What Causes Inflammation?
Inflammation is the body's natural response to injury. It is characterized by redness, swelling, heat and pain. If you have a cut that becomes infected, the swelling, redness and discomfort is due to inflammation of the tissues surrounding the injury. When a joint becomes inflamed, you may experience any or all of these symptoms. This can prevent the normal use of the joint and cause it to lose the ability to function normally.

Understanding Arthritis Medications
Once you have been diagnosed with arthritis, your doctor will review the best course of treatment and pain management. This will likely include medication. Medications for arthritis are divided into two categories: those that control symptoms (pain, stiffness and swelling), and those that control the disease process itself.

Medications That Control Symptoms
These include NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) and pain relievers. They make you feel better by reducing the degree of discomfort experienced, but do not inhibit or modify the actual disease. For this reason, they cannot prevent the damage associated with arthritic conditions such as bone and joint impairment. These formulations normally take a few days to a few weeks to control pain effectively.

Medications That Control the Disease
These medications help prevent the joint damage that can increase discomfort and lead to deformities. They include a category of drugs known as DMARDs (disease-modifying anti- rheumatic drugs).

Arthritis control medications help to keep your joints healthy and working as efficiently as possible for you.

These medications may take anywhere from six weeks to six months to begin to take effect.

Managing Medications
To control arthritis and its symptoms, doctors often combine pain medications with drugs that reduce inflammation and slow the progression of the disease process. You may be precribed pain relief medications, or be able to use over-the-counter analgesics to control discomfort. Your doctor may prescribe cortisone, NSAIDs or DMARDs to slow the progression of your disease.

Whatever medications have been prescribed for you, their ability to control pain and arrest the disease process depends very much on how you manage them. (Your London Drugs pharmacist will be happy to assist you in this respect.)

To maximize the effectiveness of the drugs you are taking, you will need to fully understand your condition and how your medications work to help you. The Arthritis Society produces a number of excellent publications and you may borrow an informative videotape from the pharmacy department of London Drugs. You may also schedule a personal appointment with a Patient Care Pharmacist who will help you better understand your condition and how best to manage your medications to control it. (Please contact your local London Drugs pharmacy to schedule your appointment.)

Introducing A New Approach to Pain Control
Biostructural Medicine Recovery™ addresses the inflammation and breakdown of tissues at cellular level. The formulation works by increasing cell stability and by decreasing the cells’ exposure to damaging compounds. This results in healthier connective tissues and associated relief of many painful conditions including arthritis and autoimmune diseases.

The biological components of Biostructural Medicine Recovery™ are supported by several clinical studies and the formula itself has received many testimonials as an effective pain reliever. Since the product works to modify your body’s responses, it may take up to six weeks for you to experience relief, with most people noticing benefits within a month.

Biostructural Medicine Recovery™ does not interfere with standard arthritis medications and may be used on its own or to enhance your current therapy. For further information on this product, please speak to your London Drugs pharmacist.

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