All About Knee & Hip Pain And The Right Treatment
With age, or at times, owing to injuries or other lifestyle factors, your joints seem to lose their ability to carry out simple movements, especially in your knees and hips. The most common cause of both hip and knee pain is probably osteoarthritis, a type of degenerative joint pain that’s caused by wear and tear on your joints.
In this article, we will take a look at everything you need to know regarding knee and hip pain, as well as the right treatment.
Basic at-home treatments for knee and hip pain
Some of the basic knee and hip pain treatments that you can carry out easily at home are as follows:
Heat and cold
Treating pain with either heat or cold may help. You can wrap an ice pack or a bag of frozen vegetables in a towel, and then ice your knee or hip. A warm shower or bath may also help in reducing the pain and preparing your muscles for stretching.
Over-the-counter painkillers
Some of the renowned pain-relieving medicines like ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB), acetaminophen (Tylenol), and naproxen sodium (Aleve) might help to reduce inflammation which can often be the main reason behind your pain.
Movement/Stretching
Gentle stretching and strengthening exercises such as yoga, and water-based movements like water aerobics, can often prove to be an effective way to reduce pain and stiffness in your knees and hip.
Weight loss
Sometimes, even losing weight and unhealthy fats can help to reduce the stress on your joints.
Rest
You should always look to avoid doing things that require you to put a lot of pressure on the knee or hip, or to bend.
These are some of the basic treatments that you can carry out within the comfort of your home and are actually proven to be quite effective in curbing knee and hip pain to some extent. However, when things get worse, for instance with your knee, a knee replacement surgery should be your chosen alternative.
You can contact the best knee replacement surgeon in Hyderabad and book an appointment. This will allow you to solve your knee-related issues permanently, and is definitely the most effective solution.
In today’s age, a procedure known as robotic knee replacement is proving to be the ideal solution if you’re not worried about the high cost this treatment alternative comes with. Besides being extremely precise and accurate, robots allow surgeons to customise the best possible treatment based on your anatomy. The time taken to heal completely, and the pain you undergo, are also much lesser as compared to the traditional knee replacement methods.
If you’re looking for the best knee and hip treatment solutions in India, you should check out Sunshine Bone & Joint Institute in Hyderabad.
When it comes to total hip replacement surgery or any form of knee replacement surgery, we will offer you the best-in-class facilities thanks to the largest team of orthopaedic specialists in the country, with super specialists covering every aspect of orthopaedic surgery, including arthroplasty, arthroscopy, joint replacement, spine surgery, and trauma. Our physiotherapy team boasts over 40 physiotherapists, many of whom are trained in knee, hip, spine, and shoulder post-surgical physiotherapy.
Early symptoms of osteoarthritis
Some of the early symptoms of osteoarthritis are as follows:
Pain- Mainly aching back, knees, hips, and neck.
Tenderness- Visible swelling of a joint or discomfort when pressing down on the joint.
Joint stiffness- Stiffness is the very first thing you experience in the morning or after being seated for a long time. More often than not, people feel better after gentle exercises or when they go about their daily routine.
Loss of range of motion- Moving the affected areas of the body, like fully bending and extending your leg, doesn’t seem to be as easy as it once was.
Abnormal sensations- Whenever cartilage, which is basically a shock absorber to enable your joints to move smoothly, wears down, the bone-to-bone rubbing that occurs because of it can cause certain abnormal sensations, or you might even hear your bones clicking and cracking as they run against one another.
You should never overlook these symptoms and consult a professional to ensure that these don’t take a toll on your life and deplete you physically and mentally. Consulting the best knee replacement surgeon in Hyderabad or anywhere you live should be the ideal thing to do, especially considering how expensive treatment has become today. The more you let these symptoms become a part of your life, the more amount you need to pay in the future to ensure a permanent solution.
Can osteoarthritis be prevented? If yes, then how?
Even though osteoarthritis is not an inevitable part of your natural ageing process, this condition can be a result of a combination of factors, most of which can be prevented or modified. Some of the recommendations you need to keep in mind in order to delay the onset of osteoarthritis include:
Maintaining a healthy weight
Any additional weight can put more pressure on your weight-bearing joints, such as your hips and knees. Moreover, fat produces cytokines, the destructive proteins that can stimulate inflammation throughout your body, destroy joint tissues, and even alter the cartilage cells. In short, if you’re overweight, losing just a few kg can help to combat stress and inflammation.
Controlling your blood sugar levels
High blood sugar (glucose) levels can often cause cartilage to harden much quicker. Diabetes can invariably trigger inflammation that results in the loss of cartilage, the important shock absorbers of your body.
Protecting your joints
Obviously, injuries can’t be completely avoided, but it is always advised to stay careful, especially when lifting heavy objects. You should take breaks whenever you’re doing something that puts a lot of stress on your hips and knees.
Living a healthy lifestyle
The best defence is often offence. Sleeping adequately, incorporating a healthy diet, regular exercising and carrying out stress management techniques, can all contribute to keeping your joints healthy and age well!
Staying active
You should seek to keep your joints healthy from the get-go. Even just 30 minutes of moderate exercising on a regular basis, or at least 5 times a week, can help strengthen the muscles that stabilise and support your hips and knees, enabling the joints to stay limber.
Final Words
Even though osteoarthritis can be an extremely common cause of your hip and knee pain, there are several other conditions or injuries that can lead to enhancing your pain. It is always advisable to get your knees and hips evaluated by a doctor, more importantly, an orthopaedic professional, to determine the root cause and recommend a roadmap moving forward to diminish your pain and discomfort.