Managing Your Meds Anti-inflammatory drugs can certainly help you deal with arthritis pain. Be sure you talk to your doctor about taking these medications if you have the following symptoms. For a hot-wax or paraffin treatment kit, call an orthopedic supply store to check availability. Heat the wax in the heating unit, apply it to your hands, and wrap them in plastic gloves for 10 minutes. You should feel some relief, says Dr. Katz.
Professional units are also available for home use.
Just be careful when you re using it around children, cautions Dr. Katz. You don t want to do a hot-wax treatment with lots of kids around, because they could quite easily knock over the heating unit and burn themselves, he says. Immobilize the achy area. Buy a splint and use it to immobilize the joints affected by arthritis. The splint will keep the area from being bumped or moved, says David Richards, M.D., orthopedic surgeon at the Lexington Clinic Sports Medicine Center in Lexington, Kentucky.