One of the most common joint diseases is joint disease. This disease mainly affects the elderly.
What is Knee Osteoarthritis?
Osteoarthritis is a degenerative disease of the joints, involving the gradual destruction of cartilage inside the joints. The patient has severe pain in the joints, limited mobility. Such people find it difficult to walk and perform standard household chores. As cartilage wears away, joints lose mobility.
The main symptom is pain during certain activities:
- When going up the stairs.
- When lifting the load.
- While squatting.
- If you suddenly stop after a long walk.
The pain may be worse at bedtime and the knee swelling at night. There may also be a buildup of fluid in the joint.
Treatment at home
The consequence of complex treatment of rheumatic diseases is a permanent remission of the disease. Complex therapy of joint diseases combines treatment with therapeutic exercises and physiotherapy.
The goal of joint treatment is to eliminate the pain syndrome, and then to activate cartilage tissue regeneration. During this period, drugs that contain chondroitin and glucosamine in their composition will be very useful. These drugs can be used in the form of tablets, ointments, sprays. Treatment can take a very long time, up to a year.
During exercise, the movements performed do not damage cartilage tissue, but help with recovery.
All of the above helps only in the early stages of joint disease. In the second and third stages, surgical intervention is required.
Medical treatment of knee osteoarthritis at home includes:
- Analgesic. Pain relievers: tablets, ointments, sprays. Anesthesia tablets may also be used.
- Muscle relaxants. Drugs that promote muscle relaxation reduce spasms.
- Chondroprotectors - "guardians of cartilage". These drugs form the basis of arthritis treatment.
All drugs must be prescribed by a doctor, you must not self-medicate without a prescription, they all have contraindications.
Therapeutic Exercises
Exercises should be selected by a chiropractor, who will elaborate on the specifics of the disease. The most effective exercises for joint disease:
- Lie on your back, straighten your legs and relax. Exercise helps reduce stress, strengthens the pelvic muscles. Increase blood flow to the knee joint.
- Lie on your back, raise your legs perpendicular to your body and press them firmly into the floor. Move your feet in the air, mimicking cycling.
- Lie on your stomach, alternating knees. This exercise helps strengthen the muscles of the legs, activates the metabolism in the knee joint.
- A person sits on a chair and raises his legs parallel to the floor. As a result, blood increases to the knee, improving tissue regeneration in the joint.
A positive result from the above exercises will be obtained if you do them regularly. Preferably daily for 15 minutes, alternating with massage, physical therapy.
To be able to participate in a variety of sports, running, walking, it is better to use a knee brace, to help reduce the load on the knee joint, to treat dry joints - to warm the joint, with magnetic cushion. It helps to increase blood circulation. This is a necessary purchase for osteoarthritis of the knee.
For any joint disease, you need lifestyle and dietary changes. For the treatment to be effective, sugar, alcoholic beverages, spicy and fatty foods, and chemical additives must be excluded from the menu. Do not fast so as not to reduce the food supply to the joint cells.
Folk remedies
The most popular folk remedies to treat knee effusion:
- Apply chalk and kefir. It is necessary to make these components into a homogeneous mass, which is covered and fixed to the knee overnight.
- Apply oatmeal - prepare oatmeal and apply it on your feet at night.
- Strawberry juice. In this case, mulberry leaves are used, preferably in a dried form. First of all, you should chop the leaves. Then pour them into boiling water and cook for 20 minutes. This remedy should be taken during the day, instead of filtered water.
- Hop. Take 2 tablespoons of hops and mix them with 50 g of vegetable oil. Use as a compress.
- Mix 1 tablespoon of mustard, 1 tablespoon of honey and 1 tablespoon of olive oil, boil it all (at least 5 minutes) and apply on the affected joints for two hours.
- A good anesthetic is agave tincture and alcohol in a ratio of 1: 10. Soak this mixture for a month in the refrigerator. Use 20 - 30 drops a day, morning, afternoon, evening.
- Burdock has been shown to be very good among other plants in the treatment of joint diseases. Take 6 fresh burdock leaves, smooth as velvet. Pour a bowl of boiling water on top. After 30 minutes, the leaves can be used. The affected area is smeared with vegetable oil and burdock leaves are applied to it and wrapped in foil.
- Uses of Dandelions Freshly picked dandelions should be rinsed with cold water and chewed, regardless of their unpleasant taste. It is recommended to eat at least 4 flowers per day. Dried dandelion leaves can also be used as food.
- You can apply sea salt to the affected knee area. If the salt runs out in time, you can replace it with regular sand, which is warmed and wrapped in a towel before use. This tool helps fight swelling.
Use horseradish
Horseradish leaves and roots are rich in vitamins, natural phytoncides, minerals and essential oils. So, how to treat joints with horseradish:
- Cut and boil the root. The resulting suspension is applied to the dressing and fixed on the knee. Place the fabric on top and let it compress for half an hour. You can do this every day.
- Horseradish and apple cider vinegar, mix well in equal proportions, add a little flaxseed oil and apply to the painful joints. Cover with cellophane and keep for 30 minutes. Repeat the process every other day.
- Fry the horseradish, then mix with the same amount of yogurt. Apply the resulting mass to the problem area and cover with cling film. Keep it for 30-40 minutes and then wash it off with warm water. For maximum results, you need to perform at least 7 procedures.