Walking, kneeling, stair schlepping...Knees take abuse. No wonder 20% of us report having had pain in these joints in the past 3 months. Most arises from injuries and osteoarthritis, which are more common with age. Here's how to get a leg up on the pain.
01. Ice..
Frozen peas pair nicely with swelling and pain. Whether you injure your knee or suffer an arthritis flare-up, ice molded around the joint for 20 minutes each hour brings down inflammation.
02. NSAIDS..
It's better than acetaminophen. If your stomach can take it, pop the drugs (such as ibuprofen) for 10 to 14 days. "That's more effective than stopping and starting," says Elizabeth Matzkin, surgical director of women's musculoskeletal health at Harvard Medical School.
03. Smart Exercise..
As in, definitely don't stop working out. Keeping active builds muscles that support the knee joint. Two things to avoid if you have pain: running and doing full leg extensions with a resistance machine. Better bets: walking, bicycling, and "closed kinetic chain" exercises, in which the foot stays planted (like on an elliptical trainer). (Keep moving with these 11 workout tips for achy joints.)
04. Healing Foods..
They go straight to your knees. Drinking 1% or fat-free milk helped women put the brakes on knee osteoarthritis in one study. Other research shows that people who eat fruit with vitamin C show fewer signs of heading toward OA than those who don't.
05. Weight Loss..
Every pound you lose feels like 5 fewer pounds to the knee. Exercise and a healthy diet can each help you lose, but dropping pounds by combining the two is the gold standard for relieving pain and restoring function, according to one recent study. (Get the scale moving with these 15 small changes for weight loss.)
06. Glucosamine/Chondroitin..
Some knees respond, some don't. That's why the benefit looks statistically nonexistent, on average, in studies. It's worth a try for 2 to 3 months: That's when it will help if it's going to.
07.Injections..
Go right to the source of the pain. But not too often. Corticosteroids can ease pain by reducing inflammation when injected directly into the joint. They work well but temporarily. In fact, repeated injections may deteriorate cartilage, so doctors usually limit shots to 3 or 4 times a year.
08. Knee Replacement..
For when all else fails: A surgeon resurfaces the ends of the femur and tibia (upper and lower leg bones) where they meet in the joint and replaces damaged cartilage with metal and plastic implants. It's the baby/bathwater option for sure, but it could save your stair-climbing career.
09. Platelet-Rich Plasma..
Blood gets removed, treated, and then injected into the joint with concentrated proteins called growth factors. PRP has been used by athletes for sprains; now there's early evidence it helps with knee pain. If it holds up in more studies, PRP might go mainstream in a few years.
Source:www.prevention.com
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