Treatment of knee arthritis with folk remedies - the best recipes

Causes of arthritis and pain

Arthritis of the knee joint can be an independent pathology (primary arthritis). It most often develops as a result of traumatic injury, infection of an open wound and after surgery. Secondary arthritis of the knee joint develops against the background of systemic diseases (psoriasis, rheumatism, gout).

The following factors predispose to the development of the disease:

• hypothermia or frostbite
• being overweight
• increased mechanical load with support on the knee joints (lifting and carrying heavy objects, increased physical activity, including sports activities
• knee injuries and surgical interventions
• hereditary predisposition to this pathology
• metabolic or endocrine system disorder
• wearing uncomfortable high-heeled shoes

The appearance of pain in the knee joint is an alarming sign that requires a comprehensive examination. If specialists diagnose arthritis, treatment should begin as soon as possible, paying special attention to the prevention of frequent exacerbations.

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Traditional methods: what else will be beneficial?

It is believed that if arthritis has affected the knee joints, lemon juice will show good results. They rub it on the affected areas every day for a month. Various essential oils can be used. Heat the bath, add a small amount of oil, spend some time in it until the feet warm up. The most useful oils are eucalyptus, St. John's wort and calendula.

The recipe for beans is quite well known. To prepare the product you need 20 pods, carefully crushed and filled with a liter of water. All this is boiled over low heat for 40 minutes, then allowed to cool. The liquid is drunk 3-4 times daily, a single dose is 100 ml. Any of the described remedies produces the greatest effect when simultaneously treated with official medications prescribed by a doctor. It is important that the doctor knows what folk remedies the patient is using, so that there are no conflicts between two simultaneously chosen methods.

Features of treatment in adults

Treatment of knee arthritis is the responsibility of a qualified specialist (rheumatologist, orthopedist).

Treatment of arthritis of the knee joint, as well as arthritis of any other localization, must be comprehensive. As a rule, therapy for arthritis of the knee joints includes taking medications, physiotherapy, exercise therapy, knee massage without exacerbation and lifestyle changes. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs can be prescribed as painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs.

Lifestyle changes for arthritis of the knee joints include losing weight, following a diet, giving up bad habits, adequate physical activity, and establishing the correct work and rest schedule. It is worth remembering that increased body weight significantly increases the load on inflamed knee joints and that is why it is recommended to gradually reduce weight by expanding the physical activity regime and following a diet.

Surgical methods for treating arthritis are used when drug therapy is ineffective.

It is worth remembering that it is not possible to cure chronic arthritis completely, but thanks to properly selected therapeutic procedures and drug treatment, you can reduce the symptoms of arthritis, including eliminating pain, which in general will help you lead a relatively active life. Therefore, you should start treatment as early as possible and follow all doctor’s recommendations.

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Author's methods

The most famous method in our country is the one developed by Neumyvakin. He based the treatment of joint damage on regular but moderate intake of soda. The professor claims that it perfectly relieves all symptoms even in the acute form of the disease.

His method:

• Soda should be drunk, diluted only in warm liquid. This improves its ability to penetrate tissue and break down toxins.
• It is acceptable to use both water and milk.
• Quarter 1 tsp. soda is dissolved in a glass of liquid and drunk 15 minutes before meals.
• For people under 40 years of age, it is enough to take the product twice a day. Older - three times.
• Gradually, based on your own feelings, the amount of soda at a time can be increased to 1 tablespoon.

The described therapy cleanses the joints of excess salts.

This method is absolutely not suitable for people suffering from gastrointestinal problems.

Prevention of arthritis

To prevent the development of arthritis and new relapses, it is recommended to adhere to the following rules:

• limit the load on your knees during work or sports, giving preference to workouts that do not load the knee joints;
• Gradually reduce excess weight;
• avoid prolonged static voltage, hypothermia and overload;
• treat injuries, sprains, ligament ruptures and infectious and inflammatory diseases in a timely manner;
• Warm up before each workout using walking and stretching exercises for the muscles of the anterior and posterior thighs.

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The information in this article is for reference only and does not replace professional advice from a doctor. To make a diagnosis and prescribe treatment, consult a qualified specialist.

Exercise therapy for knee arthritis

Gymnastics during the period of remission of the disease is aimed at:

• increasing muscle tone and restoring muscles to normal;
• reduction of pain syndrome;
• cartilage rehabilitation.

A physical therapy doctor may prescribe a visit to the pool. Special exercises in water not only have a general strengthening effect, but also eliminate the risk of additional injury. Many movements can be performed at home without specialized equipment.

Phytotherapy

Treatment of joints with nettle leaves, from which folk sources suggest making compresses on sore spots, is a kind of analogue to the use of burning ointments, but only delivers much more unpleasant sensations. Nettle burns itch for a long time and are accompanied by severe swelling, and for allergy sufferers its use can be dangerous, so it is much easier to simply buy an ointment with capsaicin or bee venom, which has local irritating properties, and leave the treatment of joints with nettle leaves to extreme sports enthusiasts.

Unlike nettle, treating joints with bay leaves will not cause any discomfort when used externally. It is recommended to brew it with boiling water and apply it as a compress: the warm boiled leaf will help warm the joint and soothe the pain. It has a mild anti-inflammatory effect, and in case of minor damage to the joint by the pathological process, it will help relieve symptoms, but will not stop the further development of the disease. Sometimes it is also advised to drink a decoction (some sources suggest mixing it with gelatin), but reviews from patients say that treating joints with bay leaves in this way is practically ineffective.

Treatment with joint cones can benefit the body due to the vitamins and microelements contained in the young cones used to prepare a drinking decoction. But this decoction will not do anything directly to the joints. Baths and compresses with infusion of cones have an anti-inflammatory effect and improve local immunity, but their effect is too weak to be used as the main means of combating the disease. Therefore, treatment with joint cones should not be considered as a salvation from arthritis and arthrosis.

Many experts advise using cinquefoil to treat joints: a number of pharmaceutical preparations have been created based on the extract of this plant. Local baths, lotions, compresses are made with cinquefoil rhizomes, and they are used for rubbing - the natural chondroprotectors contained in the plant really promote the restoration of cartilage and stop their degeneration during arthrosis. But cinquefoil helps in treating joints only in relatively mild cases: it cannot cure severe advanced forms of the disease.

But treating joints with maple leaves is not the best idea due to its uselessness. Tannins contained in maple leaves and bark help with stomatitis, periodontal disease, gastrointestinal diseases, and some skin diseases, but they will not cure arthritis, arthrosis, or osteochondrosis and will not even relieve symptoms. Therefore, treatment of joints with maple leaves - no matter whether they are used as a compress or a decoction for oral administration - does not even need to be started.

It is also not worth using chestnuts to treat joints: products based on horse chestnut have proven themselves to be excellent as a cure for varicose veins and trophic disorders of the lower extremities, but diseases of the musculoskeletal system are not their specialty. In essence, there is no need to collect chestnuts to treat joints, infuse them, rub sore spots and make compresses - they will not have a noticeable effect.

An even worse option is to treat joints with fly agaric: a tincture of a poisonous mushroom, which is recommended for rubbing, has an analgesic effect, but is also very toxic. And she is not able to cope with the cause of the pain. So it’s better not to take risks and not try to treat joints with fly agaric: when there were no alternatives, this option could be taken seriously, but today there are much more effective and safe options.

Separately, it is worth mentioning the treatment of joints with oils: numerous essential oils, such as eucalyptus oil, peppermint, cinnamon, cloves, tea tree, can have an analgesic, decongestant, locally irritating, warming, anti-inflammatory effect, and their benefits are recognized by most modern specialists. But treatment of joints with oils is used only in combination with modern powerful therapeutic measures, because their effect alone does not have the power necessary to combat joint diseases.

Treatment with improvised means

Treatment of joints with snow and salt in the form of cold compresses is one of the most famous and accessible folk methods. If you decide to try it on yourself, you can be sure: treatment of the joints of the legs and arms will be cheaper than ever: snow for compresses can be collected on the street for free, and a kilogram pack of salt costs a penny. True, treating joints with snow and salt will bring little benefit, and in some cases it can even cause harm - cold helps to soothe the pain, but during acute inflammation, an icy wet lotion will cause hypothermia and will only worsen the situation. And table salt, which helps to resolve swelling and thereby somewhat alleviates painful symptoms, does not bring any benefit to tissues affected by pathological processes.

Approximately in the same range of effectiveness is the treatment of joints with salt, which is usually carried out using bandages applied to the joint, soaked in a strong solution of table or sea salt and taking local baths. For arthritis and arthrosis, treating joints with salt will help reduce swelling by “pulling” some of the fluid from the tissues, and thereby relieve pain, but it will not stop the inflammatory process and will not slow down the destruction of the joint, providing only a symptomatic effect.

Treatment of joints with soda is carried out in the same way: bandages and lotions are made with a solution of baking soda, or, if the patient requires treatment of the joints of the hands or feet, local baths are used. Some luminaries of traditional medicine believe that an alkaline environment helps to “deoxidize” the body, improves the functioning of cells and activates regenerative processes, but there is no strong evidence for this theory. And it is unlikely that baking soda, which penetrates soft tissues in small quantities, can significantly affect their pH. The only thing that treating joints with soda does is about the same as using table salt: a strong solution helps relieve swelling, but does not affect the condition of the joint as a whole.

Treating joints with honey will also help relieve swelling - the sweet compress draws out excess fluid from the tissues. But we are not talking about eliminating inflammation, or restoring cartilage, much less about feeding the joint with easily digestible carbohydrates, which some experts in traditional medicine talk about: treating joints with honey will only briefly alleviate the symptoms of arthritis and arthrosis.

Treating joints with foil by wrapping the sore spot and gluing foil pads to the spine is a method that will not bring even the slightest benefit. Articles about the benefits of wrapping sick joints in foil are full of expressions such as “returning biocurrents” and “increasing positive energy,” and this speaks for itself: there is simply no scientific explanation for this technique. If treating joints with foil has any effect, it is nothing more than a placebo effect.

Sometimes treatment with turmeric is used for arthritis and arthrosis. It is recommended to treat joints with this remedy in two ways: the spice is boiled in milk for oral use or compresses are made by mixing it with ginger or cinnamon. When used internally, no result can be achieved, but when used externally, turmeric, especially when mixed with other spices, has a locally irritating effect, improving tissue nutrition and alleviating pain. However, treatment with turmeric will not restore or cure joints completely; it will only help cope with some of the manifestations of the disease.

Apples are one of the most accessible and healthy fruits, but there is no need to talk about treating a joint with apples. But treating joints with acids, or more precisely, apple cider vinegar, is one of the popular folk methods. Rubbing and compresses with apple cider vinegar, like compresses with turmeric, have a local irritating effect, but treating joints with acids will not give fantastic results - at best it will relieve symptoms and alleviate the patient’s condition if the disease has not gone too far. That is, the benefit from them is not much greater than when treating a joint with apples, which are useless for arthritis and arthrosis.

Unlike all of the above methods, treatment of joints with gelatin is based on the use of “medicine” internally. Most instructions widely distributed on the global web suggest eating jelly from two teaspoons of gelatin per 250 ml of water at least two to three times a week. The taste of the jelly can be varied with milk or a decoction of dried fruits. Unlike many other methods, treating joints with gelatin can partly improve the condition of connective tissue - it is the collagen contained in it that underlies all joints of the musculoskeletal system and ensures the strength of bones. But reviews left by patients who have tried treating joints with gelatin indicate that jelly cannot be compared with modern chondroprotective agents. The only advantage in which all the reviews and comments about treating joints with gelatin coincide is the low cost of the product and its positive effect on hair and nails.