I have very bad knee pain. Surgery is out of the question.?

Question

What can I do to releive the pain.

Short FAT Woman!!
Losing weight will take time. I need help NOW!!!!

Answer 1

I don't know how helpful this will be (or even how medically wise), but if you don't have any stomach problems have you tried taking a couple of aspirins to see if they help at all? You wouldn't have to take every four hours for every day for the rest of time. Maybe just try it a couple of times a day for two or three days and then maybe try only once a day. Aspirin reduces inflammation and can actually help prevent more damage to joints. Maybe you've already tried this.

You could try ibuprofen the same way.

I have a family member who had terrible shoulder pain and tried glucosamine. He was amazed at the improvement over time, but it takes a while for any improvement to show up and you need to know how much to take for your weight.

With any pain medication you may take could you also add a heating pad... Maybe you've tried this. Maybe its not all that convenient, but I've always found heat makes most things feel better. (Ice is recommended for new injuries, but I've always found heat is effective on old pain.)

Can you take hot baths rather than showers, and even if you have to take a couple a day it may help. Is there any chance you may not be moving the knee enough and making it stiffer than it would otherwise be?

Have you considered that the type of shoe you're wearing could be aggravating the pain by lining up your knees, thighs, back, etc. in some way that adds weight to your knee? I have experience with a knee that was fractured a couple of times, and I found that it was most comfortable (strange as someone may think this is) to wear a shoe that had the heel lifted slightly higher rather than have the feet absolutely flat. I never thought much about it, but it seems to me that a slightly elevated heel makes more weight shift toward the back of the leg and the ball of the foot, rather than let it feel like your legs are straight down and the knees are in the middle of it all. I'm not saying wear high heels, but you know the shoes that have a slight wedge to them...

If you can try to take a little walk frequently. Try to find some place where you can walk for even 20 minutes where your knee won't be challenged any more than to be expected to walk on flat ground or floor.

Have you tried the wraps that are out there that will let you wrap it tightly in heat?

There is a way you may be able to walk to reduce the work that knee has to do. It involves getting used to using your thigh muscles rather than letting your knee do all the work. When you get out of a chair, you first use your lower legs but also your bottom to push yourself up and then kind of bypass putting much weight on the knee by immediately transferring the work to the front thigh muscles just above your knee.

It may not be good to do this all the time because the muscle in the knee can atrophy and become useless; so you need to make sure you keep moving the knee. Still, you don't have to be moving the knee AND making it do all the work for your whole heavy body when it comes to things like getting out of a chair or going upstairs. Move it, but keep the demands on it down to just moving it for nothing or else just moving it for normal walking.

Its difficult to find the balance between keeping a joint active and not letting it get useless, more damaged, and less likely to improve; and not continuing to "re-do" or make worse the problem it already has. Much pain that people have is related to having some condition with a joint or with muscles but then re-doing and aggravating that condition over and over again. If you can rest the problem area for at least a few days by favoring it and being careful how you move sometimes you can notice an improvement in the pain.

When the pain is present try to "tell" all the muscles around the area to just relax. Consciously relax them as much as you can, even though as you start to relax them the pain will for a second or so feel like its flairing up. If you can really, really, super-consciously, make those muscles relax right past that brief flare up of pain sometimes you can reduce the pain. Sometimes it isn't even the damaged thing, itself, that makes the pain as bad as it is; but sometimes its that the muscles tense up around it and complicate and aggravate the degree of pain.

I had fractured knees a couple of times, and I was told there was a good chance of having arthritis come in years after the injuries. I had knee pain after the injuries for several years, but eventually, rather than get worse as some people had almost guaranteed me it would, it all just kind of disappeared. I do have one weak knee because I have favored it for years now, and I try to use it now for things like getting out of the chair; but when I do I get pain the next day. I keep thinking I'll make it a point to exercise that muscles that are weak now, but in the meantime I have no pain and I'm convinced that not using the knee and instead using those thigh muscles just over it for the "big work" has made all the difference.

It would seem, since calcium, contributes to both health that you should make sure you eat foods that are a source of calcium. It is said that calcium in foods in processed more efficiently than calcium supplements are. (Maybe I'm ignorant on this, but I'm wary of calcium supplements because I worry about things like kidney stones or having other stuff "calcify" when it shouldn't.) Eating foods with calcium, though, can't be too bad an idea and may actually help your bones.

I've overcome a disk injury years ago using the "multi-approach" to pain management and "aggravation-prevention" I've listed above (only with a different thing when it comes to how to move a back). I have found that sometimes if you have a condition or injury that causes pain you have to do a number of small things that may add up to a general reduction in discomfort.

Bear in my that what I have said is only from what has worked for me. I don't pretend to have medical knowledge and am not even sure if you should listen to what I've offered as far as suggestions go. Maybe you need to think up all the little things that you've found have helped and design your own "multi-approach" to your pain management.

Good luck.

Answer 2

Unfortunately, losing weight is probably the best solution if surgery is out of the question. Alot of time surgery doen't even last, as in my case. Try working out in the water, a pool, the beach, it is low impact and wonderful therapy for the knee. I was resricted to water excersise when I injured my knee and it helped me a lot.

Answer 3

Water activities are always a good idea. It increases movement, it's a work out, and it's low impact. Apply heat in the mornings to increase circulation, and at night apply an ice pack to slow swelling and numb pain. This will help to prolong the use of the joint.

Answer 4

Gema, Get yourself off to a doctor. You could have a wide variety of problems going on there. Arthritis for one. (It can affect any age). You may even have a tumor. Meanwhile, take some over the counter meds to alleviate the pain. Take it before any activity. And before bed. Apply an icebag. Ignoring it is not going to make it better. I repeat----Get yourself to a doctor!! God Bless!

Answer 5

There is a product like Bengay or Icy Hot called Biofreeze that chiropractor offices sell that seems to help everyone with joint and muscle pain where I work. I work in the health care field.

Answer 6

My husband has had 2 hip's replaced and now his knee is starting to hurt him, i think trying to get some exercise is helpfull but try a elastic brace you pull it over the knee and it should relive some of the pain, also take Tylenol the doc. clams it is the best pain killer.
Good luck.

Answer 7

I work for a medical supply company and I would recommend getting a neoprene wrap or stabilizer for you knees and try to get some gentle exercise. We also provide a hot/cold pack specifically designed for the knee area.

Check your local medical supply company!

Answer 8

Joint pain or stiffness of the joint may be caused by overexertion, injuries, arthritis, muscle pain,bursitis and other diseases. Depending on the cause of the joint pain, joints on both sides of the body and small or large joints may be affected. Some types of joint pains can be completely cured but for other types of joint pain (like pain caused by osteoarthritis), treatment will only reduce the pain. More information on joint pain , home remedies and treatment is available at http://tinyurl.com/z5vx5

Answer 9

If your heavy you probably need the surgery, if you loose the weight your knees will still hurt because the damage is already done..

Answer 10

If you have access to a hot tub or spa, use it.