The importance of relaxation in controlling and treating disease in general has only recently been recognized throughout the medical industry, yet its implementation still lags and the general public does still not understand its effectiveness. Relaxation techniques, especially those involving meditation, have been seen as a bunch of "mumbo jumbo" for many years, until the findings of scientists and doctors that showed immense benefits to this practice became more prevalent. Relaxation techniques have a definite place in the healing process of the body, and with arthritis the case is no different. With certain types of arthritis, the importance of relaxation is increased, since stress and emotional disposition play a large part in them.

Prayer is a form of relaxation and meditation if you are spiritually or religiously inclined that also works wonders. Either following a minister or someone else leading prayer, or formulating your own inspirational prayer, you can pull upon the comfort of God as you see him taking your pain away. Again mental and physical benefits are realized from such a practice.

You may also consider hypnosis as an option. Hypnosis is simply a guided meditation that allows you to access the power of your subconscious mind through a guide called a hypnotist, who is either a trained psychologist, psychiatrist, counselor, or social worker. Images of a man with a shiny gold stopwatch putting you under a trance to make you perform unusual acts or tell deep dark truths are more the scripts of Hollywood movies than what real-life hypnotism is. In the case of hypnosis for pain management, hypnosis is nothing more than an assisted guided imagery, such as described above. The only difference here is that you have someone to help you through the steps of relaxation and meditation on your image.