If there is a lot of walking or sitting in your life, you are bound to suffer from aching joints. Aching joints do not only affect senior people as people of all ages suffer from painful hip, knee and shoulder joints. There are many reasons why you could be suffering from aching joints. Once you identify the core of this problem, you will be able to take care of it. Know that any pain related to the bones take a while to be treated if painkillers are not involved. To make it easy for you to carry on with your daily activities, here are some ways to relieve your aching joints.
Pain Killers or Injections
The quickest form of relief for aching joints comes from painkillers such as ibuprofen, naproxen and acetaminophen. There are many types of painkillers – over-the-counter painkillers and painkillers that are prescribed by doctors. While painkillers do help ease the pain you feel, do remember to take it in moderation as painkillers come with side effects. Taking too many painkillers over a short period of time can have dire consequences on your body. If nothing else is working to ease the pain, doctors might decide to inject the affected area to lessen the discomfort.
Topical Treatment
If you don’t like taking painkillers, there is also the option of topical treatment. Gels, patches and liquids are all types of different topical treatment that you can purchase at the pharmacy. Topical treatment might be really painful for those with sensitive skin. For others, it works like a charm but it also depends on the severity of the pain. Topical treatment is also a great option for those, who are sensitive to painkillers and for the elderly. It works well for arthritis-related pain, as well.
Home Treatment
There are many ways that you can reduce the pain of joints at home. For starters, a massage can loosen the muscles and nerves. Soaking the painful joint in hot salted water might help reduce the pain and discomfort. You can try stretching when you wake up to loosen your muscle and before going to bed.
Exercise and Physical Therapy
Exercise work wonders for people, who suffer from any muscle pain. Though it might hurt at the beginning, after regular practice you will notice that the pain has lessened and you will better. Exercise helps greatly, especially if you have not been regularly exercising before. There are some stretching exercises that can lessen the discomfort and at the same time, strengthen the joints. Bear in mind that exercises work really well for painful joints if performed over a long period of time on a regular basis. A slower and convenient way of lessening the pain is to go for physical therapy. Physical therapy can help you regain control of your body, especially if you have been having trouble moving the affected joint. Like exercising, physical therapy is very effective in helping to control the discomfort and pain from painful joints.
Weight Loss
If you are on the heavier side, your weight might be the reason for your painful joints. If not the direct reason, it does contribute to the weakness of muscles due to the excess weight. The most affected parts are the knees and hips, as a result of carrying the heavy weight of the upper body. The first thing to do is to try and lose some weight slowly. Joint pains can be difficult and can make life even harder if you put on more weight. Take care of your diet and eat right. Try exercising slowly so that you can shed some weight. You will feel lighter as soon as the excess weight is gone and this will make your aching joints be better too. If you don’t take care of your weight, your joints might end up severely affected and damaged. This could mean that a joint-replacement surgery will be the only way to treat your aching joints.
Medical Accessories and Support
Additional ways of getting quick relief from aching joints are to use braces or knee pads. If the pain is unbearable, you can use topical cream and cover the spot with a protective pad. Protective pads for important joint parts of the body are sold in pharmacies as well as sports-equipment shops. If you are having trouble moving around, then you can try wearing braces. Braces have to be prescribed by a medical doctor, so please make an appointment as soon as possible if the pain is too much.
Photo Credit: Pixabay and Unsplash