Living with arthritis of the spine can be painful and make even simple everyday tasks seem difficult. Arthritis of the spine, commonly referred to as osteoarthritis of the spine, is a condition in which the facet joints progressively breakdown and deteriorate over time. This happens as a result of the natural aging process — as we age, our joints slowly weaken due to the daily wear and tear they experience. This wear and tear can cause the cartilage that lines the joints to break down, leaving the joints vulnerable to inflammation, stiffness and pain.

While food cannot cause arthritis of the spine, your diet can greatly affect the amount of inflammation you experience as a result of this condition. There are certain foods you can eat to minimize the inflammation. These include:

• Turmeric
• Walnuts
• Ginger
• Olive oil
• Berries
• Apples
• Cruciferous vegetables such as kale and cauliflower
• Fish oil

Additionally, as part of your detox, you can also include an herbal tea made up of turmeric, cinnamon and ginger to further help flush your body of any stored toxins and promote decreased inflammation. Of course, you should also consider implementing other conservative treatment methods alongside dietary changes to alleviate your symptoms of arthritis of the spine. Your primary care doctor will be able to guide you in the right direction and make suggestions as to which conservative treatment options are best for treating your condition.

If you have been diagnosed with spinal arthritis and have not found relief from conservative treatments after weeks or months of trying them, contact USA Spine Care to learn about the minimally invasive spine surgeries we perform to treat this and many other common spine conditions. When you do, be sure to inquire about receiving a free MRI review,* which we can perform to help determine if you are a candidate for our outpatient procedures.