3 natural remedies for joint issues

Joint pain can be debilitating if you leave it untreated, but thankfully these natural remedies should help you soon get back in the game.

• Ocean fish such as mackerel, salmon and herring provide omega-3 fatty acids that ease swelling and pain. Don't like fish? Pick up supplements.
• Cross eel off your menu. It contains arachidon acids, which allow pain to occur in the body.
• Vitamin C has a positive influence on the course of the disease. It is particularly abundant in citrus fruits, seabuckthorn, kiwis and bell peppers.
• Vitamin E (abundant in plant oils) intercepts so-called oxygen radicals, which form in greater quantities with acute inflammatory joint diseases.
• Avoid coffee, alcohol and nicotine.
• Didn't your mother tell you to eat your veggies? And isn't she always right? Some studies indicate that rheumatoid arthritis can be positively impacted by a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, salads, whole grain and reduced-fat milk products — but you should consume limited amounts of fat in the form of meat, hot dogs, fatty cheese, butter and cream.
• Slim down. Being overweight can enhance damage to your joints.
• Take up tai chi, or Chinese shadowboxing. When practiced correctly, it relaxes all joints.

Gout is a metabolic disease. When your kidneys become less effective at flushing away excess uric acid, the acid begins to crystallize in your joints, tendons and muscles, leading to swelling, pain and tenderness. To guard against gout, eat ocean fish twice a week (but not eel), reduce the amount of meat you eat (no organ meats and consommés), and nosh on lentils, peas and red and white beans only in moderation. It's best to pass up alcohol and sweets entirely — both considerably slow your ability to excrete uric acid.

• Drink plenty of water and herbal tea to help your kidneys flush out uric acid.
• Birch leaf tea acts as a diuretic, helping to flush out uric acid. It also contains salicylate — the same pain-relieving compound found in aspirin. Pour 250 millilitres (one cup) of boiling water over 10 millilitres (two teaspoons) of birch leaves, steep for 10 minutes and strain. Drink 500 millilitres (two cups) a day. Note: do not use if you have reduced heart, kidney or bladder function.
• Horsetail tea (seven millitres/one heaping teaspoon in 250 millilitres/one cup of water) helps relieve gout pain.
• Try mud and sulfur bath mixtures (from a pharmacy or health food store) in body temperature water to alleviate pain. Do this twice a week.
• Rub painful joints with camphor spirits (a solution of camphor and rubbing alcohol).

1. Soak a cotton cloth in hot water and wring it out.

2. Mix rosemary, marjoram and lavender oils in equal proportions, and put 10 drops of the mixture onto the cloth.

3. Wrap the hot oil pack around your afflicted joints once a day for about 10 minutes.

4. Repeat the application several times as needed.