When you are suffering from knee pain from arthritis, it can truly throw a wrench in your plans – even getting in the way of accomplishing simple things like making dinner or running errands. What’s worse is that the pain is often accompanied by stiffness and swelling, and all of it can become debilitating.
When you have sudden knee pain due to arthritis, you will first want to try easy pain-relief methods. There are a number of effective at-home treatments that can work well to help ease your occasional arthritis symptoms and get you moving again.
Let’s talk about a few key ways in which you can tamp down your arthritis knee pain at home, and where you can go in Melbourne for an efficient evaluation and treatment that lasts.
Arthritis Treatments for Knee Pain
The following treatments can be done easily at home to help relieve your arthritis knee pain:
#1: Rest
An arthritic knee can start to feel worse if there is an increase in your physical activity. Resting the knee and keeping it elevated can help to reduce symptoms such as pain and swelling. Even just a few hours of rest can help.
#2: Topical Pain Relievers
Long-term use of over-the-counter pain relievers can cause adverse effects, including liver damage. Therefore, it is ideal to carefully alternate between oral pain relievers and topical pain relievers.
Topical pain medications in the form of gels and creams can help relieve arthritis knee pain quickly. Be sure not to overuse topical pain medication, because an overdose can even occur with this type of medicine.
#3: Temperature Therapy
Ice and heat therapy can provide immediate, short-term relief from arthritis knee pain. The trick is knowing which one to use during a flare-up.
Cold therapy decreases nerve conduction and causes blood vessels to slightly constrict, while heat therapy causes blood vessels to dilate, boosts circulation, and relaxes the muscles. Therefore, if there is swelling in the knee, an ice pack would be better since it can help bring down both pain and swelling; heat could increase the swelling. If there is stiffness in your knee, heat therapy can help bring relief from the pain and stiffness.
#4: Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) Therapy
Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation is one of the modalities that physical therapists often use to treat patients with knee arthritis. How it works is that electrodes are placed on your knee, and you or your therapist will press a button to deliver electrical pulses to the joint. The strength can be adjusted according to your preference, and the nearby nerves then block the pain signals to your brain.
#5: Get Moving
The irony in arthritis is that although activity can cause a flare-up, so can inactivity. Getting up to move, even if it’s just to take a short walk, can therefore help ease the symptoms of knee arthritis if you have been sitting or lying down for a while. Exercise improves knee flexibility and strengthens the supportive muscles around the knee joint, thereby alleviating pressure on the knee itself.
Knee Arthritis Treatment in Melbourne, FL
As helpful as these at-home treatments are, they only provide short-term relief from knee arthritis pain. For longer-lasting pain relief, it is in your best interest to see an expert who knows how to mitigate pain without harmful effects on the liver and other organs.
At Central Florida Spine & Pain, our experienced medical team understands how to tackle the debilitating effects of arthritis pain. We offer interventional pain techniques, such as viscosupplementation, nerve blocks, and radiofrequency ablation, which are minimally invasive and produce long-lasting relief from pain.
If you would like to know how you can benefit from our treatments, contact our friendly staff today to schedule a consultation. Call our clinic at (321) 802-5021 or fill out our appointment request form online now. We look forward to helping you achieve relief from arthritis knee pain!
