If you've been diagnosed with arthritis, the treatment plan you choose will have a big impact on how you feel on a day-to-day basis. While conventional treatments can address your symptoms, they're not your only options. Here are five reasons to choose natural arthritis treatment.

1. IT ADDRESSES THE WHOLE PERSON.

Conventional therapies focus on treating a specific joint rather than treating you as a whole person. Natural arthritis treatment, on the other hand, addresses your health in a broader sense and works to help your body and mind heal themselves. For example, a conventional approach would often prescribe an antidepressant on top of a painkiller to address the stress and anxiety that a patient is experiencing as a result of pain; in contrast, a natural approach would seek to break the cycle of pain and stress by looking at your health as a whole.

2. IT LACKS MANY OF THE SIDE EFFECTS OF CONVENTIONAL DRUGS.

Conventional drugs can result in side effects ranging from relatively mild (such as an upset stomach) to more serious (and increased risk of major health issues such as cancer or a stroke), and surgery comes with its own set of risks. While natural therapies aren't without side effects, the adverse symptoms they causes are, as a whole, less severe.

3. IT DEALS WITH A WIDE RANGE OF RISK FACTORS.

Natural arthritis treatment considers a wide range of risk factors that can contribute to the development of arthritis. In addition to the factors often considered by conventional medicine (such as weight, genetics and injuries), a natural approach also looks at aspects such as nutritional deficiencies, environmental toxins and emotional trauma.

4. IT GIVES YOU AN ACTIVE ROLE IN YOUR TREATMENT.

Conventional arthritis treatment puts you in a passive role as doctors work to manage your symptoms. In contrast, natural arthritis treatment places you in an active role, not only in managing your symptoms, but in taking control of your overall health.

5. IT TREATS THE CAUSE, RATHER THAN JUST THE SYMPTOMS.

While there's nothing wrong with treating arthritis symptoms, conventional treatments, which deal only with symptoms, don't address reasons that these symptoms are present in the first place. However, natural arthritis treatment addresses the causes of arthritis pain and stiffness to treat symptoms from the source.