Relapsing Polychondritis Doctor in Seattle WA

A Naturopathic Approach to Relapsing Polychondritis

Oftentimes with Relapsing Polychondritis, people suffer for years before being diagnosed. Even then, conventional medicine offers no cures and few effective treatments - most often utilizing methods that create more issues than they resolve.

Relapsing Polychondritis is a chronic disease that can cause inflammation and excruciating pain in any part of your body where your cartilage is attacked and becomes inflamed. For some, Relapsing Polychondritis causes mild symptoms, while for others, Relapsing Polychondritis can be more severe with more frequent flares. Presently, there is no cure for Relapsing Polychondritis, but for many, it can be effectively managed.

At Water’s Edge Natural Medicine, our naturopathic approach to Relapsing Polychondritis can help you manage symptoms and make life with Relapsing Polychondritis easier. Compile your list of symptoms, and call Water’s Edge Natural Medicine in Seattle, WA at (206) 966-4522 or contact us online.

What is Relapsing Polychondritis?

Relapsing Polychondritis is a rare disease that causes inflammation of cartilage in your body – particularly in your throat, eyes, joints, nose or ears – even the aortic heart valve. It is believed to be an autoimmune disease – where your immune system attacks your own body instead of fighting disease, illness or infection as it normally would do.

An autoimmune response typically becomes chronic and can impact any part of your body, but with Relapsing Polychondritis, it most commonly attacks your cartilage throughout your body. It comes and goes in flares, and the severity and frequency of the flares varies among individuals. Flares can last several days or even weeks before subsiding.

These recurrent flares can lead to eventual deterioration of the cartilage in various parts of the body, including:

Ear - Middle ear inflammation can cause obstruction of the eustachian tube, and recurrent flares can result in hearing loss. Nasal chondritis can eventually result in cartilage collapse at the bridge of the nose which could result in something as mild as nasal congestion or as severe as a saddle nose deformity.

Joints - Inflammation of joints can occur, with pain and swelling similar to arthritis.

Respiratory - Bronchial and larynx cartilage involvement may lead to speech or breathing complications.

Heart - Valve abnormalities may occur.

Kidneys - Relapsing polychondritis may also cause kidney inflammation and dysfunction.

Relapsing Polychondritis Causes and Risk Factors

Autoimmune diseases are known to cluster in families, as well as in individuals – if you have one autoimmune disease, you may be prone to have multiple ones. If you have been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, it is critical to educate yourself about causes and triggers of autoimmune disease in general – and the different types of autoimmune conditions that can develop.

The cause of Relapsing Polychondritis is unknown, and researchers are finding new clues every day and continue to study what might trigger flares of Relapsing Polychondritis. What researchers understand is that it is a complex autoimmune disease – and like other autoimmune conditions, there can be multiple risk factors and causes.

In RP, some theorize that a triggering event, possibly an infection, sets off a reaction by the immune system, which unleashes an attack on the body's cartilage. Some individuals may have a genetic makeup that makes them more prone to this reaction, but the disease does not appear to run in families. This disorder affects men and women equally.

Many autoimmune conditions like Relapsing Polychondritis occur in the second half of adulthood after immune function has begun to decline, and RP is true to form, most often striking in middle age.

Symptoms of Relapsing Polychondritis

People with Relapsing Polychondritis, when examined side by side, will almost always not have the same symptoms. That is precisely why a physician with experience, training and expertise treating Relapsing Polychondritis is so essential. Relapsing Polychondritis can affect so many different parts of the body, it can cause a wide range of symptoms - and most people with Relapsing Polychondritis won’t have all of the potential symptoms.

Relapsing Polychondritis symptoms can change over time and can come and go. The most common signs and symptoms of Relapsing Polychondritis often include:

• Inflamed cartilage
• Redness, swelling, and pain
• Shortness of breath or wheezing
• Tissue damage that leads to poor functioning or deformity

Complications may develop in your large and small joints, rib cage, heart, lungs, blood vessels, kidneys and eyes.

Diagnosing Relapsing Polychondritis

You probably are asking if these symptoms mean you have Relapsing Polychondritis. The answer is: not necessarily. The above symptoms are not exclusive to Relapsing Polychondritis and can be symptoms of any number of medical conditions.

Your symptoms – taken in context – only inform a possible diagnosis of Relapsing Polychondritis. Because the inflammation comes and goes and the symptoms are not specific to Relapsing Polychondritis, diagnosis of RP is no simple matter.

Initially, symptoms usually involve the ears or nose – exhibiting pain and redness – which may lead to a diagnosis of infection and treatment with antibiotics. When the condition spontaneously improves, whatever treatment was prescribed is thought to have solved the problem.

Because the severity of the inflammation, the tissues involved, and frequency of flares varies so much, it may take many flareups of RP before arriving at a diagnosis. Once diagnosed, to assess the severity develop a treatment protocol right for you may require additional visits and testing.

If you have symptoms that have not been successfully diagnosed or treated and you suspect you might have Relapsing Polychondritis, let Water’s Edge Natural Medicine in Seattle help you arrive at a correct diagnosis and restore healthier immune function.

Treatment for Relapsing Polychondritis

Although there is currently no cure for Relapsing Polychondritis, it can be effectively treated. At Water’s Edge, our naturopathic approach to Relapsing Polychondritis – as well as many other autoimmune diseases - can change your life. Our goal is to enable you to overcome autoimmune disorders like Relapsing Polychondritis, utilizing targeted testing and accurate diagnoses that will help us develop a personalized treatment plan to maximize real healing and relief for your symptoms.

While conventional medicine treats symptoms, utilizing anti-inflammatory medications, corticosteroids and immune-suppressive medications, naturopathic medicine takes a different approach. We look at the person as a whole, assessing factors ranging from hormones to digestive health.

Alternative and integrative testing may be performed to inform our approach to treating Relapsing Polychondritis. Our goal is to utilize healing regimens free from the common side effects that come with conventional treatment options. Since your immune system resides in your gut, healing any issues with your digestive system will be an important step, but there are many other approaches, including:

• Medical nutrition plan to avoid foods that trigger Relapsing Polychondritis
• Targeted vitamins, supplements or IV vitamin therapy
• Identifying and addressing food allergies and sensitivities, as well as environmental allergies that may be contributing factors
• Herbal remedies
• Identifying and removing environmental toxins in your life
• Stress management and restoring adrenal function
• Acupuncture, which can be helpful with many autoimmune conditions
• Medical weight loss or weight gain plan, together with a customized healthy movement regimen that is appropriate for your physical condition, to help counter the weight gain or weight loss that can occur with Relapsing Polychondritis
• Other recommended lifestyle modifications

If you are battling Relapsing Polychondritis, working with a naturopathic doctor who understands the complexity of autoimmune diseases like Relapsing Polychondritis – as well as the complex array of treatment options that can maximize a healthy immune response – is important.

It’s also just as important that your treating physician is familiar with natural health approaches and understands not only the right treatments, but which ones should be avoided. Certain supplements may increase the immune system response and trigger Relapsing Polychondritis symptoms. It may also be advisable to avoid certain triggers that can make symptoms worse, but remember not everyone has the same reaction. Everything about Relapsing Polychondritis is specific to the individual and must be evaluated individually. At Water’s Edge Natural Medicine, the course of treating Relapsing Polychondritis and its symptoms will vary from patient to patient. We will create a treatment plan designed specifically for you.

What to Expect from Your Consultation

We ask that you compile a complete list of your symptoms, medical conditions and medications before your first consultation. We will review your medical history, family medical history, lifestyle factors, current and past medications and other health-related issues.

We may employ certain blood tests to rule out other conditions that may be causing your symptoms. We may test your hormone levels – especially thyroid hormones, which have increasingly been linked to autoimmune conditions and can have similar symptom profiles.

Request your consultation today!

If you have been diagnosed or have symptoms of Relapsing Polychondritis and have questions, we invite you to reach out to us. We can help, and we’re happy to answer any questions you may have about your symptoms and our methods to restore balance and bring you back to optimal immune function.

Compile your list of symptoms, and call Water’s Edge Natural Medicine in Seattle, WA at (206) 966-4522 or contact us online.

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