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The vulnerable joint can be injured in a variety of ways from a biking accident to a sport injury, tripping over an object to a bad exercise position. Collision, unplanned movements, breaking a fall and sudden twists or even overuse of the knee joint can injure and damages the joint and the supporting muscles and cartilage leading to sprains, tendon tears, cartilage tears, ligament injuries and bone injuries. Listed below are the best ways to treat a knee injury at home and nurse your knee back to health.
The first line of knee treatment one must follow after having sustained a knee injury is RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation)
Do not aggravate the injuries to the knee further. Take it easy and rest for a few days until the healing process begins. Protect the injured area with bandages, a cast or with padded clothes to prevent accidental touching or brushing of the area that could cause you more pain or soreness. Do not pursue any physical activity, even walking, for the first three days after sustaining the injury. When resting, place a small pillow under your knee.
An ice pack is an effective knee treatment as it numbs the pain and reduce the swelling.
Apply ice or cold packs every few hours to the injury for the first two days to minimize swelling. Apply the pack for about twenty minutes each time and repeat thrice a day.
Gently wrap the injured area with a bandage or place a cast around it for protection. This helps to prevent accidental bending of the knee joint and swelling.
Do not wrap it too tightly since this will make it excruciatingly painful to move even a little bit. The bandage must be comfortable tight. If the bandage is too tight, you will experience pain, numbness or tingling of the leg.
Elevate the injured area on a pillow of a comfortable height. Try and keep the hurt knee roughly level with your shoulders when you are lying down to minimize swelling.
Once elevated, gently massage the injured area to relieve pain and stimulate blood flow. Do not lift too high, this will cause pain.
It is important to strengthen the affected area slowly and gently to speed up the healing process and prevent soreness and aches due to lack of movement of the knee and leg. Once the knee injury has healed slightly and you are able to move your leg, gently perform lifts, bending exercises and other low-impact exercises to strengthen the muscles in the area.
Swimming, slow cycling and walking are great ways to work on your hurt knee joint without the risk of damaging it further. Working on the knee muscles will allow them to remain flexible, swivel easily, heal faster and prevent the knee from seizing up. Bear in mind, however, while performing light exercises, avoid squatting and lifting heavy items or suddenly jerking the knee muscles. Exerting the knee will only aggravate the condition and cause more pain.
Use heat treatment to decrease knee pain and stiffness in the leg. After a week of sustaining injuries to the knee, apply a heating bottle, heating pad, compress or foam to lessen the pain and alleviate the soreness. A simple compress can be made with a clean washcloth dipped in warm water and held against the knee for about twenty minutes to relieve joint aches and pain in the injured area. Repeat the process three to four times each day.
Once your knee injury has received medical attention and you are on your way to healing, engage a physiotherapist to massage and work on the joint and knee muscles to free it up and relieve stiffness and joint aches. A physical therapist can work towards speeding up the healing process by gently moving the knee.
Your therapist will also be able to suggest exercises that can do after the treatment to keep the joint soft and supple for ease of movement despite the injury. Once the pain and swelling has decreased, physiotherapy will help you get back full use of the injured area, joints and muscles with massages and special exercises.
Massages are vital to relieve pain, reduce stiffness and free the joints. Your physiotherapist or you can work on the hurt knee joint to gently massage the knee area with warm olive oil and other massage oils thrice a day. Each massage session should last about fifteen minutes to improve circulation to the injured area and alleviate pain and rigidity that sets in the joints when it is not used. For a more effective pain treatment in the joint, use aromatic oils to relieve inflammation.
Garlic is a natural pain relieving agent. Crush two cloves of garlic and mix in a teaspoon of sesame oil. Use the mixture to gently massage your knees and the injured area.
You will find that the joints are relieved of any ache, the hurt knee is more flexible and easy to straighten or bend after a few massage sessions. This massage eases the pain and swelling.
Include foods rich in vitamin B in your diet as vitamin B helps to relieve swelling, soreness, stiffness and inflammation of the joints. If your diet has sufficient quantities of vitamin B, you will find that the pain is subsiding quickly.
Good sources of vitamin B are eggs, lentils, lean meat, fish, Soybeans and whole grain.
Ginger is a natural anti-inflammatory agent that decreases the production of the body’s natural inflammatory compounds. Consuming ginger in the form of a spice, a dash of juice with honey or in medicine form in herbal tablets relieves knee pain, soreness and inflammation in the injured area.
However, if consumed in excess, a few side-effects of consuming ginger are stomach upset and stomach bleeding. Proceed with care and consume small quantities of this anti-inflammatory agent.
A paste of cinnamon powder and honey on the knee stimulates blood circulation due to the heat released. Increased circulation to the injured area promotes the healing process and alleviates joint aches and pain, reduces swelling and relieves swelling.
The essential oils in cinnamon and honey benefit the tissues and muscles around the injures to the knee. The mixture can be mixed with a little dough to reduce the burning effect caused by just honey and cinnamon powder.
Use these tips to treat injuries to the knee at home and speed up the healing process.
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