Every day our knees have to withstand body weight and physical activity.Over the years, the cartilage wears down and changes occur in the joint.This is why knee arthrosis occurs in elderly people.
Osteoarthritis of the knee joint (gonarthrosis) is a degenerative pathology of the joint in which cartilage is destroyed, muscles and ligaments are damaged, and bones are deformed.
Treatment of arthrosis of the knee joint at home is a certain set of actions that facilitate the patient's condition.
If the therapy is supplemented with competent medical prescriptions, the progression of the disease can be slowed down, and sometimes even completely stopped.
Symptoms and causes of arthrosis of the joints
The first of the signs that indicate gonarthrosis of the knee joint is stiffness of the knee and the appearance of pain after minor exertion, sleep and sitting for a long time.If the patient warms up a little, the pain will subside.A creaking sound is often heard when bending the knee, and the pain worsens after hypothermia.
Such signs of the disease appear over several years and are sometimes disturbing.If the problem is not treated, over time it becomes difficult to walk, the knee joint is deformed and it becomes impossible to move without crutches.
The following can help accelerate the development of the pathology:
- Excess weight of the patient, which triples the rate of progression.
- Regular exercise.
- Meniscus injuries, fractures and knee injuries.
- Bone placement defects (X and O shaped).They deform the cartilage tissue and the joint as a whole.
Stages of development of arthrosis of the knee joint
Phase 1
Legs become very tired, mobility becomes limited and a creaking sensation appears.Joint pain occurs both at rest and during prolonged exercise.In this stage of the disease, there is no deformation of the knee and the joint gap can only narrow.
Phase 2
Deforming arthrosis of the knee joint, grade 2, requires immediate treatment, as the pain becomes severe and restricts movement.The person is unable to move long distances and needs a lot of rest.Along with loud crunching and deformation, lameness appears.Bone grows and osteophytes form, fluid accumulates in the case of synovitis.
Phase 3
The most severe stage of the disease.The pain occurs even at rest, and the leg becomes almost motionless.The joint gap may disappear completely.
Who is at risk?
- overweight people;
- everyone who leads a sedentary lifestyle;
- patients with knee injuries;
- professional and amateur athletes who put a lot of stress on their knees;
- people with a profession that puts a lot of stress on their knees;
- patients with cartilage and bone pathologies;
- people with infectious and parasitic diseases.
All these reasons accelerate the development of the disease at an early age and lead to a complex course of the disease.
Treatment of arthrosis of the knee joint
At the moment, doctors do not single out any treatment regimen, because there is no specific drug that helps patients in the same way.When planning treatment at home, doctors take into account the degree of the problem, the age of the patient, the severity of the pain and the degree of deformation of the joint.
Therefore, it will be necessary to treat such a disease for a long time and diligently, using different methods of influencing the painful knee.
Principles of nutrition
Everyone should understand that it is necessary to start the treatment of arthrosis at home with the correction of diet.In this case, increasing the amount of calcium, vitamins "B" and "E" is considered a prerequisite.The body can get these elements from sprouted wheat, dairy products, almonds, whole grains, bread and pasta.
Salt should be limited and increased in vegetarian salads and vegetables after quick heat treatment.
Anyone who plans to treat osteoarthritis of any degree should exclude acidic fruits such as grapefruit, lemons, oranges, as well as alcohol and coffee from their diet.The amount of meat consumed will have to be reduced to a minimum, as well as dried fruits and cereals.
A dish made from bone broth is considered a healthy dish, as it is enriched with collagen, which is necessary for building cartilage and bone matter.It is equally important to use gelatin, which contains the main chondroprotectors.
gymnastics
Even with the most advanced degree of arthrosis, treatment involves performing three exercises:
- You need to sit on a high chair or table so that your legs hang freely.Then they start babbling with an amplitude of up to 10 cm.Severe patients are allowed to exercise for 5 minutes every hour, and for other patients - 10 minutes several times a day.
- Sitting on a chair, place your feet on the floor.Leaning on the toe, the heel lifts off the floor by 12 cm and then falls freely.After 3 seconds, the exercise is repeated.For both painful legs, the exercise is performed alternately.
- Sit on a chair and put your feet on the floor.Then, resting on your heel, relax and slowly tap your toes on the floor, lifting them no more than 12 cm.Take a 3-second break between exercises.
Knee joint massage
At home, you can independently work on the knee joint with arthrosis, using blows through the fingers, palm and slaps.
Under the influence of hitting, the skin activates nerve pathways and causes a rush of blood.With blows through pressed fingers, the impact spreads to the muscles, ligaments, tendons and joint capsule.Thus, the blood is more easily squeezed out of the capillaries without damage.
The treatment should be started by tapping the painful places with pressed fingers.A knee kick from the side.Hitting a very painful joint should be done as carefully as possible, and as it recovers, it should be slightly strengthened.
Damaged tendons must be carefully patted and then pressed with the palm of the hand on the right, left, front, on the straight leg, below the knee and on the bent leg.The session ends with a beating.
Number of necessary procedures:
- moderate arthrosis – once a week;
- lighter stage of arthrosis - once in 23 days;
- severe arthrosis with inflammation and swelling - once every six months.
Magnetotherapy
This procedure can easily be performed at home and will not further deform the knee.For many years, magnetic therapy has been tested in practice and has always shown excellent results.
A knee joint affected by arthrosis can be treated at home under the influence of a weak magnetic field.This treatment normalizes blood circulation and metabolism.This accelerates the outflow of fluid from the tissues.
To solve the problem with a magnet, you do not need to perform complex actions.Only a small magnet is needed for the procedure.Massage the area of the injured knee in circular motions for 20 minutes once a day.The duration of such treatment is usually up to three months.There are many reviews about the treatment of arthrosis of the knee joint of the 2nd degree with a magnet, and all of them are positive.
Thermal treatments
The possibility of performing thermal procedures at home is limited.Instead you can use wet and dry heat – foot baths and compresses.
Add sea salt (a tablespoon per liter) to water heated to 45°C, then pour it into a tall tank so that your knees are completely immersed.Warm water helps expand blood vessels, and salt removes excess fluid from the periarticular tissue.
Sand with coarse salt or a mixture of dried herbs is heated in a microwave oven or in a pan, then wrapped in a thick material and cooled to room temperature to be applied to the knee.After such treatment, the dressing is not thrown away - it is used for the entire course.
At the end of the thermal procedure, a gel (ointment) prescribed by the doctor is applied to the knee joint.With enlarged pores, the drug penetrates better and has a stronger analgesic effect.
Drug treatment
At home, the treatment of arthrosis of the knee joint of varying degrees of complexity can be carried out with local drugs with anti-edematous, anti-inflammatory, warming and analgesic effects.The advantage of these funds is the possibility of long-term use.The active substance of the ointment does not penetrate in such a quantity as to cause side effects.Thus, the circle of people to whom treatment is available is expanding if the course of injections or tablets with an active substance is prohibited.This refers to NSAID drugs that are prohibited for people with chronic and acute gastrointestinal diseases and other diseases of internal organs.When used locally, they relieve pain and reduce inflammation in arthrosis.
Traditional recipes for the treatment of knee arthrosis
Amazing medicinal plants are known in nature, which are necessary for the production of collagen and the restoration of cartilage.
- Gelatin- a popular treatment for joints.To prepare the medicine, you need to take a spoonful of gelatin and pour a quarter of a glass of water into it in the evening, and in the morning, when it swells, consume it on an empty stomach.For a full therapeutic course you will need 150 g of gelatin.The drug is contraindicated for people with high blood clotting.
- Dandelion– freshly picked flowers are washed well under water and then chewed to pulp.You must eat up to 5 flowers per day.It is worth preparing the leaves of the plant for treatment in winter.The leaves should be chewed daily, despite the bitter taste.Dry grass is poured with a glass of boiling water and soaked.Dandelion tincture has an excellent effect.You have to rub it on your knees for a month.The pain will disappear quickly, but the procedure must be continued.To prepare the remedy, collect many dandelion heads and fill a bottle with them, then fill it with alcohol or triple cologne.The tincture will be ready in a month.
- Honey and bee products- a unique medicine for arthrosis of the knee joint.The honey is heated with a heating pad and then applied to the affected area, rubbing in light circular movements.The procedure is performed once a day for half a month, and after a break the session is repeated again.
- Velcro– a common herb for treating joints.You should take 6-7 burdock leaves and fold them with the hairy side down.Place a pan of hot water on top of this pile until it cools.The knee is lubricated with vegetable oil, leaves are placed on top and wrapped in polyethylene and a towel.
- Cinquefoil and cinquefoil (tincture)- five fingers and kerosene root (2:1) are poured with vodka and left to stand for 20 days.The finished product is taken orally, one spoonful before meals, for a month, and then take a break.The combination of herbs relieves swelling, increases joint mobility and eliminates creaking.
- Cabbage juice- this product should be soaked with woolen material and applied to the painful area.The procedure is performed before going to bed.The finished juice is stored for no more than three days in a dark place.You can make poultices from cabbage leaves.The inside of the leaf is smeared with honey and placed on the painful knee.It is then reinforced overnight with polyethylene and wool fabric.The compress is removed in the morning, and the rest of the honey is removed with warm water.The course of treatment lasts one month.
- Curd milk compress with chalk- add the fermented milk product to the ground chalk, mix well and apply the mixture to the knee joint.After insulation with a film and cloth, the next morning the rest is removed with a towel.A chalk compress relieves inflammation and pain.
- Therapeutic bath with pine- conifer plants are always used to treat arthrosis of the joints, most often in the form of baths.To prepare the medicinal mixture, take pine branches with needles, a couple of chopped Jerusalem artichokes, 1 tsp.turpentine, 1 kg of sea salt, 2 tbsp.l.med.You can stay in such a bathroom for no more than 20 minutes, and then wipe the skin with a towel.An iodine mesh is pulled over the painful joint and smeared with honey.Steamed net made of pork fat is also applied there.The course of arthrosis therapy is two weeks.
Osteoarthritis of the knee is a disease that most people often face.Therapy at home helps to stop the progression of the disease, as well as to completely restore the articular substance.Moreover, the effectiveness of the methods depends on the patient himself and his desire for recovery.