Knee arthritis is a common joint condition caused by cartilage wear. It is also called knee osteoarthritis, which is the most common type of arthritis.
Osteoarthritis occurs when cartilage, a protective tissue at the ends of bones, wears down over time. It may lead to pain and stiffness in the joints, especially the knees.
Knee pain can make it tough for you to stay active. It may even become difficult to get through your daily routines or to get out of bed in the morning. If you’re having trouble taking the stairs, going from sitting to standing, getting in and out of a car, or if you notice painful grinding, clicking or popping in the front of your knee, that may be an indicator that the cartilage in the front of the knee is starting to break down.
But even if you’re experiencing symptoms of knee arthritis, there are still strategies to help keep your knees healthier and moving better. A stable, strong joint is a happy joint with less pain, decreased inflammation and less swelling.
Some effective ways reduce knee pain
1. Losing weight for knee pain relief
Studies have shown that weight loss can drastically improve sore knees. Some research has shown that each 1 pound of weight loss takes 4 pounds of pressure off our knees.
The stress that our knees experience with activity is often exponential. When we’re running and jumping, the force can be up to 8 times our body weight across our joints. So every pound of weight loss can have a profound effect on the amount of force on the joints.
2. Exercising and cross-training to manage knee arthritis
Another important strategy to manage knee arthritis pain is to be active. Exercise can help get all of those muscles around the knee joint to work in concert again. It will make them nice and strong, which will provide more stability and better pain relief to the joint.
It’s important to vary the types of activities you do, called cross-training. If you’re a runner who wants to run 20 miles a day, 7 days a week, every day of the month, the joint is going to wear out faster. But of course a sedentary lifestyle is equally as bad.
3. Stretching to help prevent knee pain
Knee pain is often caused or exacerbated by tight muscles around the joint. Stretching the muscles around the knee before and after exercise is essential.
You can individuals stretch each of the following muscles (on both sides) for 10 seconds each:
- Quads (quadriceps), in the front of the thighs
- Hamstrings, in the back of the thighs
- Calves, back of the bottoms of the legs
- Core
If the muscles aren’t flexible, the knee joint sometimes won’t move properly,. It doesn’t take much to put the body in a good position. Dedicating just a little bit of time to doing these exercises, warming up properly and cooling down, can be instrumental in preventing injury and pain.
In addition, you can icing sore knees for 20 minutes after exercise.
4. Choosing a good foundation for exercise
For active people, proper footwear and avoiding exercise on challenging surfaces is very important.
The key to having happy and healthy joints is having a good foundation. If you have a poor foundation, it’s hard to expect to build anything strong on top of that. The harder the surface, the more force and impact that’s going to go through our joints. But overly soft surfaces, such as sand, are uneven and give way underneath us, which can also cause arthritic flares or other problems in the knee. Focus on what works best for you and find a happy medium.
5. Anti-inflammatory medications for arthritis knee pain
A short course of over-the-counter nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen and naproxen sodium are a relatively safe self-treatment option for arthritis knee pain relief. Because people with some medical conditions shouldn’t take NSAIDs, be sure to check with your doctor first.
6. Anti-inflammatory nutrition and healthy habits
The things you eat and drink, along with other behaviors, like smoking, also contribute to knee pain. If your diet is heavy in inflammatory foods and dehydrating beverages, that affects the quality of the cartilage and joint health.
These things can lead to knee pain:
- Dairy
- Foods high in fat, including fried foods
- Processed and red meats
- Refined carbohydrates, such as white bread and white pasta
- Sugar
- Tobacco and alcohol
Instead, try to incorporate more foods that are high in antioxidants and help you stay well hydrated such:
- Fatty fish, including salmon and tuna
- Fruits, such as tomatoes, berries, cherries and oranges
- Green, leafy vegetables, including kale, spinach and broccoli
- Nuts
- Olive oil
- Supplements such as fish oil, turmeric, glucosamine and chondroitin
