Which arthritis strategy is right for you?

Now that you have chosen your goals, it's time to formulate your arthritis strategy — the treatment approaches for achieving those goals.

As the manager of your arthritis, you should select the approaches that have the best chance of being successful for you.

You may want a strategy that combines several different approaches, all of which may help you attain your long-term goal. Even if one approach is only modestly successful, others may prove more effective.

• In devising a strategy, the arthritis patient obviously has many approaches to choose from. Arthritis often responds to some form of drug treatment.
• Alternative approaches, such as dietary supplements or perhaps mind-body treatments, also do the trick for some patients.
• Exercise helps most types of arthritis; surgery is an option when disability is severe.

• With your goals in mind, think about the treatment approaches that might help you attain them.
• As CEO of your arthritis, feel free to make use of consultants as you narrow down your list of treatment options.
• Your doctor, family members and friends may all have opinions on what is most likely to work for you.
• Just remember that you are the one who should have the final say on the treatments you use.
• Treatments you'll stick with. Try to choose treatment approaches that you're likely to stick with. If you've always hated exercise, take up walking or swimming.
• Or you may be enthusiastic about a cognitive approach that includes relaxation, guided imagery or other techniques.
• Once you've decided on some possible approaches, write them down in the order in which you'd be most likely to use them and organize your list into a weekly plan.