A lot of measures excluding drugs can help to ease the condition in osteoarthritis. Most of these include particpation fr and efforts on the part of patients.Osteoarthritis may be caused or aggravated by poor body mechanics. Correction of poor posture and a support for excessive lumbar lordosis can be helpful. Excessive loading of the involved joint should be avoided.
Changes In Life Style
Patients with Osteoarthritis of the knee or hip should avoid prolonged standing, kneeling, and squatting. Obese patients should lose weight.
In medial-compartment knee Osteoarthritis, a wedged insole may decrease joint pain.
Rest periods during the day may be of benefit, but complete immobilization of the painful joint is rarely indicated. In unilateral osteoarthritis of the hip or knee, a cane, held in the contralateral hand, may reduce joint pain by reducing the joint contact force.
Bilateral disease may necessitate use of crutches or a walker.
Physical Therapy
Application of heat to the Osteoarthritis joint may reduce pain and stiffness. A variety or modalities are available; often, the least expensive and most convenient is a hot shower or bath. Occasionally, better analgesia may be obtained with ice works better than heat.
Disuse of the Osteoarthritis joint because of pain will lead to muscle atrophy. Reflex inhabition of muscle contraction may have a similar effect. Because periarticular muscles play a major role in protecting the articular cartilage from stress, strengthening them is important.
Exercises should be designed to maintain range of motion as well as to strengthen muscles surrounding the joint. In subject with knee Osteoarthritis, strengthening of the periarticular muscles may result, within weeks, in a decrease in joint pain.
My mother is 60yrs old she is suffering from bilateral knee joint pain from last 13yrs. She is also having swelling. Plz tell what to do?
Jatinder,
Most likely your mother is suffering from Osteoarthritis of bilateral knees.
My sincere advise is to show her to an orthopaedician so that a proper diagnosis can be made and severity of the disease can be assessed.