Knee joint Arthritis – The Ultimate guide to fight Knee joint Arthritis like Kobe Bryant

Knee joint arthritis is hurting you am i right? If you have pain at you knee joint or swelling of knee or you already has been diagnosed as arthritis of knee joint. Then you are on the right place at inoesis.org.

fighting arthritis like kobe bean bryant

Kobe Bean Bryant is an American former professional basketball player and less people know that after multiple trauma due to stress on knee he developed arthritis of knee joint. he is fighting with arthritis with many ways.he says about arthritis that “I wondered how I was ever going to play basketball again “. in this article we enlighten on knee joint Arthritis.

Appendicular skeleton and Arthritis

Do you know that arthritis of knee joint is related to appendicular skeleton and especially Lower limb? I think you should have a little knowledge about Lower limb so that you can understand the impact of your arthritis disease in a better way.

Your lower extremity or lower limb is consisting of hip, thigh, knee, leg, ankle, foot and toes. It has 62 bones with major involving pelvis bone (hip bone), femur, tibia, fibula, calcanus, talus, small bones of foot, and small bones of toes. Main Neuronal connection in lower limb is called Lumber plexus which provides connectivity of lower limb to brain through spinal cord.

Main blood vessels are arteries including iliac, femoral, popletial and other small arteries of leg and foot which send blood from heart to legs and toes so that your limb can get nutrients. While main veins include small saphenous and great saphenous veins which take blood from toes towards heart. Main joints are hip, knee, ankle joints and small joints of foot and toes so that you can move.

functions of lower limb

If we talk about function of lower limb in primates and other animals, they help to run on ground, climb tress in monkeys, swim in water like in fishes etc. but lower limb has major role in human beings. It has evolved its functions in humans. Lower limb helps in

• Walking
• Jumping
• Running
• Weight transferring of
  upper body to ground
• Adaption against gravity so
  help in standing
• All functions depending
  upon the basic principle of walking

Lower limb is very essential component in survival of human being. For example if you get arthritis of knee joint and you cannot run and live a healthy Movable life.  Pain can make you localized to your home. as a result You cannot do traveling, going to outside places like buying grocery for home etc.

effect of arthritis on daily life

Similarly if you get grade 4 arthritis of hip joint, you cannot stand and walk properly.as a result Impact of lower limb knee joint arthritis can be from mild painful movement to total sitting on wheel chair for the rest of your life. For rest of your life depending on person who moves your wheel chair.

Do not be Disappointed if you have arthritis

Similarly Arthritis of your knee joint can have drastic effect on your social life. But do not be disappointed thanks to advancements in medical sciences and researchers. Now in this era of human race due to development we have a lot of options for the arthritis of knee joint. Like total hip replacement, knee joint replacement and even exoskeleton. which not only reduces stress on you lower limb joints but also provide enhanced more powerful movements on natural joints by bypassing knee and other joints and directly transmitting weight of  upper body to the ground.

There are a lot of diseases related to human skeletal system but few diseases affect as many as arthritis; few cases as much pain, disability and hopelessness. Although some diseases do not have cure like cancer but arthritis can be treated even some type of arthritis diseases can be cured.

What we do at Inoesis

We at inoesis discuss the issues related to arthritis, so that anyone can understand, what is arthritis and can treat his/her illness in a very simple but comprehensive way.

Although pain in your knee joint can be caused by any reason but most of the time it is arthritis (inflammation of knee joint). Especially when you have very sever long standing pain and decreased degree of motion at knee joint. To know the basic concept of arthritis click here.

Arthritis of knee joint, a reality you have to Accept

 Arthritis of your knee joint can be due to any cause but there is a reality about arthritis which you have to accept. We start our movement of knee joint in the womb of our mother and continue to move till our life ends. With passing time we become older. Our bones mineral density decreases. Our Osteoblast cells (cells in bones which generate new bone) become older and weak. As a result we have less bone repair than our daily bone damage. So at the end of the day our joints become arthritic. Their smooth surface is replaced by irregular damaged surface. So when pain, Deformity and Immobility occurs at knee joint. it is said that arthritis has been established and your hyaline cartilage has been removed.

Integrity of your knee joint has lost. So as we cannot stop aging process we cannot stop arthritis. But do not be disappointed arthritis of knee joint not only can be treated but can be cured.

Tip for arthritis

As the arthritis has occurred so if we deal it with very comprehensive and effective way we can have a very firm grip on arthritis of knee joint. But remember time never stops so arthritis never stops.

Medicine have very important role in treatment of knee joint arthritis but you have to treat it with other ways also. Here I need a favor from you. I would tell you the key to success in treating arthritis but you have to share this article on social media like facebook etc.

The Key To Success

The key to success in treating arthritis of your knee joint lies in this sentence.

“Your arthritis of knee joint would be very effectively managed if your follow the instructions of your doctor , Physiotherapist, giving rest to your knee joint , exercise of muscles present around knee joint, Weight control, education of disease, good food, healthy changes in daily lifestyle, family support , control of your other diseases like Diabetes mellitus , hypertension or any other illness .”

by surgeon Brevis

Above written paragraph is a key to success in combating with disease of your knee joint. because if you would just follow your doctor and took pain killer and do not control other measures, your arthritis of knee joint would not go away. Let me explain it with an example. If you have 150 kg weight and knee joint arthritis then just taking medicines would not help you to get rid of knee joint arthritis. Stress on your knee joint due to heavy weight is the main factor and if you reduce your weight then it’s going to help you more.

Classification Of knee Joint.

Classification tells you about the surface structure of your joint. What is the three Dimensional structure of knee joint would determine the movement allowed on that joint. So that you just move your joint in That direction only where knee joint easily allows.

knee joint is classified as hing type of synovial joint.

Location Of knee Joint.

Location of your knee joint is important to know because exactly the same point where you feel pain or have swelling can be because of different thing so your knee joint location is very important especially when you are a non-medical person.

knee joint is located In Lower Limb Between Thigh And Leg.

Bones Forming knee Joint

knee joint is formed between femur, tibia and patella.

Movements At knee Joint.

movements which can naturally Occur at knee joint are flexion( closing legs) , extension(Opening legs) and slight medical and later rotation.

arthritis symptoms in knee joint

The problem you face during arthritis of knee joint and that you can tell your doctor is called a symptom the symptoms mentioned below can not exactly diagnose that you have arthritis of knee joint until unless your doctor have properly checked your knee joint. Because some symptoms can miss lead. Like if you have neck stiffness for last one or two days just because last night you slept in an awkward position of neck. That can also cause stiffness of your neck muscles and your symptoms can mimic with arthritis. Therefore proper consultation from your doctor is necessary.

One thing I should mention here before I explain symptoms.

Symptoms of knee joint arthritis can be categorized into two categories so that diagnosis would be made easy.

  General symptoms

these are those symptoms which any arthritic joint can have. These include

 Pain

One thing I should mention here before I explain the symptom of pain. Cartilage is a smooth covering on the articular surface of bones joining to form a joint. Cartilage in your joint can not sense pain. When arthritis occurs it damages cartilage on the surface of bones. When damaged cartilage is removed it exposes bones to each others. Now when arthritis has occurred and bones have been exposed they rub on each other and produce resistance. This in turn causes stimulation of pain receptors present in bone.

Pain at knee joint further increases in intensity and frequency of pain recurrence when inflammation become more sever and all the surrounding area is filled with inflammatory contents.

 Aches.

Ache is continuous dull pain with less intensity. This occurs when small portion of knee joint is inflamed and small quantity of pain receptors is stimulated.

 Swelling. 

In arthritis of knee joint when two boney surfaces rub on each other they cause friction. Friction causes irritation to the surrounding tissue. This in turn causes inflammation. Inflammation brings more blood and fluid at the site of inflammation as a result area become bigger. This aggregated fluid and blood causes the area to increase in size which is shown in the form of swelling.

Stiffness.

Stiffness at knee joint occurs when you feel that motion of joint is limited or you feel difficulty in moving joint. It occurs when you hesitate to move your joint because of pain. Stiffness can be in early morning but that is specifically related to rheumatoid arthritis. Stiffness of joint can also occur due to immobility or placing joint at rest for a longer period of time.

Pain during movement.

Pain specifically occurring during movement is because the irregular bone grown around the knee joint causes pinching and irritation to the tendons of muscles around knee joint.

                        Specific symptoms related to knee joint arthritis;

These are those symptoms which are specifically related to the arthritis of knee joint which means that they only occurs in knee joint arthritis. These are as follow;

you can feel pain, reduced motion ,swelling, aches and especiall pain during closing legs or opening legs when you have knee joint arthritis.

The symptoms of knee joint progresses gradually; sometime they vanishes for a significant amount of time but later they came back again with more severity.

Signs of knee Joint arthritis

Sign is a finding which your health care professional can easily see or detect but they are not told by the patient itself. Signs are detected after thorough examination of your joint.

Just like symptoms, signs are also divided into two categories.

                     General Signs

Swelling

As described above swelling occurs due to accumulation of fluid. So your doctor after comparing with the opposite side of your knee joint can tell that either swelling is present or not.

 Warmth area.

Area over your knee joint can be warm due to increased blood supply because of inflammation. Your doctor checks warmth by placing back side of his hand over skin of knee joint.

 Redness.

When arthritis occurs it is said that inflammation of knee joint has occurred. the inflammatory process increases blood supply in area surrounding joint. This increased blood supply induces red color to the skin over knee joint

Decreased Muscle Mass

Due to pain you become reluctant to move your muscles around knee joint. It is a fact that when you do not use your muscles they become small (atrophy of muscles occurs). This is called rheumatoid cachexia. This is detected in general physical examination done by your doctor.

                        Specific Signs related to knee joint arthritis

specific signs related to knee joint arthritis include redness, warmth skin over knee joint, Reduced motion at knee joint.

Risk Factors involved in Causation of knee Joint arthritis

                                                    There are a lot of risk factors involved in causing arthritis of knee joint. Genetics also play a vital role in causation of arthritis.

First you should know the main process involved in causing arthritis of knee joint so that you know the basis of your disease. That is Cartilage degeneration. Cartilage is the smooth, shiny, resistance less covering of the bones surfaces which are involved in knee joint formation. This cartilage helps bones move against each other without causing significant resistance and protect bone damage during impact with one another. This cartilage is thicker in weight bearing joints like knee joint and hip joint. There are two main primary processes which are involved in degeneration of this cartilage.

• Abnormal bone
  growth due to multiple time trauma and abnormal regeneration.
• The articular surface
  becomes exposed to both bones due to break down of hyaline cartilage
  surrounding articular surfaces of joint.

Both of above mentioned processes on one hand reduces space between the joint cavities. Secondly they produce abnormal, irregular, deformed bone called spur or osteophytes.

 These are mentioned below.

Joint Trauma

Trauma either caused by high energy hit or surgery causes damage to cartilage in knee joint. Which after month or even years appear as arthritis of knee joint. For example if you got a blow on your knee joint years earlier in which your ligament (strips of soft tissue around the joint which hold the joint at its tight position) surrounding knee joint are torn or sprained or stretched then chances of arthritis of knee joint increases significantly.

Increasing age

As you become older your power of healing the damaged body decreases. Every cell in your body has more catabolism (Destruction of body) and less anabolism (Regeneration or healing body). So in older age probability of getting arthritis of knee joint increases and your pain and other symptoms increases significantly.

Congenital Defect(Disease present stating from Birth)

Congenital diseases like Gout ( increased uric acid levels in body) , soft tissue disorders like Ehler–Danlos Syndrome, Marfan Syndrome, autoimmune diseases etc all these kind of diseases make a person more susceptible to arthritis . Like Gout can cause arthritis of knee joint by depositing uric acid crystal in joint and damaging the cartilage. People with metabolic disorders like diabetes mellitus who have heavy body weight are more prone to developing arthritis of weight bearing joints like knee joint. so all these diseases should be mentioned to your your doctor by you .

Joint Stress or Multiple Small Long term Injuries

Stress or multiple repetitive small injuries for longer duration can cause arthritis of knee joint. This is because whenever you got small injury your body repairs that area. It needs time to heal that area. If you got multiple small injuries after short time again and again your body could not heal properly in that area. This environment of more destruction and less healing become the fate of knee joint arthritis. For example people working for longer duration of time, in industries where they have to lift heavy weight are more prone to getting arthritis of knee joint.

conclusion of risk factors

All above mentioned risk factors are involved in causation of arthritis of knee joint. But it is not true always. Sometime in the absence of any factor you can get arthritis of knee joint. Similarly in the presence of all above mentioned factors your may not get arthritis of knee joint.

Therefore here are some specific factors when your get arthritis of knee joint. like trauma to knee joint, heavy weight lifting , more stressful job involving heavy weight lifting or Prolonged Standing.

Diagnosing arthritis in knee joint

Diagnosing the arthritis of knee joint is the work of specialist like doctor, orthopedic surgeon, and physiotherapist. Not a single factor can lead to diagnosis of knee joint arthritis. There are multiple steps in diagnosing arthritis of knee joint. eache should be carefully assessed so that disease did not miss at all.

Diagnosis starts form an interview or history taking, general physical examination, some blood test, some urine tests, testing fluid from your joint, radiological imaging like x-ray ,CT-scan, MRI,. After getting all information from these steps, your doctor integrates knowledge so that he can lead to the final diagnosis of knee joint arthritis.

Interview or History Taking

In this step your doctor asks some questions regarding your age, occupation, type of work at job, working hours at job site, life style, activities like sports, any previous injury at the location of knee joint. Doctor also asks about pattern of symptoms like pain character, nature, duration for lasting pain, factors which increase pain and factors which decrease pain etc. similarly doctor also inquires about duration of onset of symptoms, limitation to the range of movements at knee joint. 

Doctor will also ask about any Stressful work which involves prolonged standing, heavy lifting job, prolonged low sitting on ground, any previous disease on knee joint Like Tuberculosis, previous history of diabetes melitus, rheumatoid arthritis, Accidental trauma at knee joint etc.

Physical Examination

In this step doctor will observe the knee joint by his other senses like touch, temperature etc. he will notice any swelling, redness by seeing with is intelligent eyes. He would also touch skin over joint to detect any warmth area over skin. your doctor would move joint to check decreases range of motion, any sound, resistance or rubbing sensation from joint’s articular surface.

 doctor would also perform some specific moves to detect arthritis of knee joint. Like flexion and extension at knee joint, anterior draw test, posterior draw test, medial rotation, lateral rotation .

Blood Tests

To narrow down the diagnosis or to find any other causative risk factor your doctor may ask for some blood tests so that blood born disease should be ruled out. It depends upon the findings detected from history, examination. Like your doctor can ask for serum uric acid level if he finds other joint involved in arthritis including knee joint. He can also ask for other test like blood sugar levels, Rheumatoid factor, anti CCP antibodies etc.

Arthrocentesis (Taking Fluid from your joint and test it)

When there are some specific diseases which are the responsible for arthritis of knee joint. Then your doctor may also ask for fluid collection from your joint space and send it to lab for cytological analysis, biochemistry, culture and sensitivity for detecting any specific bacteria and drugs to which that bacteria can respond. Like in third world countries tuberculosis arthritis can be the causative factor in causing arthritis. So to diagnose exact cause some time arthrocentesis become essential.

Radiological Imaging

After making diagnosis now doctor wants to know the effect of disease on your knee joint so that he would be able to Estimate the damage already Occurred. For this your doctor may ask for an X-ray of your knee joint. X-ray can give significant information about the status of your joint. But if x-ray cannot tell the minor details your doctor can proceed to MRI or CT-Scan of your knee joint. CT-Scan and MRI gives significant micro level details about your joint.

Finding on xray, MRI OR CT-Scan of knee joint arthritis can be osteophytes, irregular articular surface of Femur, Irregular articular surface of tibia, ligament rupture, ACL rupture, any hair line fracture of tibia or Femur.

Associated Disease in Which Arthritis of knee joint occurs.

Here is a list of some specific disease in which arthritis of knee joint can occur. you should be Aware of them so that you can treat your knee joint arthritis effectively.

• Osteoarthritis(age related degeneration of joints)
•  Rheumatoid arthritis
• Diabetes melitus

Treatment, how to get ride of knee joint arthritis

There are many ways to reduce pain of your knee joint arthritis. Some treatment may be recommended by your doctor other may be recommended by your physiotherapist. Some treatment may help reducing your pain while the same treatment may not work at later stages. Therefore finding the best treatment for the pain of your knee joint arthritis may take time. So it is important that you tell your doctor about the feedback of previous treatment because as with age arthritis status changes, so your treatment in reducing pain may also have to be changed according to severity.

Health professionals involved in knee joint arthritis treatment

Doctors which are involved in treatment of knee joint arthritis may include family physicians and general practitioners, nutritionists, rheumatologists and orthopedists, physiatrists, internists, ophthalmologist, pediatricians, psychiatrists, podiatrists, nurses, occupational therapists, pharmacists, physical therapists, social worker, psychologists, X-ray and laboratory technologists, certified dietitians.

Therefore treatment of knee joint arthritis may be divided into two categories: one non-surgical (medical) and surgical. While the non-surgical or medical treatment can further be divided into treatment with medicines, physiotherapy, exercises, pacing yourself, heat and cold, joint protection, food and daily life style changes.

           Non Surgical treatment of knee joint arthritis.

This treatment involves non invasive strategies which can treat your arthritis of knee joint so that excessive damage of Surgeries could be prevented.

Medicine

There are many medicines available for the treatment of knee joint arthritis. Which help to reduce signs and symptoms like pain and swelling according to need. Some medicines are available without prescription while others are prescribed by your doctor and you should be very conscious about these drugs while using without doctor prescription.

We have all medicines available on our arthritis website. Visit arthritis medicine shop.

Acetaminophen.

This is most commonly used medicine to counter pain of knee joint arthritis. This is available without prescription. You can buy it by clicking here. This is available under many brands but most commonly sold is Tylenol.

NSAIDs (Non Steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs)

As you know that knee joint arthritis is the inflammation of knee joint. So if you are able to block inflammation your signs and symptoms may reduce. NSAIDs works best by reducing swelling and pain at your knee joint. Most commonly used NSAIDs are aspirin, ibuprofen and naproxen sodium. These are available without prescription so that you can buy them online. You can buy them on our arthritis shop. NSAIDs should be used with great cautions as they can cause stomach upset and stomach ulcers. So if you are not taking these medicines you should first consult your doctor and then your should take. But if you are already taking them than be conscious about their side effects and should immediately consult your doctor.

Aspirin

Is most commonly used for just relieving pain of knee joint arthritis as it does not reduce swelling. But aspirin should be used with great caution as it can make your blood thinner and if you have stomach ulcer, you can bleed from your stomach and would not stop as it affects the functions of platelets(cells whish stop bleeding). Both it is available without prescription and also on our arthritis shop but you should use it with great cautions.

Steroids

Corticosteroids have strong anti-inflammatory effects and effectively reduce pain and swelling when it comes to the management of knee joint arthritis. But they have many side effects on our body as they can affect our kidney, bones, stomach and many other organs. So you should use steroids only by the advice of your doctor.

DMARDs(Disease Modifying Anti –Rheumatic Drugs)

DMARDs are some special drugs which are used in arthritis management if your knee joint arthritis is because of rheumatoid disease. Their mechanism of action is not clear in treating arthritis but their long term use effectively manages arthritis especially caused by rheumatic disease of joints.

There are many other medicines which directly or indirectly have role in management of arthritis like sleeping medicines may provide you better deep sleep therefore help you to relax your muscles effectively in deep sleep. But all other medicines should be used according to the prescription of your doctor.

Question you should Asked to your doctor before taking medicines

What is the name of the medicine?
What is the correct daily dose?
How should I take it—with food or without?
What is the best time to take it in a 24-hour cycle?
How long will it take to reduce my pain?
What long-term benefits should I expect?
When should I return for follow-up?
What side effects or warning signs should I watch for?
When should I avoid this medicine?
Which foods should I avoid while taking it?
Which foods should I take more of?

Physiotherapy

If you want to fight with arthritis naturally Physiotherapy is the answer. Physiotherapy involves range of motion and endurance exercises to correct posture. Due to limitation of motion of muscles around knee joint due to pain, some of your muscles around knee joint may become atrophied(decreased
muscle mass because of not using effectively). These weak muscles not only imbalance the motions at knee joint but also imparts more stress on other muscles around knee joint, whose motion is less painful. Physiotherapy through mobilization, manipulation, stretching, trigger point therapy and soft
tissue massage helps not only to strength all muscles around joints but also reduce pain and stiffness.

If you want book on physiotherapy then click here.

As there should be instructor for physiotherapy of knee joint arthritis and we currently are not able to arrange physiotherapist for you. So you have to watch this video so that you can learn physiotherapy for knee joint arthritis and do that exercise at your home.

For video click here. video

Exercises

Exercise is very important factor in overall management of arthritis. This not only help to reduce pain but also strengthen your muscles which makes movement at knee joint symmetrical and equal in strength in all directions. This equal strength exercise keeps the joint surfaces away from each others at equal distant which indirectly preserves the identity of articular cartilage of your knee joint.

Other benefit of exercise includes:

• Increases blood supply to
  the knee joint which improves healing.
• Increased blood supply
  removes damaged tissue from knee joint.
• Reduces
  joint stiffness by increasing movement at knee joint.
• Reshapes your muscles which
  give you smarter look.
• Keeps joint flexible,
  increase range of motion thus helps you when you have excessive strain on your knee
  joint.
• Keeps your heart healthy.
• Reduces your weight thus reduce stress on
  your joints.

There are a lot of exercises which you can perform while combating arthritis of knee joint. But we divide exercises in to 3 main categories.

types of exercises

1. Strengthening exercises: these exercises increase the strength of your muscles. Strong muscles in return maintain the knee joint stable. These strengthening exercises mainly includes weight lifting, working with resistance bands, climbing stairs, cycling, push-ups and sits-ups etc. these exercises should be done daily or on alternate days so that pace should be maintained.
2. Range of motion exercises:  These Ranges of motion exercise are those exercises which involve stretching muscles at their fullest extent. These exercises are done by stretching joint to its point of resistance and keeping in this state for 5-6 seconds, releasing back and doing this for 10 times in a single turn daily. These exercises make joint more flexible.
3. Endurance exercises:  These Endurance exercises are those which involve building your fitness. They keep your overall body fit and healthy by making heart stronger and reducing your weight. You should do these exercises 20 to 30 minutes three times a week. Rule of thumb for these exercises is that your heart rate should raise and sustain for your 20 to 30 min duration of exercise.

If you want books on arthritis exercise then click her.

If you have rheumatoid arthritis of knee joint then you can do exercise in morning after taking hot water shower. This would not only reduce stiffness of your knee joint but also would keep your joint flexible throughout the day.

If you do not have rheumatoid arthritis of knee joint then you should do exercise at time in a day when you have least stiffness of your knee joint.

precautions while doing daily exercise:

• Start your exercise after warming
  your body for that your can have a little walk
• Start exercise slowly and
  with least resistance
• Build up smaller amount of
  time initially , maintain it for some days than increase your time
• Start exercise from smaller
  number of repetitions, main them and then increase gradually
• You should exercise at a
  level during which you can easily talk to other person
• Never be over enthusiasistic
  in exercise, do up to a level which your joint and body can bear.
• If pains in your body or at
  knee joint lasts more than two hours after exercise it means your exercise
  giving stress to your joint, reduce intensity of your exercise
• Stop exercise if your knee
  joint feels pain during exercise its better to give rest to your knee joint.
• Immediately
  stop exercise If you feel chest tightness, chest pain, shortness of breath,
  dizziness or if your feel sick.
• Consult your
  physiotherapist or doctor if you feel uneasiness during or after doing
  exercise they may change the plan.

Remember that slow and steady wins the race. Doing exercise one day and quitting for weeks than again doing for one or two days is a bad behavior towards your treatment of knee joint arthritis. This bad behavior can have more drastic effect on your knee joint arthritis. Daily light exercise and gradually increasing up to acceptable level would benefit you in the treatment and effective management of arthritis of your knee joint.

So be more realist than more passionate regarding your exercise.

Rest

 Giving rest to the joint is very important treatment of knee joint arthritis. This basically gives more time to your cartilage to grow faster without further adding any damage. As a result your new cartilage begins to grow and the pain receptors become covered. This in return reduces pain and further damage to the joint.

Pacing yourself

Pacing means to keep balance between rest and exercise. Excessive use causes more damage to the knee joint and thus increases arthritis. While rest gives some time to heal. More rest can weaken your muscles around knee joint. Thus there should be some alteration between rest and exercise. A light exercise can make muscles more strong and mobile while rest can heal your knee joint arthritis. Therefore doing a little exercise adds more strength and rest heals the small damage as a result your body gains strength. So you should be pacing of rest alternate with exercise in effective treatment of knee joint arthritis.

Heat and cold

Heat and cold both have very effective but limited role in managing pain of wrist joint arthritis. To get temporarly releife from pain Heat and cold can be used. Both have different role for different patients.

Heat

increases blood supply to that area thus increases healing by wiping out the damaged parts of knee joint at the same time giving more nutrients to heal more effectively. You can use heat by apply hot pads, hot packs, hot tubs, heated pools, hot water shower, rod heated water. All products are available on our arthritis shop. Be very careful while applying hot things on your skin especially with creams as it can cause burn or damage the skin.

Cold reduces

Cold therapy slows the kinetic activity of molecules, which helps reduce the transmission of pain signals from the arthritic wrist to the brain. By partially blocking these signals, cold application can provide noticeable comfort. You can apply cold using ice packs, ice cubes, frozen vegetables, or any available cold source over the wrist joint.

However, keep in mind that prolonged cold exposure can reduce blood supply, which may damage the skin and slow the healing process of wrist arthritis. Excessive or improper use of cold may also lead to Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS), causing discomfort later.

Both heat and cold therapies should be used for no more than 20 minutes at a time. The choice between heat and cold, the duration of application, and the appropriate temperature should always be guided by your doctor. Avoid deciding these treatments on your own, as improper use may worsen symptoms or delay recovery.

Joint protection

Joint protection is a very good habit while you are combating with arthritis. Some positions can harm your joint more .Some motions can impart more stress on your knee joint. So you should protect
your joint by following ways.

Frequently changing your posture helps prevent joint stiffness. Avoid positions that increase pain in your wrist or knee to reduce stress on the joints.

Use supportive products like wrist or knee braces to keep joints warm and limit painful movement. These are available in our arthritis shop.

Avoid putting excessive pressure on your joints. Slide objects instead of lifting them, and if lifting is necessary, use stronger joints—carry bags with your shoulder or arm instead of your fingers.

Sit whenever possible, and use a kitchen stool while cooking or washing. Choose lightweight, comfortable items such as soft shoes, warm gloves, or thermogenic braces.

Use easy-grip kitchen tools and proper chairs, and avoid low seating that increases joint stress.

Food and supplements for knee joint arthritis

Currently there is no evident direct connection between food and arthritis. Which means no food has cure for arthritis? But some foods are important when it comes to the cause of arthritis. Like if your knee joint arthritis is due to gout (high blood uric acid level) than all those diets which can remove uric acid from your body can be helpful and all those which increase uric acid like meat would worsen your knee joint arthritis.

Foods which lower uric acid:

If you want to read Books on uric acid and arthritis click here

Supplements which help reduce inflammation.

These are supplements which provides extra nutrients to help fight against inflammation. As you already know that inflammation is the main process which is involved in arthritis. So these supplements are following.

1. Curcumin       (click here to buy)
2. Fish oil            (click here to buy)
3. Ginger            (click here to buy)
4. Resveratrol   (click here to buy)
5. Spirulina        (click here to buy)

Supplements which increase lubrication in knee joint arthritis:

following are supplements which increase lubrication inside joint and help reduce resistance and pain.

1. Glucosamine    (click here to buy)
2. Chondroitin Sulfate (click here to buy)
3. SAMe: S-adenosyl-methionine     (click here to buy)
4. Calcium     (click here to buy)
5. MSM (Methylsulfonylmethane)     (click here to buy)
6. Silicon     (click here to buy)
7. Vitamin C     (click here to buy)
8. Ginger      (click here to buy)
9. Turmeric     (click here to buy)
10. Mediterranean Diet Foods     (click here to buy book)
11. Gelatin     (click here to buy)
12.  TMG: Tri-methyl-glycine     (click here to buy)
13. Omega-3 Fatty Acids     (click here to buy)

Supplements which are anti-oxidants:

Oxidants are basically those chemicals which are harmful to our body like chemicals of our daily use i-e fertilizers, spray etc. they have to be removed from our body. Our immune system kills all of these oxidants but our immune system has a capacity to do that and after that he has to rest to reproduce chemicals for next cycle to kill oxidants. If we continue adding more and more oxidants our immune system become exhausted and cannot kill normal germs or chemical. This all happens in our liver. So here are some supplements which have anti-oxidant effect that refreshes our immune system. In this way our body feels easy in fighting arthritis of knee join. These supplements are as follow:

1. Vitamin C     (click here to buy)
2. Vitamin E     (click here to buy)
3. Curcumin     (click here to buy)
4. Alpha-Lipoic Acid     (click here to buy)
5. Resveratrol   (click here to buy)
6. Spirulina   (click here to buy)
7. Ginger     (click here to buy)
8. Green tea     (click here to buy)
9. Mint     (click here to buy)
10. Garlic   (click here to buy)

Supplements Which Increases Metabolism And Thus Improve Healing:

some supplements especially vitamins increases your metabolism. Boosting metabolism is just like giving nitro boost to your car. Increased metabolism increases healing process so they can increase healing of your body which in turn decreases damage and inflammation so help in knee joint arthritis treatment.

1. vitamin D     (click here to buy)
2. Iron.     (click here to buy)
3. Calcium.     (click here to buy)
4. Vitamin B complex     (click here to buy)
5. Magnesium.    (click here to buy)

Remember buy supplements always from reputable manufacturer; consult with your doctor first before starting any supplements, follow dosage instruction of each ingredient supplement.

All above mentioned supplements are available on our Arthritis Shop.

Life style changes in knee joint arthritis

If we say that treatment of arthritis of knee joint involves a single health profession treatment then we would be wrong about that. Because treatment of knee joint arthritis impart responsibility not only on the shoulders of health care professionals but also on patients himself. As patients life style has a great impact on causation and treatment of knee joins arthritis so it’s his responsibility to change his/her life style as well along with other treatment.

 For example

any work or movement which increases pain in knee joint should be changed in such a way that stress on knee joint would be reduced. Like if you have arthritis of fingers and you feel pain while lifting your hand bag or grocery bag then you should lift with arm or at shoulder. If your knife hearts during vegetable cutting than you should buy arthritis knife available on our arthritis shop.

If you have knee joint arthritis then you should avoid low sitting instead you should use table and chair in your kitchen available on our kitchen store. Your feel pain during typing on your laptop and its cold outside you should wear comfortable gloves before stepping onto laptop. These gloves are available on our arthritis shop. Similarly if you have ankle joint arthritis then you should wear light and comfortable and large sole shoes like given here. Similarly if you have gout then you should avoid high protein diet which increases uric acid level in your body.

 In short you should integrate your lifestyle according to the need of treatment. Any move or work outside the plan given by your doctor and physiotherapist would cause a big trouble for you.

Weight reduction in knee joint arthritis

weight reduction can play a vital role in reducing arthritis of your joints which are more involved in weight bearing. Like all joints of lower limb (region starting from hips, thigh, legs up to fingers of foot) are involved in transferring weight of upper body to the ground. So if you reduce weight, it can significantly reduce your symptoms like pain. And can significantly slow down the process of further damage to the joint. Here is list of some weight reducing supplements.

Education; Knowledge is light

This is the best strategy you can have in the comprehensive treatment of your knee joint arthritis. If you know which is the cause, which movement causes more damage, which food reduces your degeneration your can better control your disease. Like if a person knows that his uric acid is the cause of arthritis of knee joint. Some books are available on our arthritis shop click here. Then he should avoid any food like meat which increases blood uric acid level. Similarly if a person knows that exposure of cold increase pain at arthritis knee joint then he would wear warmth clothes to prevent from more pain.

Education plays a vital role in combating disease process. So you should keep yourself updated about your disease. For this purpose your doctor, orthopedic surgeon, physiotherapists, nutritionists, yoga specialist or any other health care provider can give your best knowledge about your disease. Further more if you know the exact diagnosis of your disease your can search it on Google or you can comment below for any tip or suggestion.

Join social circle of people affected with knee joint arthritis

Arthritis of knee joint can vary from patient to patient. Medical knowledge does not provide experiences of all people. Some people may explain pain due to knee joint arthritis differently than the other people. May be a person in your city affected with knee joint arthritis has a food recipe which can effectively reduce your pain. So it’s very important to join the circle of those people who are already affected with knee joint arthritis. Find the social circles through your doctor, community social workers or through social media. So that you can interact with other people who have similar disease and you may learn from their daily life experiences.

Control of other diseases

control of your other disease is very important when you are treating your knee joint arthritis. If you would not control your other disease the damage would be added more and more and your disease would increase with time. Like if you have Diabetes mellitus which affects every cell of your body. It makes immune system very weak, slows bone regenerating cells (osteoblasts) and healing cells like fibroblasts. Thus if you have not controlled your diabetes mellitus your damaged cartilage would not grow effectively and at the end your arthritis of knee joint would persist despite of your treatment of knee joint arthritis.

              Surgical Treatment

Arthritis is such a disease which usually does not need surgery. Surgery of knee joint arthritis is effective when:

• All available non-surgical
  or medical treatment has failed.
• It’s the terminal stage of
  arthritis where we do not have any evidence to treat knee joint arthritis
  medically.

Currently there are two options available for surgical treatment of any kind of arthritis joint. In first type we shave the articular surfaces of joint to smoothen and softening it so that joint move easily. In second surgical type your doctor may refer you to orthopedic to totally replace the joint with metal implant.

Family Support

Family has no alternative to any other person in society around you. Your Family should have in depth knowledge about your disease so that they can understand and help you. Family helps you in many different ways like if you have knee joint arthritis then may be your wife would help you do to work instead of you. So family acknowledge is very essential for treating arthritis of knee joint.

Patient role in treating knee joint arthritis treatment

When it comes to the overall treatment of knee joint arthritis patient himself is a very prime role player. Like if your doctor has given you best treatment, your physiotherapist has given you best schedule of exercise, your nutritionist has given best diet plan and you have a good social circle of people affected with arthritis but you did not stick to the plan then all things would go in van.

You would not get rid of knee joint arthritis and in return would blame others. There would be a heavy burden on your health budget and your social life would affect a lot.

So a patient should:

• Listen very carefully to all instructions provided by doctor, physiotherapist, nutritionist, and social people.
• Learn arthritis as a whole because treatment of knee joint arthritis involves multidisciplinary approach.
• Follow all the treatment plans give by doctor.
• Should give effective and timely feedback to health care providers so that you have better Control of disease
• Keep a positive attitude towards management of knee joint arthritis.
• Should join social circles of people affected with arthritis.

Me and I-Noesis

I am a doctor and I want to educate society about arthritis because I have gone through all the pains of arthritis. So if you have arthritis it’s better to consult your doctor first. If you need any kind of help from me feel free to comment below or contact me on social media links at bottom.

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