I was watching the hands and arms of some of my favorite dancers on youtube last night and while so inspired and happy to watch them again, I had a moment of sincere hand lust and sadness. I have been experiencing more consistent and prolonged flare-ups of arthritis. It lasts for quite some time and is quite annoying to deal with. Bellydancing With Arthritis is definitely a new challenge for me as a dancer.
I have refused taking medications, as I want to try natural remedies first before I allow any chemical to enter my body. I know there are medications out there that work, and i am not judging those who do take them, I am only explaining that they will be a last resort for me personally.
I am sure there are many belly dancers out there who suffer from arthritis. What advice do you have? What has worked? How do you mentally cope when your fingers and hands do not want to cooperate?
I have never had my arthritis act up to this degree before. My knuckles are swollen by mid-day and throbbing by night time, and it is quite scary. As a performer at this level, a lot can be expected, and I have an acute awareness of how my hands look on video but how to remedy when your fingers are stiff from arthritis?
Has anyone reversed the effects of arthritis (wishful thinking)? Any foods that worked wonders instantly?
I open up the floor to all belly dancer and professional dancers. Please share your stories, natural remedies that made a big difference and how you have tweaked your hands and fingers in a manner that actually made a visible difference?
I am currently taking Tumeric each day, but it doesn’t seem to be strong enough as I do not feel any difference. I need a remedy that is a bit stronger and is easy to do each day as I have beyond limited time.
I love watching these gorgeous hand and fingers combinations on youtube. The hands are so soft, they seem to float through each movement effortlessly. Is there hope? I sure hope so!
If you happen to know a dancer with RA in her hands, who has found a way to create “soft hands”, please have him/her chime in as I am dying to figure this out. I am hoping that through this blog many other dancers out there who are Bellydancing With Arthritis can meet, exchange ideas and hopefully shed some positive light into this subject.
Hi Jennifer, so sorry to hear that your hands are flared up right now.
My name is Ann-Marie and I am a belly dancer in Tasmania Australia who has advanced osteoarthritis. Last winter was the worst for me with flare ups and i was in so much pain with my knees and feet that i did not realise how bad my hands had gotten. When things eased off i was mortified to see my hands looking like an older persons arthritic hands. I had always had such wonderful elegant hands before. So every morning while under the hot shower i would work at pushing one hand against the other to try to straighten my hands again; they were pretty bad. I persisted with this and eventually over time got them straight … woo hoo! and then i realised ok now they are straight i can’t bend them, lol. So ever since i have worked my hands every morning under the hot shower (and at hydrotherapy twice a week in the pool) i would straighten them, flex them wide apart and then close them tight …. eventually i could do hand undulations and floreos and so now i do them daily. This is what has helped me to keep my hands beautiful and flowing. Hope it works for you too. Keep them moving … and very warm water really helps you to do things that would be far too painful otherwise. Happy to talk anytime https://www.facebook.com/AnnMarie.Hammond64
Hello Jennifer,
I know a simple remedy that you can try for your arthritis. Try eliminating dairy products! As it causes to build up mucus and has shown to be correlated with arthritis.
I have read in previous blog posts how much you love milk,( I used to love it to 😉 ) but I have replaced it with dairy alternatives such as almond and coconut milk. As a result, my joints were less stiff (not to mention no more runny noses) and I was able to belly dance more freely with bliss and joy.
Hope this helps 🙂
-Alexa
yep i switch dot almond milk over a year ago and actually turned pescatarian then as well lol. I do eat cheese, but it is not often. Thank you for sharing that though, as some readers int he future may want to try that if they hadn’t already thought of switching off dairy as well