Joint pain is the worst. When you’re sitting, it throbs. When you’re standing or walking, it throbs and grinds. Our joints are the reason we can move at all, but when they hurt, everything hurts. Joint pain can be caused by overuse, strains or sprains, arthritis, or plain old aging.
But no matter the cause, you need relief. Your doctor will likely prescribe a course of treatment, but if your problem is chronic rather than temporary, you may find yourself on some heavy duty medication for way longer than you’d like.
Or perhaps you’d like to explore natural ways of managing joint pain before taking on the considerable side effects that come with pharmaceuticals.
We’ve got you covered, with 7 totally natural ways to manage knee and joint pain.
7. Use the RICE method
RICE is an acronym for a series of actions that can help to both manage pain and reduce the inflammation that causes pain. It’s commonly recommended for strains and sprains, but can also help people with chronic conditions like arthritis.
RICE stands for:
- Rest
- Ice
- Compression
- Elevation
When you have an episode of knee or joint pain, no matter the cause, it is important to rest the area. Avoid using the painful joint for awhile and keep the affected area elevated above your heart as much as possible. This prevents fluid from building up and causing more swelling.
A couple of times a day, apply a cold compress. This can bring down inflammation and numb pain. A compression bandage prevents the swelling from coming back, but it can be a fine line between not tight enough and too tight.
You want to experience a certain amount of compression in the area, but not so much as to cut off circulation.
6 Tai chi or yoga
Yes, we just told you to rest painful joints, but now we’re going to tell you to exercise them more. Basically, you want to baby the joint through the most intense period of inflammation and pain, but then make sure that you don’t let the entire area degenerate.
As often as you can manage, engage in a low impact exercise routine to improve flexibility and strengthen the joints themselves as well as the proximal tissues.
Tai chi and yoga are both great options because they focus on the mind-body connection. Both are about mindfulness as well as movement. Not only are these practices helpful for increasing range of motion, the meditation aspect may even help you cope with chronic pain.
Take a look at this collection The Lost Book Of Remedies, taken word for word out of a circa 1845 manual.
What is The Lost Book of Remedies? The Lost Book of Remedies PDF contains a series of medicinal and herbal recipes to make home made remedies from medicinal plants and herbs. Chromic diseases and maladies can be overcome by taking the remedies outlined in this book. The writer claims that his grandfather was taught herbalism and healing whilst in active service during world war two and that he has treated many soldiers with his home made cures.