How Long Does It Take To Heal
Knee joint pain treatment is most effective when it is started as soon as possible, particularly with an injury, and when done regularly. For example, using ice 5-6 times a day is going to produce much better results than only using it once.
It can take a while to notice the benefits from knee joint pain treatments as things take time to settle down so it is important to continue with them until things have improved.
Soft tissue injuries usually take 6-12 weeks to heal and strengthening muscles often takes 1-2 months of regular exercise to notice the benefits so don’t give up too soon.
Please remember, you should always consult your doctor with any new incidence of pain to ensure you are getting the best treatment for you and that you aren’t at risk of further injury.
Overall Treatment Benefit Not Seen
The best evidence on treatment efficacy of glucosamine and chondroitin comes fromthe Glucosamine/Chondroitin Arthritis Intervention Trial . The GAIT studywas a randomized controlled trial comparing groups of people receiving one offive treatments: glucosamine hydrochloride, chondroitin sulfate, the combinationof both, celecoxib , or placebo. A total of 1,583 patients with OA ofthe knee were entered into the study.
In this study, improvement in global pain and joint function was observed in allgroupsglucosamine, chondroitin, glucosamine and chondroitin combined, andplacebo. However, there was no clinically significant effect on knee symptomsdue to glucosamine and/or chondroitin supplementation. The trial also analyzed asubgroup of people with moderate to severe OA and found that glucosamine andchondroitin improved pain and joint function better than placebo treatment forthis subgroup.
- Overall, people with OA of the knee do not have better relief of symptomswhen using glucosamine and chondroitin than when receiving aplacebo.LEVEL OF EVIDENCE:
What The Numbers Mean
Many of the terms you see on labels or supplement web sites can help you understand how much of the vitamin or mineral you should take. For example, here are some guidelines set up by the Institute of Medicine:
The RDA and the AI are the amounts of a vitamin or mineral you need to keep healthy and stay well-nourished. They’re tailored to women, men, and specific age groups.
The UL is the maximum amount of daily vitamins and minerals that you can safely take without risk of an overdose or serious side effects. For certain nutrients, the higher you go above the UL, the greater the chance you’ll have problems.
The DV is the only measurement you’ll find on food and supplement labels. That’s because space is limited, and there’s a need for one single reference number. That number is the amount of a vitamin or nutrient that you should get for top health from a diet of 2,000 calories a day. The DV is sometimes the same as the RDA.
Although the details may be different, remember that the RDA and DV are both set up to help you get the nutrients you need to prevent disease and avoid problems caused by lack of nutrition.
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Popular Ingredients In Joint Pain Supplements
The two most popular ingredients in joint pain supplements are glucosamine for joint pain and chondroitin.
Both ingredients are essential constituents of healthy joint cartilage tissue. Their efficiency in repairing the joints is limited to laboratory studies.
Other popular ingredients are hyaluronic acid which is a part of the synovial fluid, diacerein, Avocadosoybean unsaponifiable , S-adenosylmethionine, Indian frankincense , capsaicin, turmeric, etc.
Some of these ingredients are believed to help improve joint cartilage structure and speed up a repair, and others function as natural anti-inflammatories and pain relievers.
Bone Joint Health Info
SEE ALSO
What Are The Types Of Arthritis Of The Knee
There are around 100 types of arthritis. The most common types that might affect your knees include:
- Osteoarthritis is the most common of the types on this list. Osteoarthritis wears away your cartilage the cushioning between the three bones of your knee joint. Without that protection, your bones rub against each other. This can cause pain, stiffness and limited movement. It can also lead to the development of bone spurs. Osteoarthritis gets worse as time passes.
- Post-traumatic arthritis is a type of osteoarthritis. The cartilage starts thinning after trauma to your knee . Your bones rub together, and that causes the same symptoms as osteoarthritis: pain, stiffness and limited movement. Your knee arthritis symptoms might not start until years after the trauma.
- Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease. A healthy immune system causes inflammation when it’s trying to protect you from an infection, injury, toxin or another foreign invader. The inflammatory response is one way your body protects itself. If you have rheumatoid arthritis, you have an unhealthy immune system that triggers inflammation in your joints even though theres no foreign invader. The inflammation causes pain, stiffness and swelling of the synovial membrane, which can also wear away your cartilage.
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How To Treat Arthritis In The Knees
This article was medically reviewed by Troy A. Miles, MD. Dr. Miles is an Orthopedic Surgeon specializing in Adult Joint Reconstruction in California. He received his MD from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 2010, followed by a residency at the Oregon Health & Science University and fellowship at the University of California, Davis. He is a Diplomat of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery and is a member of the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons, American Orthopaedic Association, American Association of Orthopaedic Surgery, and the North Pacific Orthopaedic Society.There are 13 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been viewed 63,035 times.
Research suggests that treatment may slow down arthritis and relieve your symptoms, though there’s no cure for it.XTrustworthy SourceNational Health Service Public healthcare system of the UKGo to source Arthritis occurs when your joint becomes inflamed, causing pain, stiffness, and swelling. Osteoarthritis happens when the cartilage in your joint wears away, while rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune condition where your body attacks your joints. Experts say arthritis in the knee is very common because it’s a weight-bearing joint, but you can get arthritis in any joint.XResearch source Although arthritis may interfere with your life, you may be able to manage your condition.
Simple Home Exercises And Stretches Can Help Ease Some Common Types Of Knee Pain
If youve got sore knees, exercise might seem like the hardest thing you can do but its also one of the best.
“Exercise is one of the most important things you can do for knee pain,” says Dr. Lauren Elson, an instructor in physical medicine and rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School.
The right combination of strengthening and stretching exercises can relieve pain by helping to improve the way the joint moves and functions.
“The knee is often an innocent bystander between the hip and the foot. Knee pain is often caused by problems occurring above or below,” says Dr. Elson.
For example, weak hip muscles may cause more strain on the knee, intensifying your pain. Strengthening the muscles around the hip joint can help relieve it, says Dr. Elson.
In addition, knee pain is sometimes caused or aggravated by tight muscles around the knee, a problem that is often successfully addressed by stretching. If the muscles arent flexible, the knee joint sometimes wont move properly, says Dr. Elson.
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Pure Nature 100% Pure Curcumin Extract
Made by a reputable company, the Pure Nature Supplement is made from 100% pure natural curcumin extract that helps to improve joint health. The product relies on turmeric to provide nutrients to your joints.
Bioperine is the active ingredient found in this supplement that allows you to take full advantage of the supplements antioxidant properties.
Pure Nature has built a reputation for producing a good range of all-natural products and among its most popular products is this turmeric curcumin supplement.
They claim that this supplement also works as a dietary supplement thats formulated with organic ingredients. These ingredients work well in improving ones health and wellness, most especially the joints.
Taking this supplement can help improve your mobility by enhancing the lubrication of your joints. It can also enhance cartilage production, which helps in improving the overall health of knee joints.
Turmeric, which is the supplements main ingredient, has been proven to be effective in reducing inflammation, which means this supplement will treat knee joint pain.
Things To Consider When Taking Joint Pain Supplements
Most joint pain supplements you see on the market are derived from natural ingredients and are completely safe. This also means you probably wont have any side effects, which is common with prescription treatments for arthritis.
Talk to your doctor before taking these supplements for joint pain, especially if you are currently taking other medications.
Another thing you need to consider before taking supplements is label transparency, i.e., that all ingredients are listed including binding ones. This is important, especially if you have certain allergies and want to make sure you dont have an allergic reaction to any of the ingredients in your joint pain supplement.
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Supplements For Arthritis And Joint Pain
Many people take vitamins and supplements to help ease joint pain and arthritis. How effective are these supplements? Here are tips to help you choose the right supplements for your joints.
Arthritis Joint Pain: Supplements and Herbs
Some people use supplements to try to help manage joint pain from arthritis. Glucosamine, chondroitin, omega-3, and green tea are just a few of them.
Glucosamine
Glucosamine helps keep the cartilage in joints healthy and may have an anti-inflammatory effect. Natural glucosamine levels drop as people age.
Chondroitin
Chondroitin is often used with glucosamine as an osteoarthritis treatment. Researchers found that chondroitin appeared to reduce pain, increase joint mobility, and decrease the need for painkillers.
The research into the effectiveness of glucosamine and chondroitin for arthritis symptoms is mixed. Doctors do not recommend these supplements but are not opposed to their use if a patient gets relief from using them. Doctors recommend against using glucosamine hydrochloride.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Omega-3 fatty acids, found in fish oil and other foods, encourage the body to produce chemicals that help control inflammation. This supplement may help ease stiffness caused by inflammation in people with rheumatoid arthritis, but more research is needed.
Curcumin and/or Boswellia serrata
Curcumin and/or Boswellia serrata provides relief for people with osteoarthritis of the knee. They have anti-inflammatory properties.
How To Use Pain Medications Properly
There are two types of over-the-counter pain medications that can be used for osteoarthritis. Acetaminophen is a pain reliever but not an anti-inflammatory. It may help with mild knee pain.
NSAIDs can be more effective because they both relieve pain and reduce inflammation. However, they come with potential side effects and risks. NSAIDs can irritate the lining of the stomach, which may lead to an ulcer or other stomach problems. They also can impair kidney function. Some NSAIDs can increase blood pressure. And theyve been linked to an increased risk for heart disease.
Because of the risks, Dr. Day cautions against using NSAIDs regularly over long periods of time. Instead, she uses NSAIDs for her patients in two ways. First, people who have a flare-up of pain can take them regularly for three to five days and then stop. Second, they can be used over the long term, but only occasionally, maybe a couple of times a week as needed.
If youre taking NSAIDs several times a day for long periods of time, Dr. Day advises reducing their use by maximizing the other treatment strategies. She also suggests trying a topical NSAID, such as diclofenac , which has fewer potential side effects.
Opioid pain relievers are discouraged for long-term treatment of chronic knee pain. The milder narcotic tramadol might be appropriate for occasional use in some people, says Dr. Day.
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Joint Pain And Glucosamine Supplements
If youre looking for joint pain relief then youll be glad to know that it’s available in many forms, from glucosamine tablets to exercise supports and gels. Finding the best relief for you can be a bit of a minefield. Thats why were taking you through the options available and what might work best to ease your joint pain.
When To Contact A Medical Professional
- You cannot bear weight on your knee.
- You have severe pain, even when not bearing weight.
- Your knee buckles, clicks, or locks.
- Your knee is deformed or misshapen.
- You cannot flex your knee or have trouble straightening it all the way out.
- You have a fever, redness or warmth around the knee, or a lot of swelling.
- You have pain, swelling, numbness, tingling, or bluish discoloration in the calf below the sore knee.
- You still have pain after 3 days of home treatment.
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Who Is A Candidate
Gel injections are usually given after other more-conservative measures have proven ineffective. Most physicians will recommend that you first complete a course of physical therapy to increase the strength in the muscles that surround your knee. The physician may prescribe an anti-inflammatory medication or recommend an over-the-counter anti-inflammatory as part of a less-invasive approach. If exercise and medication do not control your symptoms, your physician may then recommend that you try gel injections.
What Supplements Help With Knee Pain
In general, you should aim for natural and safe to use supplements that provide relief for joint pain. There are plenty of those supplements out there, which is why we made the selection of only the best for you.
Scroll down below and choose one of the products that we recommend.
Vita Balance is a reputable company focused on providing natural dietary supplements for various users.
When it comes to joint health, their recommended product is Turmeric Plus, which utilizes the benefits of this herb and its nutrients.
Thanks to Bioperine, your organism will take maximum advantage of the antioxidant properties. That should support fighting inflammation throughout the body, which should also result in knee pain relief. Get the details here
The importance of Omega-3 fatty acids for our general health is huge and the same goes for joint pain.
When it comes to Omega XL, there are more than two dozens of essential fatty acids, including DHA and EPA derived from the New Zealand-harvested mussel extract.
Apart from that, vitamin E and olive oil provide additional benefits and promote long-term joint and overall health. Get the details here.
As the name suggests, Arthri-D3 was primarily manufactured to help those that are dealing with knee and joint pain related to arthritis. One of the primary ingredients is glucosamine, which is deemed essential for joint lubrication and mobility.
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Treatment Benefit Not Seen
In people with osteoarthritis of the knee, published clinical trials comparinginjections of viscosupplements with placebo have yielded inconsistent results.Higher quality and larger trials have generally found lower levels of clinicalimprovement in pain and function than small and poor quality trials.
- Any clinical improvement attributable to viscosupplementation is likelysmall and not clinically meaningful.LEVEL OF EVIDENCE:
Various hyaluronan products are available for knee joint injection, primarilydiffering in the molecular weight of the compound. While some trials suggestbetter clinical response to the highest molecular weight hyaluronan product,other trials have not confirmed this finding.
Overall, evidence is insufficient to demonstrate clinical benefit for the highermolecular weight products.
Natural Supplements To Consider
1. Turmeric
A plant from the ginger family, turmeric is often used in South Asian cuisine, such as curry. It contains curcumin, the key ingredient that can help decrease inflammation. To be effective as either a supplement or food and not simply metabolized and excreted turmeric should be absorbed with fatty oils, such as avocado or olive oil, and black pepper, which most supplements contain.
I recommend making turmeric a part of your daily diet for three to six months to gauge any benefits. Turmeric supplements can be expensive, and inflammation can be treated in other ways. So, if your pain hasnt decreased after this amount of time, we can try something else
2. Cherry juice extract
Anthocyanin supplies both the red coloring and anti-inflammatory benefits in cherries and other red fruits and vegetables. Most of my patients who say cherry juice helps relieve their pain drink about one glass a day, but you can eat a handful of cherries daily or take supplements that contain the pure juice extract cherries are high in anthocyanin. However, because of its high sugar content, I do not recommend cherry juice for diabetic patients.
3. Omega-3 fatty acids
Most patients I see have taken these supplements before without good results. For better absorption I recommend incorporating omega-3s into your diet through foods such as tuna, salmon, sardines, tofu, walnuts, and flaxseeds.
4. Collagen
5. Chondroitin and glucosamine
6. Boswellia
7. Cannabidiol oil
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Natural Supplements That Might Relieve Back Joint And Muscle Pain
Pain in your back, joints, and muscles musculoskeletal pain is caused by a range of lifestyle and genetic factors. Treatments for that pain must be personalized for every patient, based on your level of inflammation, how you experience pain, other health conditions, and current medications.
Creating personalized treatment plans can be simultaneously the most rewarding and challenging aspect of my physical medicine and rehabilitation practice. Several natural, medicinal, and procedural pain treatments are available, and patients respond differently to all of them.
In the U.S., musculoskeletal pain management is beginning to incorporate more Eastern and Ayurvedic medicine, which focus on natural mind and body treatments using exercise, foods, or herbs, as a complement to Western medicine, which treats physical symptoms with medication or surgery.
While anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen or naproxen can be effective for acute pain, long-term use can cause harmful side effects, including kidney and gastrointestinal damage. Some natural supplements can be highly effective for certain conditions, and some have fewer side effects. However, not all supplements are effective or safe for everyone.
In PM& R, we recognize that you know your body, and we want to help you find a treatment plan that relieves your pain without increasing other health risks. Following are seven natural supplements that our patients have said help them manage inflammatory musculoskeletal pain.