Walking, kneeling, stair schlepping...Knees take abuse. No wonder 20%
of us report having had pain in these joints in the past 3 months. Most
arises from injuries and osteoarthritis, which are more common with
age. Here's how to get a leg up on the pain.
1. Ice
Frozen peas pair nicely with swelling and pain.
Whether you injure your knee or suffer an arthritis flare-up, ice molded
around the joint for 20 minutes each hour brings down inflammation.
2. NSAIDSIt's better than acetaminophen. If your
stomach can take it, pop the drugs (such as ibuprofen) for 10 to 14
days. "That's more effective than stopping and starting," says Elizabeth
Matzkin, surgical director of women's musculoskeletal health at Harvard
Medical School.
3. Smart ExerciseAs in, definitely don't stop
working out. Keeping active builds muscles that support the knee joint.
Two things to avoid if you have pain: running and doing full leg
extensions with a resistance machine. Better bets: walking, bicycling,
and "closed kinetic chain" exercises, in which the foot stays planted
(like on an elliptical trainer).
4. Healing Foods
They go straight to your knees. Drinking 1% or fat-free milk helped women put the brakes on knee osteoarthritis
in one study. Other research shows that people who eat fruit with
vitamin C show fewer signs of heading toward OA than those who don't.
5. Weight Loss
Every pound you lose feels like 5 fewer pounds to the knee. Exercise and a healthy diet can each help you lose, but dropping pounds by combining the two is the gold standard for relieving pain and restoring function, according to one recent study. (Get the scale moving with these 15 small changes for weight loss.)
Every pound you lose feels like 5 fewer pounds to the knee. Exercise and a healthy diet can each help you lose, but dropping pounds by combining the two is the gold standard for relieving pain and restoring function, according to one recent study. (Get the scale moving with these 15 small changes for weight loss.)
6. Glucosamine/ChondroitinSome knees respond,
some don't. That's why the benefit looks statistically nonexistent, on
average, in studies. It's worth a try for 2 to 3 months: That's when it
will help if it's going to.
7. InjectionsGo right to the source of the pain.
But not too often. Corticosteroids can ease pain by reducing
inflammation when injected directly into the joint. They work well but
temporarily. In fact, repeated injections may deteriorate cartilage, so
doctors usually limit shots to 3 or 4 times a year.
8. Knee Replacement
For when all else fails: A surgeon resurfaces the
ends of the femur and tibia (upper and lower leg bones) where they meet
in the joint and replaces damaged cartilage with metal and plastic
implants. It's the baby/bathwater option for sure, but it could save
your stair-climbing career.
9. Platelet-Rich PlasmaBlood gets removed,
treated, and then injected into the joint with concentrated proteins
called growth factors. PRP has been used by athletes for sprains; now
there's early evidence it helps with knee pain. If it holds up in more
studies, PRP might go mainstream in a few years.
source: prevention.com
0 التعليقات :
Post a Comment