Every day, our knees must withstand body weight and physical activity.Over the years, the cartilage wears away and changes occur in the joint.This is why older people suffer from knee osteoarthritis.
Osteoarthritis of the knee joint (gonarthrosis) is a degenerative joint pathology in which cartilage is destroyed, muscles and ligaments are damaged, and bones are deformed.
Treatment of knee osteoarthritis at home is a certain set of actions that alleviate the patient's condition.
If treatment is supplemented by competent medical prescriptions, the progression of the disease can be slowed down and sometimes completely stopped.
Symptoms and causes of joint osteoarthritis
The first of the signs indicating gonarthrosis of the knee joint is stiffness in the knee and the appearance of pain after minor exertion, sleep and prolonged sitting.If the patient warms up a little, the pain will subside.When bending the knee, a cracking sound is often heard, and after hypothermia the pain worsens.
Such signs of the disease appear over several years and are sometimes worrying.If the problem is not treated, over time it becomes difficult to walk, the knee joint becomes deformed and it becomes impossible to move without crutches.
The following can help accelerate the development of pathology:
- Excess weight of the patient, which triples the rate of progression.
- Regular exercise.
- Meniscal injuries, fractures and knee injuries.
- Bone placement defects (X- and O-shaped).They deform the cartilaginous tissue and the joint as a whole.
Stages of development of osteoarthritis of the knee joint
Step 1
The legs become very tired, mobility begins to become limited and a crunching sensation appears.Joint pain also occurs at rest and during prolonged exercise.At this stage of the disease, there is no deformity of the knee and the joint gap can only narrow.
Step 2
Deforming osteoarthritis of the knee joint, grade 2, requires immediate treatment, as the pain becomes severe and limits movement.A person is unable to move long distances and needs a lot of rest.With a loud crunch and deformation, lameness appears.The bone grows and osteophytes form, fluid accumulates in cases of synovitis.
Step 3
The most difficult stage of the disease.The pain appears even at rest and the leg becomes almost immobile.The joint gap may disappear completely.
Who is at risk?
- people with extra pounds;
- all those who lead a sedentary lifestyle;
- patients with knee injuries;
- professional and amateur athletes who put a lot of pressure on their knees;
- people whose job puts a lot of pressure on their knees;
- patients with cartilage and bone pathologies;
- people with infectious diseases and parasitic diseases.
All these reasons accelerate the development of the disease at an early age and lead to a complex course of the disease.
Treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee joint
Currently, doctors do not distinguish a single treatment regimen, since there is no specific drug that helps patients equally.When planning home treatment, doctors take into account the degree of the problem, the age of the patient, the intensity of the pain and the degree of joint deformity.
That is why it will take a lot of time and diligence to treat such a disease, using various methods to influence the sore knee.
Nutrition principles
Everyone should understand that it is necessary to start treating osteoarthritis at home with dietary correction.In this case, an increase in the amount of calcium, vitamins “B” and “E” is considered a prerequisite.The body can obtain these elements from sprouted wheat, dairy products, almonds, whole grains, bread and pasta.
Salt should be limited and increased in salads and vegetarian vegetables after rapid heat treatment.
Anyone planning to treat osteoarthritis to any degree should exclude acidic fruits such as grapefruit, lemons, oranges, as well as alcohol and coffee from their diet.The amount of meat consumed should be minimized, as should dried fruits and cereals.
Jellied meat made from bone broth is considered a healthy dish, as it is enriched with collagen, which is necessary for building cartilage and bone material.It is equally important to use gelatin, which contains the main chondoprotectors.
Gymnastics
Even in the most advanced degree of osteoarthritis, treatment consists of performing three exercises:
- You need to sit on a high chair or table so that your legs hang freely.Then they begin to chatter with an amplitude of up to 10 cm.Seriously ill patients are allowed to perform the exercise for 5 minutes every hour, and for other patients, 10 minutes several times a day.
- Sitting in a chair, place your feet on the floor.Resting on the toe, the heel lifts off the ground by 12 cm then falls freely.After 3 seconds, the exercise is repeated.For both sore legs, the exercise is performed alternately.
- Sit in a chair and place your feet on the floor.Then, leaning on your heel, relax and slowly tap your toes on the floor, lifting them no more than 12 cm.Take a 3-second break between exercises.
Knee joint massage
At home, you can independently work on the knee joint suffering from osteoarthritis, using blows in the fingers, palm and slaps.
Under the influence of spanking, the skin activates nerve pathways and causes a rush of blood.Through the blows carried by the pressed fingers, the impact spreads to the muscles, ligaments, tendons and the joint capsule.This allows blood to be expelled more easily from the capillaries without damage.
Treatment should begin with tapping with fingers pressed to painful places.The kneecap is struck from the side.Hitting a very painful joint should be done as carefully as possible and, as it recovers, it should be slightly strengthened.
Damaged tendons should be tapped carefully, then struck with the palm pressed to the right, left, front, on the straight leg, below the knee and on the bent leg.The session ends with a spanking.
Number of procedures required:
- moderate osteoarthritis – once a week;
- mild stage of osteoarthritis – once every 23 days;
- severe osteoarthritis with inflammation and swelling - once every two months.
Magnetotherapy
This procedure can easily be done at home and will not further deform the knee.For many years, magnetic therapy has been tested in practice and has always shown excellent results.
A knee joint affected by osteoarthritis can be treated at home under the influence of a weak magnetic field.This treatment normalizes blood circulation and metabolism.Thus, the flow of fluids from the tissues accelerates.
To deal with a problem with a magnet, you do not need to perform complex actions.The procedure requires only a small magnet.Massage the injured knee area with circular movements for 20 minutes once a day.The duration of such treatment can usually be up to three months.There are many reviews about the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee joint grade 2 with a magnet and they are all positive.
Thermal treatments
The possibility of performing thermal procedures at home is limited.Instead, you can use moist and dry heat – foot baths and compresses.
Add sea salt (one spoon per liter) to water heated to 45°C, then pour it into a high tank so that your knees are completely immersed.Warm water helps dilate blood vessels, and salt removes excess fluid from the periarticular tissue.
Sand with coarse salt or a mixture of dry herbs is heated in the microwave or in a frying pan, then wrapped in thick material and cooled to room temperature to be applied to the knee.After such treatment, the compress is not thrown away - it is used for the entire course of treatment.
At the end of the thermal procedure, a gel (ointment) prescribed by the doctor is applied to the knee joint.With enlarged pores, the drug penetrates better and has a stronger analgesic effect.
Treatment with medications
At home, treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee joint of varying degrees of complexity can be carried out with local drugs that have anti-edematous, anti-inflammatory, warming and analgesic effects.The advantage of these funds is the possibility of long-term use.The active substance of the ointments does not penetrate into such a volume that it causes side effects.Thus, the circle of people for whom treatment is available expands if a series of injections or tablets containing the active substance is prohibited.This applies to NSAID drugs prohibited for people suffering from chronic and acute gastrointestinal diseases and other ailments of internal organs.When used topically, they provide pain relief and relieve inflammation related to osteoarthritis.
Traditional recipes for the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee
In nature, we know of amazing medicinal plants, necessary for the production of collagen and the restoration of cartilaginous matter.
- Gelatin- a popular treatment for joints.To prepare the medicine, you need to take a spoonful of gelatin and pour a quarter of a glass of water into it in the evening, and in the morning, when it is swollen, consume it on an empty stomach.For a full therapeutic course you will need 150 g of gelatin.The drug is contraindicated for people with high blood clotting.
- Dandelion– the freshly picked flowers are carefully washed under water then reduced to pulp.You should eat up to 5 flowers per day.For treatment in winter, it is worth preparing the leaves of the plant.The leaves should be chewed daily, despite their bitter taste.Dry grass is poured with a glass of boiling water and soaked.Dandelion tincture has an excellent effect.You have to rub it on your knees for a month.The pain will disappear quickly, but the procedure must be continued.To prepare the remedy, collect many dandelion heads and fill a bottle with them, then fill it with alcohol or triple cologne.The dye will be ready in a month.
- Honey and bee products– a unique remedy for osteoarthritis of the knee joint.The honey is heated with a heating pad and then applied to the affected area, rubbing with light circular motions.The process is carried out once a day for half a month and after a break the session is repeated.
- Burdock– a common herb to treat joints.You need to take 6-7 burdock leaves and fold them with the woolly side down.Place a pan of hot water on this pile until it cools.The knee is lubricated with vegetable oil, leaves are placed on it and wrapped in polyethylene and a towel.
- Potentilla and potentilla (tincture)– cinquefoil and cinquefoil roots (2:1) are poured with vodka and left to infuse for 20 days.The finished product is taken orally, one spoonful before meals, for a month, then take a break.The combination of herbs relieves swelling, increases joint mobility and eliminates crunching.
- Cabbage juice– this product should be soaked in a woolen cloth and applied to the sore spot.The procedure is carried out before bedtime.The finished juice is stored for no more than three days in a dark place.You can make compresses from cabbage leaves.The inside of the leaf is coated with honey and applied to the sore knee.This is then reinforced with polyethylene and wool fabric overnight.The compress is removed in the morning and the remaining honey is removed with warm water.The course of treatment lasts one month.
- Chalk curd compress– add a fermented milk product to the ground chalk, mix well and apply the mixture to the knee joint.After insulation with a film and a cloth, the next morning the residue is removed with a napkin.Chalk compress relieves inflammation and relieves pain.
- Therapeutic pine bath– resinous plants are still used for the treatment of osteoarthritis of the joints and most often in the form of baths.To prepare the medicinal mixture, take pine branches with needles, a few chopped Jerusalem artichokes, 1 tbsp.turpentine, 1 kg of sea salt, 2 tbsp.L.honey, you can't stay in such a bathroom for more than 20 minutes, and then wipe your skin with a towel.A net of iodine is drawn on the painful joint and smeared with honey.A drizzle of steamed pork fat is also applied.The duration of treatment for osteoarthritis is two weeks.
Knee osteoarthritis is a condition that most people face often.Home therapy helps to stop the progression of the disease and completely restore joint matter.In addition, the effectiveness of the methods depends on the patient himself and his desire to recover.