When you need to know how to relieve hip and knee pain, you are likely dealing with many factors related to the pain. Hip and knee pain can make a significant impact on the quality of your life.
The joints in the hips and the knees are the largest joints in the body, and they support the entire weight of your body. They play an important role in your mobility. And, when your mobility is compromised, your quality of life can suffer significantly.
You may not realize how important your knees or hips are until you have to deal with this kind of pain. This pain is also a continuous pain that may go away with time in some cases, but may not in cases like osteoarthritis or bursitis. As such, you may need to look for ways to naturally relieve hip and knee pain and improve your gait and overall quality of life today.
There are many ways to do that. Learn more about how to relieve hip and knee pain in this comprehensive guide on effective methods that show you how to relieve this pain fast.
Understanding Hip and Knee Pain
There are many different causes to hip and knee pain, but the most common causes are arthritis, overuse of the joints, and injuries. Millions of Americans suffer daily from these causes, with approximately one in four American adults suffering from arthritis alone.
Arthritis is characterized by pain in the joints that worsens by the end of the day. You may also experience some stiffness when you wake up in the morning. With this stiffness and pain, you will notice that you can’t move your hips or your knees the same way that you could before this condition started. You may also hear some clicking or popping around the knees or joint areas when you try to move. Swelling is also very common with this condition.
Overuse of the hips and knee joints can also result in hip and knee pain. The most common condition connected to overuse of the joints is called bursitis. Here you have a number of tiny fluid-filled sacs in the human body around your joints that help to cushion the bones and reduce the amount of friction in the joints area.
When the bursa begins to wear down due to overuse of the joints, the pain can be incredible. Your mobility will be limited and you will need regular pain relief. Severe bursitis can be treated by your doctor, but you can also treat it at home with natural or easy remedies that help you to get your quality of life back.
Injury to the hips and knees is common with athletes or people that maintain an active lifestyle. These injuries can also happen with people that are overweight and have issues with their mobility to begin with. Any extra weight on the joints can make you at greater risk of injury that could cause significantly long-term pain.
Any kind of pain that is impacting the knees and joints will have an impact on your life. It will impact how you move about at work, at home, and in life. You may have a difficult time putting any weight on the joints at all, and find your overall movement extremely painful. There are ways to cope with this hip and knee pain if you can’t treat or cure it completely.
Lifestyle Changes for Pain Relief
One of the ways you can start dealing and coping with hip and knee pain is by making some simple lifestyle changes. When you are actively involved in maintaining a healthy weight, you will find that your joints are much easier to move with. If your pain is caused by injury as a result of an active lifestyle, your weight may not be an issue. Still, you need to stay active in order to keep the joints moving smoothly so that you don’t injure yourself permanently.
A wide body of research indicates that obesity will have a negative impact on your health and on your joints. If you need to lose weight, you may find that this will begin to take pressure off of your joints, and you may see your mobility improve. Staying active is an important component of keeping those joints healthy.
To complement an active lifestyle, a healthy diet is important. This will help to maintain your weight at a healthy level and also help you to have the energy that you need to have a productive and successful day. Keep your diet rich in vegetables and fruits when you can, and eat those as snacks throughout the day. When you do, you are more equipped to have the energy you need to move the way you need to in order to experience less hip and knee pain.
At the same time, you may want to make some accommodations in your lifestyle so that you can move about better at home and at work. Invest in some ergonomic furniture around the home or office if it will aid in your mobility during your daily life. You can stay active in your daily life even with this kind of pain, without overdoing it or causing yourself more pain or injury. Light exercise that keeps the joint moving freely and smoothly is the way to go.
Stretching and Strengthening Exercises
There are a number of exercises that you can enjoy in order to help to relieve chronic or acute hip and knee joint pain. These exercises will improve the flexibility and strength of your hips and knee joints.
If you have mobility that is already compromised, start with circles of both your hips and knees, alternating what body part you do the exercise with. You can do these exercises sitting or lying down if standing places too much weight on your knees and hip joints. Start with hip circles and perform them as slowly as you need to. Try clockwise, and then counterclockwise. Do the same action on your knees if it is the knees that are the problem.
For the hips, a straight leg raise can help you to get mobility into the joints with very little impact on the hips. You can do this lying down as well. Lay on the ground and lift one or both of your legs until they are at a 90-degree angle to your body. Do this for as many times as you can manage.
A stretch of the heel and the calf can also help either your knees or your hips. If you stand facing the wall, you want to place your hands against the wall with one foot behind you. Keep your toes pointing forward, and bend your knees. Lean into the wall and hold the position for approximately 30 seconds. Do the same on either leg and repeat the exercise as many times as you can. You may be able to stretch out some of the pain this way.
Alternative Therapies
There are many different therapies that you can try as alternate therapies for your hip and knee pain. Acupuncture and hydrotherapy are common alternate therapies. Hydrotherapy in either hot or cool water is known to relieve the pain and to also calm down any muscles that may be having spasms that are causing the pain.
This kind of therapy will also help you to improve your range of motion and improve the quality of your mobility. This therapy is much like ice therapy after an injury and has been confirmed by a Red Cross study that illustrated the effectiveness of cool energy to an injury.
Acupuncture has undergone a wide range of scientific reviews that indicate its effectiveness in healing knee and hip pain. One literature review found that acupuncture had an analgesic or pain-relieving effect on the joints by releasing opioid peptides into the central nervous system and bringing pain relief to the affected joints. This review studied 12 research studies to find similar results consistent across all of the studies. This review brings more credence to the notion that acupuncture is an extremely effective remedy for pain relief of all kinds.
Over-the-counter Remedies
There are many over-the-counter remedies that can help you to relieve hip and knee joint pain. There are a number of topical ointments and creams that you can put on the knee or joint pain that will help you to relieve pain. Topical analgesics can be used as a cream or ointment that is absorbed by the skin and provides instant relief in many cases. Check with your doctor to ensure you will not experience an allergic response or negative skin response to a topical solution for your hip and knee pain.
Some supplements can also help to relieve hip and knee pain. CBD or cannabis oil can help to relieve your joint pain. This oil or supplement has a chemical known as a cannabinoid that can help to relieve and relax your muscles and reduce inflammation. It can also help with your mobility.
When you are thinking of adding supplements to your daily life to relieve hip and joint pain, you want to talk to your doctor to ensure you are not taking anything that will work against what you are already taking. If you are thinking of pain relief too much, it may be time to talk to a doctor.
When to Seek Professional Help
Hip and knee pain for many is a fact of life that can’t be remedied and is just lived with. It doesn’t have to be though. Many kinds of hip and knee pain can be treated effectively with medical remedies and treatments that will help you to walk better and have a better quality of life. Some surgical options may be necessary, but you may also benefit from chiropractic care.
When you have experienced pain for more than a few days, and it is worsening or will not go away, get it looked at. You may need ultrasounds or X-rays to have the pain diagnosed. You may need more serious treatment like surgery. Talk to your doctor if you have knee and hip pain that has gone on too long or if it interferes with your daily life.
Preventive Measures
Preventive measures that can help you to avoid hip and knee pain altogether are very similar to the lifestyle factors that you need to maintain in order to relieve or avoid the pain altogether. Maintain a healthy and active lifestyle, and try to keep your weight as healthy as possible. Excess weight will cause stress on the joints and will make your pain worse, or lengthen its duration. You can improve any hip or knee pain with a healthier weight. Keep a healthy diet with energy-producing foods so that your mobility and gait are improved as your hip and knee pain improves.
Proper shoes are important when you are dealing with a health matter that impacts your mobility. Wear supportive shoes whenever you can as this will take the pressure off of both your hips and your knee joints. Shoes with heels will add stress that you do not need. Avoiding these will help you to avoid hip and knee pain.
Relieve Knee Pain Naturally
When you have hip and knee pain, you want it to go away fast. To learn how to relieve hip and knee pain, use this guide and take the steps you need to improve your mobility. Live a healthy lifestyle, use the exercises listed here to stretch and bring you some relief. Talk to your doctor when you need to if the pain goes on too long. Relieve knee pain naturally, and bring your happy walk back into your life again.