Treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee at home

Osteoarthritis of the knee is a disorder of the hyaline cartilage that surrounds the oval prominences of the tibia and femur.This chronic disease develops slowly and constantly progresses, leading to gradual destruction of hyaline cartilage.In later stages of the disease, damage affects the joint and spreads to a part of the bone in its immediate vicinity.

If you suffer from osteoarthritis of the knee, you can treat it at home, but before doing so, you should familiarize yourself with the basic principles.First of all, it is important to understand that therapy is a complex process.Treatment includes medication, diet, massage, exercise therapy, and physical therapy.

Osteoarthritis of the knee joint is called gonarthrosis, osteoarthritis, dearthrosis.These are all different names for the same disease.

What is knee osteoarthritis?

Gonarthrosis is a progressive disease of intra-articular cartilage in which the nutrition of the tissues surrounding the joint is impaired.Osteoarthritis mainly affects older people.More rarely, professional athletes or people doing heavy physical work are affected by this disease.

Symptoms

The main question that interests people with signs of osteoarthritis is the symptoms and treatment of the disease at home.Before contacting a doctor, do not ignore the signals given by your body.The following symptoms indicate that you have knee osteoarthritis:

• pain that appears when running, strenuous walking or climbing stairs;
• swelling, which results in slight swelling of the kneecap;
• accumulation of fluid in the joint, leading to an increase in its volume (the joint swells and becomes like a ball);
• a feeling of stiffness or tightness in the knees;
• pain that occurs when rising from a sitting position and taking the first steps after rising from a seat;
• heaviness in the knees;
• limited mobility;
• sharp pain at any attempt to bend the leg.

The severity of symptoms depends on the degree of knee osteoarthritis.In the early stages, pain appears rarely and disappears when the patient walks a certain distance.In later stages, signs of the disease appear constantly and do not disappear even at night.

Osteoarthritis degrees

Doctors distinguish 2 types of knee osteoarthritis: primary and secondary.Primary osteoarthritis occurs in older patients and is associated with age-related changes in their body.Secondary gonarthrosis is a consequence of injuries, pathologies and developmental disorders.This type of knee osteoarthritis can appear at any age.

There are 3 degrees (stages) of development of the disease:

1. Manifestations of gonarthrosis in the first stage are benign.Dull pain occurs irregularly.Most often this occurs in cases where the joint is subjected to prolonged and heavy load.There is no deformation of the joint at the first stage of the disease, only slight swelling is possible.
2. In the second stage, symptoms of knee osteoarthritis appear at regular intervals.The nature of the pain changes: the discomfort becomes acute, intense and prolonged.Additional signs: appearance of a cracking sound, stiffness and slight deformation of the joint.
3. The third stage of gonarthrosis: clinical manifestations intensify to the maximum.The pain becomes constant, gait is impaired, swelling increases, and the temperature in the joint area increases.

In severe cases, fragments of broken osteophytes (growths on the surface of bone tissue) appear.This leads to joint blockage, which manifests itself as acute pain.The patient cannot therefore move independently.

Most often, patients wonder how to treat grade 2 osteoarthritis. At this stage, the vast majority of patients consult a doctor.However, you should not delay your visit to a medical institution.The sooner you start treating knee osteoarthritis, the greater the chance that the treatment will have good results.

Reasons for the development of the disease

The occurrence of knee osteoarthritis is explained by a set of factors.Doctors identify a number of causes of the disease:

1. Injuries: meniscus injuries, tibia fractures, ligament injuries.Pathology develops 3-5 years after the injury, but in some cases it occurs much earlier, after 3-4 months.
2. Increased load on the joint.Knee osteoarthritis often affects professional athletes and people doing heavy physical work.The risk group includes people who started playing sports after 40 years.They do not take into account age-related changes, which is why they place an abnormal load on the joints.
3. Excess body weight.Excess weight leads to increased axial load on the joints.The latter leads to microtrauma, meniscal lesions and ligament ruptures.The higher the patient's weight, the higher the risk of developing the disease.
4. Past illnesses.Conditions that can lead to knee OA over time include psoriatic, rheumatoid or reactive arthritis, gout and ankylosing spondylitis.
5. Hereditary factor.The disease is caused by a weakness of the ligamentous apparatus, which is genetically determined.

Doctors identify several other reasons: metabolic disorders, congenital anomalies, capillary fragility, circulatory pathologies, disorders of the hormonal and endocrine systems, old untreated injuries.

Prevention

Prevention of osteoarthritis of the knee joints includes a set of following measures:

• maintain optimal body weight through good nutrition and dosed physical activity;
• drink 1.5 to 2 liters of clean water per day;
• be careful when playing sports;
• See a doctor immediately if you experience knee discomfort.

Experts recommend creating a diet that takes into account the individual needs of bone and cartilage tissues.It is strictly forbidden to follow diets based on the refusal of certain foods (for example, cereals).This can lead to metabolic disorders and subsequent pathologies of the musculoskeletal system.

How to treat knee osteoarthritis at home?

To get rid of gonarthrosis at home, you need to approach treatment comprehensively.Therapy includes taking medications, following a diet and physiotherapeutic procedures.Carrying out a massage for osteoarthritis is an equally important point that should be entrusted to specialist doctors.Self-medication can lead to a worsening of the disease.

Drug treatment

Before treating knee osteoarthritis, you need to understand how to relieve knee pain.The main part of treatment is taking medications, aimed at eliminating pain and restoring cartilage tissue.

Medicines for osteoarthritis

To eliminate inflammation and associated discomfort, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are prescribed.This is a group of drugs that have a complex effect: relieving pain, soothing inflammation and lowering temperature.When treating gonarthrosis, they are prescribed intravenously or intramuscularly.

Another group of painkillers is the COX-2 NSAIDs.This category of drugs has a similar therapeutic effect, but the side effects of these drugs are milder.Medicines in this group can be used to relieve pain for several months.

Painkillers help relieve pain, but do not affect the cause of the disease.To cure gonarthrosis, you need to take chondroprotectors, hyaluronic acid, ointments and other medications prescribed by a specialist.

Chondroprotectors

Chondroprotectors are a group of drugs intended for the restoration of cartilage tissue and symptomatic treatment of osteoarthritis.Preparations of this group are made from animal or plant raw materials, hyaluronic acid, collagen and chondroitin sulfate.The latest generation drugs are a combination of the listed substances.They are also supplemented with polyunsaturated fatty acids and vitamins.

Chondroprotectors are available in the form of gels, ointments, tablets and solutions for injection.

Ointments

Ointments, creams and gels are products suitable for rubbing.They have several effects:

• warm the affected area;
• calm inflammation;
• activate local blood circulation and distract from pain.

Hyaluronic acid

Hyaluronic acid is a substance that is part of epithelial, nervous and connective tissues.Preparations based on this component act on the joint in the same way as natural joint lubrication, therefore they received a second name - “liquid prostheses”.

It forms a film on the surface of damaged tissues that performs a protective function.This helps prevent further destruction of cartilage tissue and improves the sliding of surfaces that come into contact with each other during movement.

Compresses with medicines

To improve effectiveness, ointments and solutions can be used in the form of compresses.Ointments, creams or gels are applied to the affected area using a towel and fixed with a bandage.A plastic film is placed on top and a cotton cloth is placed on top.You cannot keep this compress for more than an hour.

Folk remedies

Traditional medicine combined with traditional medicine gives excellent results.

Rubbing and bathing

Rubbing is a mixture of medicinal solutions rubbed onto the skin in the affected area.The goal is to improve blood circulation, helping to warm the sore spot and distract the patient from the pain.It is recommended to use this method in combination with a sauna or hot bath.First you need to warm up the body with hot water or steam in a bathhouse, and then apply a mixture of medicinal solutions to the painful area.

Infusions and decoctions

Infusions and decoctions will help relieve pain and improve the patient's condition in the early stages of gonarthrosis.To relieve symptoms, the following folk remedies are used: black bean tea, infusion of lemon, garlic and nettle, and decoction of beef hooves.

Compress

You can make compresses yourself using natural ingredients.They are made in the same way as packaging with ointments and solutions.You can use natural honey, clay, camphor oil and young dandelion leaves as a basis.This compress can be left overnight.

Exercise therapy and procedures

Therapeutic gymnastics

Doing exercises for knee osteoarthritis at home is one of the most effective ways to self-treat this disease.Physiotherapy exercises are not prescribed to patients with exacerbations of gonarthrosis.You can only perform exercises during periods when there is practically no pain and mobility is not limited.

Therapeutic massage

For gonarthrosis, experts allow self-massage of the knee joint.For the massage technique to give the expected result, it is important to do it correctly.The knee joint massage technique is as follows:

1. Sit on a chair, bend your knees at a right angle.To make it more comfortable, place a bench or small chair under your feet.
2. During the process, one hand should be behind the knee and the other in front.
3. There are several ways to massage the knee: rubbing with the edge of the palm, a hand folded into a fist or gentle circular stroking with the pads of the fingers are allowed.

Experts recommend massaging the knee for osteoarthritis at home up to 5 times a day.The total duration of the procedure can be up to 15 minutes.Contraindications to massage: acute stage of the disease, bleeding, vascular thrombosis, high temperature, fever.

Thermal treatments

This is an effective treatment method used in conjunction with other methods.The procedure is carried out after the disappearance of the acute stage of knee osteoarthritis.This therapeutic option aims to dilate blood vessels, activate metabolic processes, accelerate regeneration and increase joint mobility.Elimination of pain is another benefit offered by thermal procedures.

Magnetic therapy device

There is a device that emits a magnetic field that comes into contact with charged particles in the body and accelerates metabolic processes.Thanks to this, the restoration of cartilage tissue is stimulated, the production of natural lubrication is increased and metabolic processes are improved.

The device is often used in medical institutions and sanatoriums.Therapy with the device can also be carried out at home.The kit includes detailed instructions for use.

Food

A patient with knee osteoarthritis needs to lose weight and also eliminate harmful foods from his diet.Below are two charts that will help you lose weight and eat joint-healthy foods.

Useful and prohibited foods

When treating osteoarthritis, doctors recommend maintaining a normal weight and following the following diet:

Healthy products	Prohibited products
lean meat; mineral water without gas; nut; cereals; poultry and fish; fermented milk products; bone broth-based jellied meat; chicken eggs.	tomatoes; refined oils; mayonnaise; fast food; alcohol; coffee; flour and sweet products; fruits with high acid content; sausages; sausages; fatty meat; bell pepper; white cabbage.

You should eat often and in small portions (up to 300 g).The last meal should be taken no later than 2 to 3 hours before bedtime.

Example diet

Example menu:

Breakfast	Lunch	Afternoon snack	Dinner	Late dinner
buckwheat porridge with mushrooms – 150 g; piece of rye bread – 20 g.	cooked jellied meat on pork legs – 250 g.	a glass of kefir – 250 ml.	mashed potatoes – 100 g; baked pollock – 80 g.	chicken breast – 80 g.

You can add all authorized products to the menu.The main rule is not to overload the body with heavy foods and eat according to a schedule.