Learn About Knee Pain Relief
Knee pain is one of the most common ailments affecting people in the United States. It is estimated that 50 million people are suffering from or have suffered from knee pain. Pain in the knee is typically caused by an injury, overuse or osteoarthritis and makes it difficult to move around.
About the Knee
Your knee consists of bone, cartilage, ligaments, and fluid, these components work together to provide movement in your knee joint. If any of these components are hurt or diseased, you’ll experience discomfort in your knee. The pain can range from a slight discomfort during walking or severe pain that inhibits movement.
Known Solutions to Help Relieve Knee Pain
Over-the-Counter (OTC) Pain Medication: Anti-inflammatory medication like Ibuprofen reduces inflammation and provides knee pain relief. It’s recommended you follow dosage guidelines from the manufacturer or speak with your doctor.
Manage Your Body Weight: Body weight can be a major contributor to knee problems. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle and keeping your weight within healthy, recommended guidelines can help reduce the load placed on the knee joint.
Strengthen Surrounding Muscles: Strengthening the muscles around your knee in both legs can help relieve pain because the muscles play a primary role in supporting the knee. If you have a muscle imbalance, your knee may be taking a larger load of impact to help compensate for the weak muscles. By strengthening the muscles you increase muscle power and endurance, which improves the performance of the knee joint. Strengthening the muscles in both legs helps even out your load to prevent imbalance injuries.
R. I. C. E.: Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation. Integrating these four well-known pain relief tactics in sequence can significantly reduce and relieve knee pain. R. I. C. E. helps speed up healing by protecting injured tissues, reducing swelling and inflammation, and ultimately, alleviating the pain.
Give Added Support to the Knee: There are a variety of knee braces designed for very specific conditions and symptoms. For example, an osteoarthritis knee brace helps reduce the load placed on the knee. Other types of braces include compression sleeves which help provide warmth and stability to the joint. Depending on your injury or pain, you may need a hinged brace or a knee strap. Check out our guide to choosing a knee brace or try our Brace Advisor tool which helps you identify the right brace for you.
Identify Your Knee Pain: Knee pain can be general but often times it has been caused by a specific incident or you may have a specific condition or injury. Learning more about your knee pain and possible causes can help you find the proper treatment and get you on the road to recovery. It might be Jumper’s Knee, an ACL or meniscus tear, PFPS, or one of many others. Check out our guide to knee pain to find the best relief for your pain.