For this month’s Press Pause feature, complementary healthcare practitioner Kate Smith, Founder of Slow You Down Wellbeing in Norfolk, has this advice for those battling with osteoarthritis and perimenopause
Hello fellow Folk Features readers. I often receive emails and social media DM’s asking for complementary therapy tips and advice. In being asked to write an article just for you, I immediately knew I would like to share this particular ‘ask’ from the Slow You Down Wellbeing postbag in the hope my positive suggestions will help all those who battle with osteoarthritis flare ups coupled with the ups and downs of menopause.
“I have osteoarthritis. I was diagnosed 2 years ago on my 48th birthday. Over the past 12 months, I have noticed the joint ache, fatigue and tiredness has intensified. I have been told by my GP the OA symptoms can be exacerbated by perimenopause? If this is the case (and it certainly feels like it is), do you have any complementary therapy tips to help when I experience a bad flare up? Also, how can I deal with the brain fog? I get so frustrated and if I’m honest, a little down when my mind gets in a muddle.”
I say…
I can absolutely relate to your situation. I am a paid-up member of the perimenopausal ‘experience’ and also diagnosed with osteoarthritis. My joints make regular sounds reminiscent of the intense clicking of knitting needles and I am forever going into a room forgetting what I went in there for in the first place. Tea bags are often found in the fridge, whilst the milk quite happily sits on the shelf amongst washing detergent and soap! Sound frustratingly familiar?
My advice…
1. Please be gentle on yourself. This is natural and extremely common. Many of my clients talk to me about this very same topic. In my mindful mardle sessions, we talk about befriending each situation as it happens; accepting you are unable to control the forgetfulness but realising you can control how you react to it. For some it may be the repeating of a positive reminder or mantra to yourself to calm any internal anger you feel. For others, a simple laugh off, of the absurdity of the situation, helps to lower the heightened emotion that often leads to tears. How funny it is to find the car keys in the dog bowl! You get the gist.
2. Fatigue/tiredness crossover symptoms. I don’t know about you but since the clocks went back, the afternoon slump now makes an appearance not long after I’ve sat down for my lunchtime sandwich! I have long suspected I am one of the many that experience Seasonal Affective Disorder in these winter months. What has helped to give my mood a boost at this hibernal time and aid my focus is SAD light therapy. After reading many reviews, I chose the Beurer TL50 medically certified light therapy lamp. I ensure it is turned on first thing in the morning to gain the best results and it sits on my windowsill mimicking the burst of light you get from a summer’s day. Light therapy is commonly recommended by the NHS to support anyone who experiences Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).
3. When flare ups make an appearance, I try not to initially reach for the hard-hitting medication. Instead, I opt for hot water bottles and heated wheat bags (you know, the ones you pop in the microwave). These heat-filled cases of joy are wrapped around me 24/7 from September to April. Water therapy has always been a constant for me to curb the intense arthritic pain. An indulgent hot tub session or warm bath with mineral salts before bed aids a restful night’s sleep (Norfolk Natural Living has a ‘Made in Norfolk’ range of bath soaks), whilst swimming is also my aquatic call to action. Wild swimming is a favourite go-to of mine and in calming the joints, swimming in rivers and seas also calms the mind as I swim immersed in nature.
Kate Smith, Founder of Slow You Down Wellbeing, offers bespoke VIP Wellbeing Experiences. She is a Harley Street trained massage practitioner; a published wellbeing columnist and a wellbeing consultant. Visit slowyoudownwellbeing.co.uk. If you would like to ‘Ask Kate’ about anything ‘complementary therapy’, contact Folk Features.
Featured image of Kate Smith – supplied
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