Twenty years ago, Stephen Eddey was confined to a wheelchair, unable to walk and in constant agony due to his arthritis.
Today, he is living a normal life, completely pain-free and he credits natural medicine for helping him get his life back.
In pictures: Surprising things that cause headaches
Stephen was in his early twenties when he was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis, a form of arthritis that affects the spine and pelvis. Within months he was paralysed by the pain and spent six years in and out of hospital, relying on a wheelchair to get around.
As the years went by, his condition got so bad he decided to turn to what was then the shady “dark side” of medicine: natural health. Shelving his scepticism, Stephen went to see a naturopath, who put him on a healthy diet with surprising results.
“I had been in hospital and a wheelchair for years and nothing helped,” Stephen says. “So I went to what was then considered one of those ‘crazy’ naturopaths and he put me on a new diet.
“After about a month I thought, ‘Oh finally, these pills are starting to work after six years.’ Eventually I forgot to take them. In the past, forgetting my pills would have crippled me. In the past I had been in so much pain I would dissolve my anti-inflammatory pills in water so they would be absorbed quicker and ease my pain faster.
“But this time it didn’t make a difference when I forgot the pills so I stopped taking them all together. After about a month the new diet kicked in and the pain just went away.”
Today, Stephen says he is “100 percent fine”. He walks easily and no longer suffers from any form of joint pain. After his positive experience with a naturopath, he decided to become one himself, studying for a bachelor’s degree in complementary medicine and a master’s degree in health science. He is currently the principal of Health Schools Australia and is keen to share his experiences with others so they experience some of the relief he has found.
“People don’t know about what natural medicine can do for them,” Stephen says. “I advise them to go and see a natural health professional. What have you got to lose? You can waddle around and complain about your arthritis all day or you can do something about it.”
Arthritis Australia president emeritus Dr Mona Marabani is pleased Stephen has found relief using natural medicine, but has some words of warning for others expecting to be miraculously cured.
She says the vast majority of complementary therapies are not backed up by scientific research, and therefore are not guaranteed — or even likely— to work. Despite this, she encourages arthritis suffers to experiment with natural therapies as long as they tell their doctors.
“We at Arthritis Australia are not for or against complementary therapies, we are for anything that may help people with arthritis,” Dr Marabani says.
“We recognise that people may want to try these things but the most important thing from our point of view is that people let their doctors know because some of them may interact with medications.
“You’ve also got to be aware that you can’t expect too much of these things. Not a week goes by when there’s not a new ‘miracle cure’ being touted for arthritis and largely they’ve proven to be a disappointment.”
Dr Marabani also advises against adopting extreme diets to relieve arthritis symptoms.
“No food has been proven to improve arthritis and lots of people go to extraordinary extremes with various fad diets that claim to cure arthritis,” she says.
“The take-home message is that a healthy, balanced diet and avoiding obesity about the only things that are proven to influence arthritis.”
Related: Tea lovers warned of arthritis risk
Arthritis is commonly thought of as one disease but it is actually an umbrella term for more than 100 medical conditions that affect the musculoskeletal system.
Arthritis sufferers experience pain, stiffness, inflammation and damage to joint cartilage, which can make even the most basic tasks impossible.
An estimated 3.85 million Australians suffer from some form of arthritis, and 2.4 million of these are under the age of 65.
National Arthritis Awareness Week runs from March 27 to April 2, 2011.
For more information about arthritis, visit Arthritis Australia.
Your say: Have you had any success treating arthritis with natural medicine?
Video: An investigation into the pain-relieving effects of rosehip.
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
