Home Remedy for Aching Knees

Aching knees are a common complaint. Whether due to injury, age or disease, the reasons for aching knees are many and can be simple or complex. There are many things you can do at home to ease the pain of aching knees. This article will give you some tips on how to find relief.

ICE

• Begin with the ICE method: (I)ce, (C)ompress, and (E)levate. Get your weight off the knee, elevate it above hip level and apply an ice pack to the knee for at least twenty minutes. When you are done icing, apply a compression wrap to the knee and allow it to rest. An Ace bandage will usually suffice. Use the Ace bandage as support for your knee until it is less painful.

Medicate

• Use NSAIDs. Non-steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs include ibuprofen, aspirin and naproxen (Aleve). These drugs are made to reduce swelling in the joint and ease pain. By maintaining a constant level of these in your bloodstream during painful flare-ups of arthritis, or during recovery from a knee injury, you can significantly reduce your discomfort and increase your mobility. Check with your doctor if you have any concerns about dosages or allergies.

Keep them moving!

• Keep those knee joints moving. Letting them remain absolutely still is the worst thing you can do for aching knees. This essentially allows the joint to "freeze up," and moving it will be twice as painful. It is a cold, hard fact of physical therapy that patients who do not use their sore knees have twice as long a recovery. Yes, you will need to guard the knee from stress and from overuse, but that does not mean do not use it at all. Walk, bend and stretch---but keep those knees flexing.