When you're suffering from advanced arthritis, almost any kind of pain relief is welcome. Ideally, however, you should start with the least powerful type of analgesic possible and only move to something stronger when you have no arthritis pain relief.

The simplest and most basic joint pain relief is heat and cold wraps. You can take several approaches with these today, from disposable self-heating pads to long hot soaks. Ideally, moist heat should be used because it penetrates the skin better, and also opens the pores for analgesic cream should you need to move on to that. One of the best and simplest heat treatments is a hot wet towel wrapped around the painful joint: it's simple, quick, adjusts to any size, tends to stay in place, and cools quickly enough that you won't leave it on too long.

If this doesn't give you arthritis pain relief, you can move on to an analgesic cream. Most topical joint pain relief applications used today have capsaicin as the active ingredient - the same chemical that makes hot peppers hot. Scientists think this relieves pain by overwhelming the nerves, making them go numb; other ingredients in the cream help calm inflammation. When your joint stops hurting, stay off it for a while after this treatment. Just because it doesn't hurt right now doesn't mean you can't make it worse later. If you're looking for arthritis back pain relief, a massage with a good analgesic cream followed with moist heat can help both your joints and the involved tense muscles, making this an ideal treatment for anything short of slipped disks.

Perhaps the most common pain relief for arthritis is simply aspirin. Taken in low doses, aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications (acetaminophen, ibuprofen, and related drugs) work well for both relieving minor joint pain and reducing the swelling and inflammation that comes with arthritis. You can overdose on these, so don't exceed the recommended dosage or your doctor's orders, but they can be taken in conjunction with a topical analgesic and/or heat treatments.

Many people are using natural herbal remedies as an alternative arthritis pain relief, but these should only be used in combination with other drugs if your doctor knows everything you are taking. Just because a remedy is herbal does not mean it is not powerful or dangerous; remember, most drugs come from the natural world to begin with. A common natural remedy for arthritis is a glucosamine chondroitin supplement, which must be taken daily to do any good but which are very safe. For acute arthritis pain relief, common herbs used are ginger, willow bark extract (essentially a natural form of aspirin), feverfew, stinging nettle, cat's claw, and Chinese thunder god vine. If you take any of these, you should let your doctor know; some have unpleasant side effects, like osteoporosis, that can be worse than arthritis.

If none of these help, you should probably talk to your doctor about arthritis pain relief. He can prescribe you a good pain reliever. He may also be able to give you a better idea for how to treat your arthritis. If you have rheumatoid arthritis instead of the more common osteoarthritis, you won't get better without your doctor's help; this arthritis involves the immune system and must be treated with some fairly aggressive drugs.

No matter what sort of arthritis you are suffering from, be sure to seek out arthritis pain relief. It hurts, but it isn't hopeless. In many cases, treating the pain from your arthritis can help the arthritis itself get better. In the worst cases, your doctor may be able to find you mechanical arthritis aids like walkers or braces - but no matter what the treatment is, it will be better than suffering through your arthritis pain.

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