How Effective Are Boswellia Supplements For Knee Pain
Boswellia improvess pain, stiffnees, flexion, swelling, and increases walking distance in people with osteoarthritis of the knee. Research shows that Boswellia is at least as effective as the prescribed NSAID, valdecoxib for treating osteoarthritis. Improvements in knee pain are usually seen within 7 days, and continue to improve over several months. Benefits can also last for one month after stopping Boswellia. Boswellia and turmeric together have a synergistic effect that is more successful in treating knee pain than the prescribed pain killer, celecoxib.
Articles On Knee Pain
You can do many things to help knee pain, whether it’s due to a recent injury or arthritis you’ve had for years.
Follow these 11 dos and donâts to help your knees feel their best.
Donât rest too much. Too much rest can weaken your muscles, which can worsen joint pain. Find an exercise program that is safe for your knees and stick with it. If you’re not sure which motions are safe or how much you can do, talk with your doctor or a physical therapist.
Do exercise. Cardio exercises strengthen the muscles that support your knee and increase flexibility. Weight training and stretching do, too. For cardio, some good choices include walking, swimming, water aerobics, stationary cycling, and elliptical machines. Tai chi may also help ease stiffness and improve balance.
Donât risk a fall. A painful or unstable knee can make a fall more likely, which can cause more knee damage. Curb your risk of falling by making sure your home is well lit, using handrails on staircases, and using a sturdy ladder or foot stool if you need to reach something from a high shelf.
Do use “RICE.” Rest, ice, compression, and elevation is good for knee pain caused by a minor injury or an arthritis flare. Give your knee some rest, apply ice to reduce swelling, wear a compressive bandage, and keep your knee elevated.
Don’t overlook your weight. If you’re overweight, losing weight reduces the stress on your knee. You donât even need to get to your “ideal” weight. Smaller changes still make a difference.
Fix Your Knee Pain: A Routine For Healthy Knees
Heres where things get fun
If you have existing knee pain , there are 3 main things youll want to focus on:
For the first two, see our leg strength routine and our hip mobility routine. For the third focus, though, the following routine will be an important key to getting your knees feeling better.
One note before we get into the routine: The idea with these exercises is not to work through your painplease do not do that! Go slowly, and only work within ranges that do not exacerbate your knee pain. Over time, those ranges may increase, but for now, just work at your own level.
As you can see, the purpose of these movements is not to get a workout or to try to get as many reps as you can. The purpose is to introduce your body, and specifically your knees, to movements in different planes.
Giving your knees this kind of regular motion will help them start to feel more at ease with movement. Plus, by getting comfortable with these types of movements in a controlled and gentle manner, youll increase your ability to avoid re-injuring your knee if you wind up moving in those ways, even if inadvertently.
You May Like: What Is The Best Knee Walker
Knee Pain Relief 6 Natural Treatments Including Exercises
Reviewed by Ron Torrance, DO, FAOASM
Next to back pain, knee pain is one of the most common complaints among both older adults and younger athletes. Knee injuries are one common cause of knee pain, but you dont have to fall, trip or get into some type of accident to hurt your knees.
What can cause knee pain without injury? Arthritis, overuse, osteoporosis, certain types of exercises like running, and repetitive movements are all potential causes of knee pain.
How do you relieve knee pain? Identifying the underlying cause of your pain is the first step. Treating health conditions that might contribute to inflammation , exercising appropriately, maintaining a healthy weight, stretching and doing certain knee exercises can all greatly help you find relief.
Exercises To Help Reduce Knee Pain
The following exercises can strengthen the hips and thighs, specifically the glutes, adductors, hamstrings and quadriceps muscles, which control the motion of the hips and knees. The focus of each exercise is to engage the hips while allowing only a limited amount of motion in the knee. In the case of the lunges, the fact that the body is moving backward causes most of the force of the exercise to move into the glutes, which strengthens those muscles, as opposed to moving into the knees and causing strain on the patellar tendon. These links provide additional information about how the hamstrings and adductors function to control motion of the hips and knees.
Recommended Reading: Flying After Knee Replacement Surgery
Torn Acl Symptoms And Signs
With an acute injury, the patient often describes that they heard a loud pop and then developed intense pain in the knee. The pain makes walking or weight-bearing very difficult. The knee joint will begin to swell within a few hours because of bleeding within the joint, making it difficult to straighten the knee.
Do: Take Medications As Prescribed
Over-the-counter or prescription-strength non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are among the mainstays of knee osteoarthritis treatment, Pisetsky says. While effective, they do come with their share of side effects, he explains. We typically tell patients to take them as needed for pain but emphasize that theyre not used to slow disease progression, he says.
Other treatments are also available to help relieve knee pain, stiffness, and swelling, including analgesics such as acetaminophen and injections of corticosteroids and hyaluronic acid into the joints. While corticosteroid injections are commonly performed, their long-term effects are still under investigation. Using heat and cold therapy can also help relieve symptoms try moist heat for joint stiffness and ice for joint pain and swelling, says Wyss. Just be sure to work with your doctor to develop the best treatment strategy for you.
Read Also: Best Knee Walker 2016
Common Causes Of Knee Pain
Knee pain describes any type of discomfort that affects the knees, such as sensitivity and throbbing. Its common for knee pain to also be accompanied by other symptoms affecting the legs, which can include:
- Swelling around the knee
- General reduced range of motion of the legs
- Feeling like your knee gives out when you try to move
- Unusual sounds when moving the knee, such as a popping or crunching sound
The knee joint, a complex part of the body that is formed by interconnecting bones, cartilage and ligaments, is where the major bones of the upper leg and lower leg meet. The knee is actually the largest joint in the human body and functions as a hinge joint, formed by the femur , the tibia and the patella that are held in place by several joints/tendons. The knees must withstand pressure, weight and shock, and rely on the muscles in the legs to keep them stable and strong.
Knee pain is sometimes referred to as patellofemoral pain syndrome or runners knee, which describes pain and other symptoms affecting the area between your patella and femur . Its possible for knee pain to be either chronic or acute. Chronic pain is the kind that does not come on suddenly and continues to get worse. It usually lasts 46 weeks or longer.
Most Common Knee Pain Causes:
Knee Injuries that Cause Knee Pain:
How Does Walking Help The Knees
The knee is a very intricately designed joint comprised of a series of tendons, ligaments, and meniscus . Unlike muscles, cartilage doesnt get its nourishment from blood, but instead relies on synovial fluid within the joint. Movement causes the release of synovial fluid into the joint, walking can lubricate the knee, reduce stiffness and provide nutrients to the cartilage.
You May Like: Inversion Table For Knee Pain
Common Areas Of Joint Pain
Joints are the tissues that connect bones and help support movements throughout the body. Joint pain affects millions of people every single day and is a symptom tied to dozens of different disorders. While it can sometimes feel like your joint pain is originating from a muscle or surrounding bones, its actually most likely coming from the inflamed joints and surrounding soft tissues.
Muscle aches or bone pains can sometimes occur along with joint pain, making matters worse. All of these symptoms may happen at the same time if an underlying health condition, such as osteoporosis or autoimmune disease, is causing the painful symptoms.
For example, when someone has osteoporosis when bones become less dense and more likely to fracturethe condition can also contribute to severe back pain, poor posture, and reduced ability to walk or stand properly.
According to the Arthritis Foundation, joint pain is most likely to develop in one or more of the following areas:
What Are Some Common Knee Problems
Many knee problems are a result of the aging process and continual wear and stress on the knee joint . Other knee problems are a result of an injury or a sudden movement that strains the knee. Common knee problems include the following:
ACL Tears in Female Athletes: Q& A with a Sports Medicine Expert
Sports injury prevention isn’t a one-stop shop, especially for injuries like ACL tears, which are four to eight times more common among women than men. Discover ways for women to help prevent this common injury.
You May Like: Can Knee Replacement Cause Neuropathy
Heat And Cold Therapy
Heat and cold can be effective for managing knee pain. Heat can relax the muscles to improve pain and function and promote joint lubrication, which can reduce stiffness. You can use a hot water bottle or a heating pad. For cold therapy, an ice pack, wrapped in a towel, can help reduce pain, inflammation, and swelling.
Some people can get the most out of knee pain relief when they alternate heat and cold therapy. You can experiment with both to figure out what best works for you to manage your knee pain, swelling, and stiffness.
How Supplements Reduce Knee Pain
Nutritional supplements can improve painful knees in a number of ways, by:
- Providing building blocks for the repair of cartilage, ligaments and tendons
- Stimulating the repair of damaged tissues and the production of cushioning synovial fluid
- Regulating the enzymes involved in breaking down or building new cartilage
- Reducing inflammation
- Reducing pain through analgesic effects.
Some supplements, especially plant extracts, contain a wide variety of compounds that each work in different ways to provide more benefits than any single prescribed painkiller ever could.
In fact, supplements are set to play an increasing role in treating painful knees as the long-term use of paracetamol is no longer recommended. Paracetamol is not as safe as previously thought and is linked with an increased risk of heart attack and stroke. This follows similar findings that long-term use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen can also increase the risk of heart attack and stroke.
Also Check: How To Whiten Knees Fast
How Rosehip Supplements Reduce Knee Pain
Rosehips contain a pain-killing complex of galactolipids which have an aspirin-like ability to inhibit two enzymes involved in the generation of pain and inflammation. They do this through a different mechanism to aspirin so rosehips do not cause the same intestinal side effects.
Galactolipids isolated from rosehips also inhibit the activity of inflammatory white blood cells, and lower levels of inflammatory markers in the blood. Reducing the movement of inflammatory cells into joints can reduce both pain and stiffness.
How Are Knee Problems Diagnosed
In addition to a complete medical history and physical exam, other tests for knee problems may include:
-
X-ray. This test uses invisible electromagnetic energy beams to make images of internal tissues, bones, and organs onto film.
-
Magnetic resonance imaging . This test uses large magnets, radiofrequencies, and a computer to make detailed images of organs and structures within the body can often determine damage or disease in a surrounding ligament or muscle.
-
Computed tomography scan . This test uses X-rays and computer technology to make horizontal, or axial, images of the body. A CT scan shows detailed images of any part of the body, including the bones, muscles, fat, and organs. CT scans are more detailed than general X-rays.
-
Arthroscopy. A minimally-invasive diagnostic and treatment procedure used for conditions of a joint. This procedure uses a small, lighted, optic tube , which is inserted into the joint through a small incision in the joint. Images of the inside of the joint are projected onto a screen used to evaluate any degenerative or arthritic changes in the joint to detect bone diseases and tumors to determine the cause of bone pain and inflammation.
-
Radionuclide bone scan. A nuclear imaging technique that uses a very small amount of radioactive material, which is injected into the patient’s bloodstream to be detected by a scanner. This test shows blood flow to the bone and cell activity within the bone.
You May Like: How To Get Rid Of Fat Around Knees
Dont: Be Afraid To Use Assistive Devices If You Have Knee Osteoarthritis
Canes and knee braces can play a role in decreasing knee osteoarthritis pain and improving function, Pisetsky says. There can be a period of time when knee pain is disabling but its not the right time for surgery, so thats when assistive devices can make a difference, he explains. An occupational therapist can work with you to choose appropriate assistive devices.
What Is Knee Pain
Pain is a common knee problem that can originate in any of the bony structures compromising the knee joint , the kneecap , or the ligaments, tendons, and cartilage of the knee. Knee pain can be aggravated by physical activity, as well as obesity, affected by the surrounding muscles and their movements, and be triggered by other problems . Knee pain can affect people of all ages, and home remedies can be helpful unless it becomes severe.
You May Like: Inversion Table After Hip Replacement
How Effective Are Cherry Supplements For Knee Pain
A group of 58 people with osteoarthritis of the knee were asked to drink either tart cherry juice or placebo juice for 6 weeks. Then, after a week of no treatment, they swapped over to take the other juice for another 6 weeks so acted as their own controls.
Their knee pain, knee stiffness and knee joint function were assessed before and after each treatment, and scores decreased significantly after the cherry juice treatment but not after the placebo treatment.
How Effective Are Collagen Supplements For Knee Pain
Collagen supplements stimulate the synthesis of collagen, to help maintain the structure of the joint and reduce joint discomfort. Collagen supplements also increase blood levels of the amino acids needed to make collagen, and when collagen hydrolysate is labelled to show up on x-ray, it is seen to preferentially accumulate in cartilage and to build it up .
Osteoarthritis knee pain: Taking 40mg per day of undenatured collagen type 2, or 10g hydrolysed collagen per day can significantly improve joint pain, stiffness and function within 3 to 6 months.
Those with the greatest joint degeneration and with the lowest intake of dietary meat protein benefited the most.
Sports injury knee pain: In athletes and weekend warriors who experience knee pain on exercise, taking either 40mg undenatured collagen type 2 supplements per day, or a liquid collagen hydrolysate supplement for 4 to 6 months, provides significant improvements compared with placebo.
You May Like: How To Get Rid Of Dark Spots On Your Knees
How Krill Oil Reduces Knee Pain
While plainomega-3 fish oils and cod liver oil are popular for preventing and treating knee pain, krill oil has the advantage of supplying long-chain, omega-3 fatty acids plus antioxidant pigments for an enhanced anti-inflammatory effect.
The long-chain omega-3s, EPA and DHA, are processed in the body to reduce formation of inflammatory substances known as leukotrienes. These omega-3s reduce inflammation, stiffness, swelling and, in people with different types of arthritis can reduce the number of painful joints, and the long-term need for pain killers.
Both the omega 3s and the antioxidants found in krill oil have an anti-inflammatory action which help to reduce joint pain, stiffness and swelling in people with rheumatoid or osteoarthritis. In a trial involving 90 people with inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid or osteoarthritis, levels of inflammation were reduced by 19% within 7 days, in those taking 300mg krill oil a day, and by 30% within 2 weeks. In those taking placebo, levels of inflammation increased.
As well as helping your knee pain, krill oil is beneficial for the heart and circulation, too.
Dont: Ignore New Or Worsening Knee Osteoarthritis Symptoms
Knee osteoarthritis is a chronic condition, which means that pain is always possible, Pisetsky says. However, if pain grows more severe and occurs at rest instead of after periods of activity, or if it awakens you from sleep, it could mean that your knee osteoarthritis is progressing, he says. Other symptoms such as swelling, a locked knee, or one that just gives way are concerning, too. Let your doctor know about new or worsening symptoms, as an adjustment to your treatment plan may be necessary.
Also Check: Ginger Poultice For Arthritis
How Can I Relieve My Pain
When knee pain emerges, how can you ease the ache? Try these at-home measures:
- Switch up your routine: Stop doing the activity that brought on your knee pain, if possible. If youve been jogging, for example, try biking or swimming instead, which are easier on knee joints.
- Rest: Avoid putting weight on the affected knee.
- Apply ice or heat: Cold packs several times a day for 20 minutes at a time can reduce inflammation. Applying heat may increase blood flow to the area and feel soothing, Dr. Kissin says.
- Compress: Wrap the painful knee snugly but lightly in an elastic bandage or thin knee sleeve.
- Elevate: When possible, rest with your affected knee higher than your heart.
- Medicate: Over-the-counter nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen or naproxen can reduce pain and swelling.