Pharmacist

Back Menu
Take This Know This What If Comments

 

 


Let's see what is available over the counter to help with arthritis.

Pharmacist

Goal of treatment is to reduce pain and further joint damage while improving function.

There are different approaches to arthritis management, we will take a look at over-the-counter remedies available. 

Hope you are under the care of a healthcare professional for this and you are familiar with lifestyle changes, exercise programs and so on.

With this in mind, see what is recommended over-the-counter for arthritis management below:

Woman holding the hands


Acetaminophen

You should try this first. Look for Arthritis formulations of acetaminophen.

Better to combine this with a pain relief cream like capsaicin.

If this is not working, you can then try NSAIDS like ibuprofen or naproxen.

 

NSAIDS

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

This helps with the inflammation, swelling and pain.

If you cannot take this for any reason, the next choice will be acetaminophen arthritis relief.

 

Capsaicin cream

Add this to the arthritis management especially if you have arthritis of the hand or knee.

 

Glucosamine Chondroitin

Try this if you have money to spend.

Little or no evidence that they work. They are supposed to help with the cartilage build up and prevent degradation of existing ones.

It can take up to 2 months for any benefit.

If at all you want to try these, choose the glucosamine sulfate over glucosamine hydrochloride.

At least the sulfate has shown a little benefit at a dose of 1500 mg once a day combined with chondroitin 1200 mg.

The good thing is that they are pretty safe with little or no side effects other than the cost.

 

Last updated by pharmacist on : 03/26/2018

 

 

Know this about the safe and effective use of this recommendation.
Article photo

Our disclaimer

  • Recommendation is the opinion of a registered US Pharmacist currently practicing as a community pharmacist.
  • Recommendation is not an attempt to discuss all possible self care or treatment approach to this health challenge.
  • The responsibility of the recommending pharmacist is limited to this question:
    "If a patient presents with these symptoms, what will you recommend and why?"
    It is not an attempt to publish an article on the treatment of any condition. Just what would you tell a patient who present with so and so in the usual course of your practice.
  • The pharmacist image presented in this article may or may not be the actual image of the authoring pharmacist.
    Because we insist on using articles written by currently practicing community pharmacists, these pharmacists may choose to remain anonymous especially if they are employed by an employer to avoid being pressured to recommend a particular product to drive sales.
  • Please read the policies and terms of use for self-care OTC, selfcarepharmacist.com and it's affiliates by clicking on the button below.

 

 

 

 

What if you are currently experiencing the conditions listed below?

Or if you have a question for the pharmacist?
Pharmacist


You have a question

Please contact the pharmacist. He or she will gladly answer your questions.

Contacting the pharmacist

You may have to unlock the contact form using social networking tools (facebook, twitter, google+, linkedIn) we have made available to you.

If you can't do this, you will have to wait a few seconds depending on the number of users at the time.

Contact Pharmacist


What to expect

Expect a reply as soon as possible.
If the authoring pharmacist cannot reply within 24 hours, the system will push your email to the rest of the team. Any available pharmacist will answer your question as soon as possible.

If you have a comment and not a question, please post it in the comments section for all to read.

What can't be done:

No replies to vulgar, disrespectful emails.
The system is programmed to look for certain words that are disrespectful and will automatically delete such emails. They don't get to the pharmacist. This will blacklist your email address automatically.

Email addresses or questions are not saved.
They are deleted once answered and not stored in a database. Should you need to follow up, copy the previous question(s) along with the new message for quick reference.

The pharmacist does not reply to emails that are not relevant to the topic he or she authored. They are forwarded to the author of the topic and are under no obligation to reply.

We encourage pharmacists to respond to questions but are under no obligations to answer questions.

 

 

 

 

 

No comments or ratings on this recommendation yet. How about being the first to say something?
Pharmacist

 

Leave a comment Why?


  • Let others know if the recommendation worked for you.
  • Share your treatment outcome with others.
  • Add to the recommendation.
  • Improve on the recommendation.
  • Quickest way to ask a pharmacist a question.
  • What about you answering a question?