidden Jem. I'll be honest, I have always been skeptical of herbs, spices, supplements, etc. However, I was having a flare up and my angel of a mother came and brought me some of this magic. Okay its not magic but for me it felt like it. The directions say to take 3 pills a day ( and they are kinda big) I took them all at once but I'm certain now that it works better if you take 1 at each meal. After 2 days of taking Curamin my flare up disappeared. As soon as I stopped taking it, I could definitely feel my inflammation acting up again. I take this everyday to help with my pain, Its so much better for you than pain medications prescribed by your doctor. The only downside is that this brand is quite expensive. You are looking at 50-60$ a month. Ill be trying out different Turmeric brands and I'll post about it later.

3. ICE PACKS

Okay this isn't really a product, but it's a tip. If you are on an injectable biologic, chances are that you get your shot in the mail with several icepacks. I save my icepacks and wrap them in a towel. They say not to put on your body, but the towel makes it so it doesn't get too cold. Ill keep it at the foot of my bed so when I wake up in the middle of the night or in the morning with burning joints, I can ice.