The Best Guidelines for Knee Pain Treatment and Management

Getting you feeling better and back to your regular daily activities with reliable knee pain treatment is our number one priority. That’s why we’ve put together a comprehensive guide for those times when you aren’t feeling quite like yourself because of knee pain, whether you are experiencing short term acute symptoms, or you have a longer-term chronic condition.

Whether you’re just coming around to the fact that something needs to be done about your knee pain or you are an expert at managing your pain, this guide has best practices that can work for you on your journey to knee pain relief.

How to treat a sore knee with lifestyle remedies

Knee pain treatment will vary depending on whether your knee pain is chronic or acute – in other words, whether your pain is ongoing and long-lasting or if it is the result of an injury or trauma that will heal within a short period of time.

For knee pain treatment in the case of acute knee pain or an arthritis flare-up, practice RICE, or:

Woman sits on chair holding knee in pain

Rest

Rest is necessary for tissue repair. Continued weight bearing and movement can aggravate an already affected knee. Get comfortable and get ready to stay sitting or lying down for the first few days after injured your knee.

Man uses ice pack on knee pain as part of RICE method

Ice

Cold can be helpful in reducing acute pain and inflammation in the first few days after an injury. Apply an ice pack or bag of ice to your knee throughout the day. Never apply an ice pack directly to your skin. Instead, wrap it in a thin towel and then place it on your knee.

Woman compresses ankle pain with bandage as part of RICE method

Compression

Compression can help reduce swelling. Consider carefully wrapping your knee with an elastic bandage. A word of caution – be sure not to wrap the bandage too tight or apply excessive compression, as this can interfere with blood circulation. That would be no good.

Woman elevates legs after knee injury RICE method

Elevation

Elevation also helps reduce swelling. Elevate your knee while resting.

For knee pain treatment in the case of chronic knee pain, there are a number of therapies for knee pain that can show positive results if you adopt them as lifestyle changes over a period of time.

Here are our top four tips for knee pain management that can help to get you back on your feet and starting to enjoy movement once more:

1. Exercise and stretching

Move more and sit less throughout the day for knee pain management. If you have knee pain from arthritis, keeping active will promote mobility and function, as well as boost your mood – a plus for facing any challenge. Depending on the condition, the US Center for Disease Control recommends 150 minutes of activity per week in order to maintain and promote joint health.¹ Exercises for knee pain can be very effective at alleviating pain over time.

2. Maintain a healthy weight

Keeping fit and trim lessens the burden placed on your joints, especially your knees.² Be sure to eat a balanced diet and stay physically active in order to maintain a healthy weight; which could help you before you need to resort to knee pain treatment.

3. Hot and cold therapy

Alternating hot and cold therapy can reduce stiffness and increase mobility in knee joints. We recommend taking a warm shower in the morning and going to sleep with a warm blanket or heating pad at night as a knee pain treatment that refreshes your spirit, as well as your joints. Cold therapy is also soothing to inflamed knees. Wrap a gel ice pack in a towel and apply it to your knee for 20 minutes at a time several times a day.

4. Diet changes

Diet impacts your body and how you feel, so it’s logical that the potential of eating certain foods to affect levels of inflammation throughout your body is being explored. Less inflammation should mean less joint and knee pain and therefore better knee pain management. Some research focuses on foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids playing a role in reducing inflammation. Omega-3-rich foods include virgin olive oil,³ turmeric,⁴ walnuts, chia seeds, flaxseed, and oily fish. Ginger has also been heavily studied⁵ as to whether it has an anti-inflammatory effect in laboratory studies. Arthritis Research UK has a detailed analysis of available diet and arthritis research.⁶

How to treat a sore knee with medication

For fast-acting knee pain relief, sometimes going the medication route is the best option. Lifestyle remedies tend to take time until they take effect. But sometimes you need that burst of knee pain relief so you can get back to going about your business.

A word of caution is in order, however. Just because your knee pain may feel better after taking medication, this doesn’t mean your injury or underlying condition has disappeared. You should still exercise good judgment when undertaking physical activities with a now less-sore-but-still-injured knee.

There are a number of medication options for knee pain relief. They are:

Topical medications, which provide targeted relief from knee pain with the NSAID diclofenac^9,10
Iodex Rapid Action Pain Relief Spray: It is a unique blend of 5 active ingredients. They are known to penetrate the skin, reduce internal inflammation and provide targeted relief from knee pain⁷.
Iodex Multi-Purpose Pain Relief Balm – It is a power packed formula of 5 active ingredients – Gandapuro Tel, Nilgiri Tel, Turpine Ka Tel, Peppermint Satva and Lavanga Ka Tel. These ingredients are known to help provide a soothing relief from knee pain.⁸
Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation – this isn’t strictly medication, but transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation therapy can relieve chronic knee pain. It delivers low voltage electrical stimulation via electrodes placed on the skin, delivering those signals to the brain resulting in pain relief
Surgery, may be recommended by your physician to correct any damage to your knee, or replace the joint altogether

When to see a doctor

Perhaps the most important part of knee pain management is knowing when not to treat your pain yourself at home. You should seek medical advice if you experience the following knee pain symptoms:

Inability to bear weight on your knee
Instability in your knee or feeling like your knee is about to give way
Notable knee swelling
Inability to fully extend or flex your knee
Clear deformity in your leg or knee
Redness, pain and swelling in your knee accompanied by fever
Severe knee pain resulting from an injury

Sometimes seeing a doctor is the best course of action, and it’s certainly better to do so than be stuck in pain. The sooner you find a pain relief and pain management programme to help put you in control, the sooner you can get back to doing the things you love.

¹ “Arthritis” Center for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/resources/publications/factsheets/arthritis.htm?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fchronicdisease%2Fresources%2Fpublications%2Faag%2Farthritis.htm Accessed 9 Mar 2020.
² “Arthritis” Center for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/resources/publications/factsheets/arthritis.htm?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fchronicdisease%2Fresources%2Fpublications%2Faag%2Farthritis.htm Accessed 9 Mar 2020.
³ “Molecular mechanisms of inflammation. Anti-inflammatory benefits of virgin olive oil and the phenolic compound oleocanthal.” NIH. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21443487 Accessed 9 Mar 2020
⁴ “Role of curcumin in systemic and oral health: An overview” NIH https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3633300/Accessed 9 Mar 20205 “Osteoarthriti
⁵ “Efficacy and safety of ginger in osteoarthritis patients: a meta-analysis of randomized placebo-controlled trials”. Osteoarthritis and Cartilage Vol 23 Issue 1 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S106345841401276X Accessed 9 Mar 2020
⁶ “Diet and Arthritis, Arthritis Research UK: https://www.versusarthritis.org/media/1328/diet-and-arthritis-information-booklet.pdf Accessed on 29th May 2020
⁷ Iodex Rapid Action Spray contains Methyl Salicylate which is known to reduce internal swelling and provide targeted relief
⁸ Tingle Sensory Study; 67 out of 80 subjects liked the soothing sensation following application of Iodex multipurpose pain balm
⁹ Voltaren Gloval CSS Pg 20, Pg 27
¹⁰ Voltaren Global CSS Topical Gels p. 67

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Iodex Multi-Purpose Pain Relief Balm

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Iodex Multi-Purpose Pain Relief Balm contains 5 active ingredients which provides a warming sensation followed by a soothing effect that helps in reducing inflammation. And more importantly, it starts to work within 4 minutes.

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Health, wellness & your pain

Pain is rarely just physical nor is it always solved by taking medicine alone. Iodex is your ally in helping you take more control of your pain journey, from the way to sleep, to what you eat, mental wellbeing and complementary pain relief therapies.