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Remedy For Knee Pain – Helpful Remedies For Knee Pain

Fri, Sep 30, 2011

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Remedy For Knee Pain, Helpful Remedies For Knee Pain – We bend them, kneel on them, run and jump on them daily, yet few of us give them a second thought. Knees are the most complex bodily part — and most injury-prone — joints in your body. Why? Unlike the more stable hip joint, which is a ball in a deeply-cushioned pocket, the knee joint is more exposed and more vulnerable.

Remedy For Knee Pain, Helpful Remedies For Knee Pain - As the knee straightens and bends, the kneecap slides up and down in the groove. The kneecap acts like pulley, increasing the power of the muscles attached to it. A tendon attaches the kneecap to the thigh muscles above, and a ligament connects it to the shinbone below.

What Causes Knee Pain?

Imagine, the knee cap as a puppet controlled by “strings”: muscles, tendons, and ligaments. As long as all of the strings pull in just the right way, the kneecap moves back and forth smoothly in its track. But if any string pulls not hard enough or too strongly, the kneecap is pulled out of its track and can no longer glide easily against the thighbone, which can cause pain and may even damage the kneecap.

The health and proper function of your knees depends on a number of factors including muscle strength, muscle flexibility, joint mobility, and gait pattern. If any one of these factors are compromised, you’ll be vulnerable to pain and injury.

If the supporting musculature of the knee joint is weak, more of the stress incurred by the knee will be transferred to its ligaments. Also if the major muscles that act on the knee are inflexible, it will increase the strain on the knee joint, the tendons attached to the muscles, and the muscles themselves. A lack of mobility in the hips and ankles will also increase the strain on the knee and exacerbate all of the problems listed above.

While knee problems can result from injuries such as falls, automobile accidents, and athletic injuries or diseases like osteoarthritis or arthritis. The vast majority of knee problems are caused from overstressing the knee, especially during strenuous physical activity such as running, climbing, or other repetitive, high-impact exercise. Poorly conditioned leg muscles also stress the knees.

Obesity is also one of the cause of knee pain. Carrying around a lot of excess weight puts additional pressure on the knees. Even a drop of ten to twenty pounds will make a big difference in the amount of strain that is put on the muscles of the knee. As an added incentive, the changes in diet and exercise required to effect a weight decrease will also provide a number of other health benefits for the body, including an increased ability to fight off inflammation in the joints.

Remedy For Knee Pain, Helpful Remedies For Knee Pain – Pain in the knees is particularly a serious problem faced by the obese as well as older people. Sometimes it becomes so severe that it incapacitates people in bed. Age related wear and tear of the knee — known as Osteoarthritis(OA) is mainly responsible for this. Although common, many people are not aware of the solutions that are currently available. Proper medication, physiotherapy, lifestyle modification and sometimes surgery can help stop or lessen the pain.

In Bangladesh, approximately 10 million people are suffering from Osteoarthritis. Women suffer more — 2 out of 3 women over the age of 65 have osteoarthritis. More than half of all men over the age of 65 have osteoarthritis. With the increasing longevity of life, the problem will multiply itself within a very short time. Osteoarthritis occurs when the knee undergoes age-related wear and tear around its joint. Almost every one is affected by it to some extent, as they grow older.

Osteoarthritis can also occur in weight bearing joints mainly hips and ankles. This form of arthritis slowly and gradually breaks down the overlying bony ends which forms the joint. With osteoarthritis, the smooth surface of bones becomes rough and pitted. In advanced stage it may wear away completely. Without the normal gliding surface the bones, eroded bones grind against one another causing pain, swelling, restricted knee motion, crispy sound inside the joint and sometimes bowing of the knees.

In addition to age related wear and tear, athletes, laborer and highly physically active persons often stress their knee joints that lead to prolong wear and tear, which places them at increase risk of developing arthritis.

Arthritis has been linked with joint injuries and damaging events like fractures and infections that can harm the internal tissues of the joints. Individuals who experience repeated knee injuries are much more likely to develop osteoarthritis as they get older.

Lack of exercise can weaken the thigh muscles that support the knee joints, eventually making the under-used joint stiff, painful and dysfunctional. Lastly, heavy individuals are at increased risk of developing osteoarthritis, because their knees become strained by excessive weight. Research indicates that people who are overweight as young adults are likely to develop osteoarthritisof the knees as they age.

“When and how would I understand that I have osteoarthritis?” is a common question I face in my clinical practice. People start limping and the knee may become swollen with fluid. There may be a reduction in the range of motion of the affected knee — the knee bends less than normal and may lose the ability to completely straighten out. Finally, as the condition becomes worse, the pain persists all the time and may even keep you awake at night.

Repeated knee pain is the main symptom. It tends to be worse after activity. Knee stiffness occurs after rest, the joint feels stiff and it hurts to get going after sitting for any length of time. In time, the joint gets stiffer and you are unable to fully straighten or bend the joint. Knee swelling is also common especially after excessive activity. Knee bowing is seen if osteoarthritis is severe, your joint may become deformed what we call bowlegged.

Most people suffering from osteoarthritis can be treated by non-surgical means which include pain killer, physiotherapy, life style modification and injection in to the knees. Unfortunately if the medical measures are not successful in relieving pain, surgery may be considered. Among the surgical options, arthroscopic washout of the knees is relatively new method in Bangladesh used to relieve pain for sometimes.

When medical measures and arthroscopic washout fail; knees become progressively worsened both in pain and deformity, total knee joint replacement are the better option which is now being done in state-of-the-art hospitals under skilled care of experienced Knee Consultants.

While exercise may seem like a painful way to deal with knee pain, the fact is that stretching and working the muscles of the knee can have a beneficial effect in many cases. Strengthening the hamstrings with simple stretching exercises will help prevent the knee from freezing up. Since the knee depends a great deal on strong ligaments and muscles to operate properly, simple limbering exercises that are not done in excess can have a beneficial effect on knee pain. Before beginning any type of knee pain regimen, however, be sure to consult your physician and make sure the steps you have in mind are right for your condition.

Remedy For Knee Pain, Helpful Remedies For Knee Pain - Regular and correct exercising will help to strengthen the knee and also make it more flexible. Here are some easy exercises that you can do at home:

Knee extensions exercise

Sit on a chair and keep a stool in front of you.
Place one leg on the stool. Hold the sides of the chair and gently press your knee toward the floor.
Hold the position for a few seconds and repeat again and then change legs and repeat the same way.
Do this ten times on each leg.
Now remove the stool and sit on the chair Raise one leg at a time and bring it down.
When the leg is lifted hold it for a few counts before bringing it down.
Repeat this exercise ten times on each leg and do it at least three times a day as it will help strengthen the knees.
Again while sitting on the chair; take a long towel and place it below the sole of one foot.
Gently pull the cloth from both ends so that your leg lifts up.
Hold this pose for a few counts and repeat on the other leg.
The leg must be raised not more than four inches off the ground. Again using the towel place it on the sole of the foot.
Hold the towel from the ends and try to straighten the knee by lifting the leg. Once the leg is outstretched push the sole of your foot on the towel for much as you can.
Repeat five to six times on each leg.

Remedy For Knee Pain, Helpful Remedies For Knee Pain - If these exercises are done regularly and correctly you will find tremendous improvement in your knee joints and the pain and swelling will be reduced considerably. As your knee joints get more flexible you can increase the amount of exercise you are doing.

Source: The Daily Star, by Dr. M. Ali

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