Making sure you get the recommended 8 hours of sleep each night is vital to overall health. RA patients may need even more than this. Research proves that RA patients that receive more sleep have less pain and fatigue. Your body needs as much rest and relaxation as possible to fight off the inflammation and heal itself. A two hour nap in the afternoon just might be your ticket to alleviating RA pain. There are many methods available to handle stress and create a more relaxing atmosphere in your life. Meditation, muscle relaxation techniques, massage therapy, and even hypnosis have all been proven effective.

In the hectic world we live in, it is often difficult to find time for yourself. It may take some juggling, but finding at least 20 to 30 minutes a day to do some deep breathing exercises, or some heavy meditation will do wonders for stress management and your overall health and well-being.  When your body is stressed, it floods your system with cortisol which irritates your whole body. It can often aggravate any underlying conditions you may have. This is especially harmful to RA patients. That is why it is so vital that you make time for relaxation and stress management. Learning to manage your stress can even reduce some of the pain you feel. You may have to experiment with several techniques to see which ones work best for you.