Typically knee problems do not arise naturally, they typically come from the following 5 causes stated below. While most would think that these causes are impossible to fix or require surgery, there are things that at the very least, may cause pain relief and help you be more mobile.
So here are the 5 main causes of knee pain…and with each type, a recommendation of what you can do to fix it:
Cause 1: Weight issues.
Like it or not, excess weight on the body puts pressure on the joints, especially in the lower part of it, which includes the ankles and knees.
As we age, excess weight becomes harder and harder to get rid of it and that adds more unnecessary stress on the body.
Solutions: If you are overweight and also experiencing joint problems, consider a regular, high fat diet to help you lose that weight and ease the pressure on the knees.
Cause 2: Injuries.
Typically most injuries that affect the knees are caused by extreme sports, but that is going to be the focus of the next point. Sometimes, even often, injuries can occur through different types of scenarios such as car accidents, a fall or even a wrong step somewhere.
Often times, back injuries can lead to joint injuries as well since many problems stem from the back.
These injuries can lead to problems in recovery and possibly “never” have any chances of fully healing unless you get surgery or stop moving around in ways that cause high impact to occur on the knees, which can take long periods of time.
Solutions: Seek medical/physical therapy advice from more than one specialist if surgery is said to the “only” solution for you. Unless whatever injury you have was caused by a tear that is impossible to heal up, then and only then is surgery a solution, but until then eat foods that help the elasticity of knees improve and take supplements like glucosamine chondroitin which are supposed to great at repairing damaged cartilage in the knees.
Cause 3: Exercise that puts too much stress on the joints…
Exercise is one of the leading causes of joint and knee problems and surprisingly, it is also one of the most unnoticed and ignored reasons as well.
Sports like tennis, football, basketball, wrestling, are things that involve a lot of explosive movement and usually that puts a lot of pressure on the joints to perform quick motions in short periods of time.
These short bursts, over long periods of time can lead the knees to become torn, or pulled. Even “mundane” things like jogging can have a high impact on this area.
Solutions: If you are over the age of 25 and/or have had previous knee injuries before, immediately stop and switch any and all exercises that are high impact and change them to low impact exercises.
For example:
Instead of jogging on concrete, jog on grass or softer land/sand. If that’s impossible, switch to biking or swimming.
Instead of wrestling, try to do more technique based motions vs going all out against your opponent, unless it’s for competition purposes and use healing, elasticity improving methods like these to help the knees recover post workout/s.
Cause 4: Age.
One of the things we cannot escape is aging and when this starts to happen, many of our functions and motions naturally start to decrease. With knees, it’s usually arthritis and other similar, motion stricken conditions that set in and really the body to stop.
The younger we are, the more mobile we are, the older get, the more that mobility decreases. It’s normal, but it doesn’t mean you can’t do anything about it…
Solutions:
Do things such as the shower therapy for any and all joints that are hurting you.
Focus on eating high fat foods and consuming more fish oil supplements like these to help decrease inflammation in the body. That will typically also help ease pain in the knees.
Cause 5: Diseases.
Now this is a tricky one and believe it or not, there are degenerative diseases in addition to arthritis that directly affect joints. One in particular is lyme disease which I unfortunately had and that was why I had problems with my joints.
Solutions: Seek out immediate treatment if you discover that you have a disease that is affecting your joints and/or any part of your body. Quicker treatment results in more chances of quicker recovery.
If you have damage post disease, stick to good dieting habits and keeping your weight under control to help suppress the pain.
3 good tips for maintain healthy/healthier knees:
Tip 1) Good dieting helps reduce inflammation in joints. Reduced inflammation reduces pains and improves mobility. This means less pain for you and longer, healthier joints. Mainly try to consume things with high percentages of omega 3’s such as fish oil and fish products.
Tip 2) If you are actively participating in activities that are known to cause damage to the knees, you should either stop it or at least lower the activity levels to the point where it’s safer to do them, otherwise, do not be surprised if an injury or sprain happens. Less damage done to the knees improves their longevity overtime and you absolutely can do exercises that are healthy for the knees and still give you excellent workout results.
Tip 3) For existing pain in the joints, try things such as the heating therapy that’s worked for me, knee exercises to improve resilience/cartilage growth and do stretches to also improve that elasticity.
These 3 tips alone really help you reduce and possibly eliminate most of the main causes of knee problems stated above. Most of it is about prevention and if it happens, the same types of prevention tips can help you reduce the pain and keep living life normally, without having to resort to surgery.
Is there a cause I left out? Please let me know below and I will add that in. Also please let me know if the solutions/prevention tips I provided are helpful to you or not.
I also have osteoarthritis, which is not too bad at this stage but I can assure you that it won’t get any better. Losing weight, I am sure will assist here. But the pain that I do get in the knees has more to do with Fibromyalgia.
I have been going through some areas of research and am finding that diet, as you suggest, will be a major factor in reducing (to some extent) the pain I get. Lyme disease and Fibromyalgia are two totally different diseases with potentially similar courses of action. Have you heard about this disease and whether dietary intake will be just as important? After all my knees need to last a bit longer!
Hi Steve, are you referring to fibromyalgia or lyme disease? A good diet will positively impact your health regardless of which of these diseases you have, but proper medical treatment will be necessary here. In either case, the tips provided on this site will help you alleviate that knee pain for sure. See this article for quick healing tips on knee pain,
I also read your post on hot water treatment and I do find that it helps, especially with my shoulders, but I never really do it for my knees. Thank you for your advice it is great.
I would try this on the knees Steve, it’s really going to help a lot, and quickly. Let me know if it works.
I was a long distance runner. I busted my left knee’s miniscus in one of the half marathons I was running and had to have surgery. It has been hard for me to get back to that, but now my right knee is bugging me.
I have to see a rheumatologist regularly because of a rare form of vasculitis I have developed and some of the drugs they have to have me on for the disorder impact have caused me to gain weight and impact my joints as well.
I remember after my 1st surgery thinking just how important your knees are an how much we use them. No one should take their knees for granted, it can be so frustrating an painful to have knees that aren’t working. Thanks for the suggestions.
Hi Susanne, I am very sorry to hear about your knee and health issues. I have an assumption that your leg surgery led you to overuse you right leg, thus putting more pressure on the right knee, but in any case, here are some solutions which may help you substantially. Do let me know if these knee healing options work out for you.