Tyrone

Before we delve into an herbal therapy for degenerative arthritis, let's briefly discuss what it is. Degenerative arthritis is also known as osteoarthritis or degenerative joint disease and it is caused by the breakdown and eventual loss of the cartilage of one or more joints.

Symptoms include:

• Mild aching to severe pain and loss of mobility, especially in the evening, due to joint stiffness.
• Usually affects the weight-bearing joints the knees, hips, and facet joints (in the spine), as well as the finger joints.

Degenerative arthritis (osteoarthritis) is the most common type of arthritis and the disease is primarily associated with aging and injury. In fact, it was once called "wear-and-tear" arthritis. However, the exact cause of this condition is unknown.

Now, without further adieu, let's delve into herbal therapy for degenerative arthritis.

Introduce your joints to ginger. Historically, ginger has been used for arthritis as well as rheumatism. Ginger is said to have a powerful anti-inflammatory impact on the body. More importantly, studies have shown that patients who ate lightly cooked fresh ginger or took it in the form as a standardized ginger supplement showed improvement in swelling, morning stiffness, pain and joint mobility.

Get help from a friend in India. Boswellia comes from the boswellia serrata tree that grows in the dry hills of India. It has long been used in Ayurvedic medicine as a treatment for arthritis and inflammatory conditions. More specifically, Ayurvedic healers used the tree bark's gummy resin, called salai guggal. Nevertheless, researchers identified that the gummy resin is high in compounds known as boswellic acids, which have anti-inflammatory actions similar to NSAIDS, but boswellia doesn't seem to cause stomach irritation and bleeding problems commonly caused by these drugs. Indeed, this herb may be beneficial as an herbal therapy for degenerative arthritis (osteoarthritis).

Get help from another friend in India. Turmeric, the yellow spice from India, harbors potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. It is often included in herbal formulas designed to treat the pain and stiffness associated with arthritis. More specifically, test-tube and laboratory studies have confirmed turmeric exhibits anti-inflammatory and anti-arthritic activity. Turmeric's chief constituent is known as curcumin. In fact, one clinical trail found that a combination of boswellia, ashwagandha, turmeric, and zinc effectively treated stiffness and pain with degenerative arthritis (osteoarthritis) and, as such, this combo as an herbal therapy for degenerative arthritis (osteoarthritis) deserves a discussion with a physician that supports alternative medicine.

Get relief from willow bark. Willow harbors anti-inflammatory and pain relieving properties and it has been used in connection with degenerative arthritis (osteoarthritis). According to Phyllis A. Balch, CNC, author of the very well renowned tome "Prescription for Nutritional Healing" who states that willow bark is good for pain and inflammation.

Discover other herbal therapy for degenerative arthritis (osteoarthritis). Cayenne (capsaicin), devil's claw, and cat's claw may be helpful. Cayenne (capsaicin) is used topically to relieve pain in the joints.

Now we would be remiss if we did not share with you a few nutritional supplements that may be helpful for degenerative arthritis (osteoarthritis) sufferers.

Try this powerhouse duo, glucosamine sulfate and chondroitin sulfate. Glucosamine appears to help repair damaged cartilage caused by osteoarthritis and chondroitin sulfate is another building block of cartilage. Thousands of people claim glucosamine and chrondroitin supplements spelled RELIEF for them so we believe this duo also deserves a discussion with a physician.

Meet SAM-e. SAM-e is a substance that our bodies produce naturally by combining the amino acid methionine with adenosine triphosphate (ATP), an energy producing compound. SAM-e may help preserve the gel-like nature and shock-absorbing qualities of cartilage, which wears away in people with arthritis. In addition, there is evidence that SAM-e promotes damaged cartilage repair and regrowth. In fact, SAM-e is approved by health authorities in Germany as a first-choice prescription drug to treat osteoarthritis.

It's important that you speak with a health care professional before taking any herbal and dietary supplements.

We hope this information on herbal therapy for degenerative arthritis (osteoarthritis) was useful to you.

Cindy Amorin is the chief editor of Nutritional-Supplement-Educational-Centre.com, an information-rich site that discusses nutritional, dietary, and herbal supplements and their potential therapeutic value. She is the editor of alternative osteoarthritis treatments a section of Nutritional-Supplement-Educational-Centre discussing glucosamine sulfate and SAM-e.

For those of you interested in learning how to buy a quality herbal supplement, meet us on the web at our herbal nutritional supplement guide web page.

Hardwood is one on natures most distinctive and beautiful flooring materials. It provides a warmth and richness that few other materials can match.

Hardwood is generally installed by driving a nail or staple at a 45-degree angle through the exposed tongue of each individual hardwood board. By doing so, you not only nail the board to the subfloor, but you force the board you are nailing hard up against the previous board, removing any gaps.

If you have a concrete subfloor, this method of installation cannot be used. It should be noted that hardwood should not be installed below grade or on any concrete slab that is in direct contact with the ground. Moisture transmitted from the ground, through the slab will permeate the hardwood and cause it to buckle, warp, and possibly rot. The only hardwood that should be installed on a below or on-grade concrete slab is engineered hardwood.

If you have an above grade concrete slab and wish to install a hardwood floor it must be glued to the concrete floor. Only certain hardwood boards can be glued and the manufacturers will specify which ones within their product lines are designed for glue down installation.

Almost all hardwood flooring is manufactured with a tongue and groove. The tongue and grove provide a method whereby the boards are held level when placed side by side. However, tongue and groove is not necessarily a locking system and unlike engineered hardwood, where the tongue and groove actually interlock to each other so that the boards cannot be separated a regular hardwood board or plank does not interlock together. This creates a challenge when using the glue down installation method as it makes it difficult to squeeze boards or planks together. Any boards that have a slight warp or curve are difficult to use.

Whereas it is relatively easy for a home handyman to install a hardwood floor over a wood subfloor, it takes some additional expertise to successfully install the same floor on a concrete slab.

Many high-rise condominiums have very specific flooring rules. In most cases, these rules are designed to lessen the sound transmission from the apartment floor above to the apartment directly below. Hardwood transmits sound extremely well and if sound transmission is a concern or it is regulated it is usually necessary to install, using glue, rolled cork over the concrete before installing the hardwood. The cork acts as a buffer to the transmission of sound. In some cases, the installation cost of the cork, per square foot, can be equal to the installation of the hardwood floor itself.

Additional information on hardwood flooring.

Home improvement, remodel and landscaping information.