Most people will be familiar with the term arthritis. It is a type of disease that affects a person’s joints. But they often don’t know that knee pain can be caused by many conditions, including arthritis. There is much to learn about this condition, and if you have recently started to experience knee pain, it is important to know what treatments are available for you.
There are many ways to help ease knee pain and keep you moving. In this article, we will cover some of them. We will focus on conservative treatment, which means treatment that does not involve surgery. If you want to know more about surgical treatment, we have two extra articles you can visit about total knee replacement and partial knee replacement surgery.
Home management of knee pain
Knee pain is not always a severe condition, and mild cases can be treated at home because they respond very well to over-the-counter medications and home remedies.
When you have pain in your knee joint, it is essential to consider associated symptoms such as stiffness and swelling. It may also be accompanied by tenderness, warmth, or bruising. If you have several symptoms, suffered trauma in your knee, or the pain keeps coming back, you may need to talk to your doctor about it as soon as possible.
If that’s not the case, knee pain may respond to home treatment. For instance:
- Apply ice packs on the affected joint for 5-10 minutes when you wake up in the morning and every few hours.
- Take an over-the-counter medication such as ibuprofen to relieve swelling. Some patients have allergies or gastrointestinal side effects, so it is always a good idea to ask your doctor.
- Try a natural supplement called glucosamine sulfate. It helps repair damaged cartilage. This remedy is mostly helpful if you have cartilage problems, in people who exercise very often, and in older adults.
- Use heat therapy and massages to relax muscle tension and improve blood flow.