Many people are struggling with knee pain for various reasons worldwide. It limits your functionality and range-of-motion and reduces your quality of life if you are no longer performing your regular day-to-day activities. However, utilizing non-invasive knee pain home remedies may allow you to reduce your pain without the hassle of costly medical expenses or undergoing the painful side effects of pain medications.
This article will tackle some essential aspects of knee pain and some knee pain home remedies without involving any invasive procedures.
The Basics of Knee Pain
Your knees are among the most vital joints in your body, supporting your weight and providing stability to help maintain your body moving. It includes bones (patella, femur, kneecap, and the tibia), and soft tissues (cartilage and ligaments). They function together to hold the bones and muscles unitedly and keep our knees moving.
Types of Knee Pain
There are two common conditions of knee joint pain, which are divided into mainly two groups, acute injuries and wear-and-tear.
Acute Injuries
Acute injuries usually affect any part of your knee and can happen abruptly, leading to acute knee pain. A ligament can tear and generate mechanical problems such as knee pain. The bones located in your knees can break due to traumatic fractures such as car accidents, falls, or even through single twisting while casually walking.
Wear-and-tear injuries
Wear-and-tear injuries occur over time and can lead to chronic knee pain. Arthritis is one of the most common types of this injury, where the cartilage becomes thinner, leaving no enough space between the two surfaces of the bone in your knee. Other wear-and-tear injuries are often linked with sports activities or occupations that involve the knees – such as carpentry, or gardening, which requires a lot of kneeling.
What Can You Do About It?
The causes of knee pain are varied, and it's crucial to pay close attention to your symptoms. What triggers the pain? Does the pain originate from the outside or in the inner knee? Is it constant or sudden pain? Are you experiencing other symptoms such as clicking or swelling?
These questions are often asked when enduring unforeseen mild to severe knee pain. Since most minor knee pain cases aren't predictable, we always resort to medications to ease the pain quickly. But it can be costly sometimes. You may wonder, is there any other ways to alleviate the pain without the need for prescription medicines?
9 Effective Knee Pain Home Remedies
"Pain medications mask the pain for a little while, but they don't do anything to help increase the function or health of that joint," according to Sagar Parikh, M.D., an interventional pain medicine specialist at JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute.
Therefore, we listed nine cost-efficient and practical knee pain home remedies you can do at home to alleviate minor knee pain.
If your knee pain is severe and unbearable, make sure to ask for your doctor's prescription. Home remedies may not be effective for everyone, as we all have diverse coping mechanisms for pain.
Give it a rest
Stop any activities as much as possible to allow your knee to recover and give it time to breathe fully.
Avoid triggering the pain
Try to avoid the activities that may trigger the onset of pain. For instance, if you're enduring the pain while doing lunges or squats, you may need to avoid those specific movements. If you find it challenging to go downstairs, do one step at a time. Overall, avoid such activities that require a sudden shift of direction on your knees.
Do some stretching
Bear in mind that you will need to strengthen the joint through exercise after the initial inflammation goes away. Light stretching exercises will help improve your range of motion in the affected area(s).
Ice Compress
Reduce the swelling of the knee by applying ice to the affected area. Using an ice pack at home can ease the pain and swell at the same time. You can also opt for a compression bandage to compress the knee and lessen the swelling as well.
Heat Therapy
A similar concept applies to heat therapy, just as using a cold compress for knee pain. Heat promotes better blood circulation and oxygen flow throughout your body, at the same time, reducing inflammation. You can try these at home using heating pads or having warm baths.
Wear the Right Shoes
Switching to a more comfortable and supportive pair of shoes can be beneficial, especially for those who endure ankle, foot, and knee pain, associated with joint inflammation. A couple of shoes that fully adapt and provide adequate support can improve wear-and-tear on your knee joints, thus, relieving the pain.
Maintain Posture
People working on their desks all-day or any related jobs that require you to sit for an extended period may cause stress to your knees and back. Maintain a proper posture to reduce added pressure to your joints. You can also incorporate a seat cushion to your office chair to increase blood flow to your legs and feet while improving spinal alignment.
COMFYCENTRE® Orthopedic Seat Cushion
Specifically designed with ultra-elastic materials, this orthopedic seat cushion is proven to relieve any lower body pain. It is firm enough to keep your legs in proper elevation the whole night, therefore preventing any nerve strains.
Lose Weight
Knee pain is particularly common in overweight people as it adds extra pressure to your joints. Incorporate a healthy, balanced diet into your daily habit, combined with strengthening exercises to help shed some excess weight.
Elevate to Alleviate
Elevating the affected leg can improve the blood flow to the knee while alleviating the swelling, inflammation, and discomfort.
Lie down with your knee and calf held up with a stack of pillows or a knee pillow specifically designed to provide support and comfort between or under your knees. Ensure that the injured leg is elevated above your heart. Sitting down can be less effective since this form tends to keep the knee positioned below your heart.
COMFYCENTRE® Knee Pillow With Strap
This knee pillow with strap is ideal for side sleepers who move more often at night. The strap keeps the knee pillow in place and prevents the knees from continuously pressing together while sleeping.
Takeaway
Living with persistent knee pain can have a significant impact on your daily life. Everyone who endures mild to severe knee pain has different needs, depends on the nature of their condition. In most cases, knee pain improves and recovers with home remedies without excessive medications - such as a balanced diet, exercise, ergonomic equipments and proper rest. But if it doesn't get better after several weeks, see a doctor to have you checked and receive appropriate treatment.
