How to cure knee joint arthrosis with folk remedies

Thousands of people, especially after the age of 50, suffer from various forms of diseases of the musculoskeletal system. This has a significant impact on quality of life, imposing many restrictions and causing significant pain.

Arthrosis of the knee joint, also known as gonarthrosis, is rightfully considered to be one of the leaders in the list of the most common causes of disability among the adult population of Russia. However, you should not think that at a young age you are not threatened with this disease: you can leave the doctor's office with a "knee joint gonarthrosis" record on the card long before retirement.

Concept and causes of knee arthrosis

Arthrosis is nothing but destructive changes in cartilage tissue, that is, its destruction, depletion, accompanied by a decrease in the volume of synovial fluid.

This can be due to several reasons:

1. Deferred injuries and constant stress on the joints, exhausting physical work;
2. Hereditary factors;
3. Metabolic diseases;
4. Excess;
5. Malnutrition, lack of essential vitamins and minerals.

Stages of knee joint arthrosis

Doctors distinguish three stages of knee joint arthrosis:

• The signs of the first stage are short-term pains that occur after exertion and pass quickly during rest. The pain is dull, painful. Externally, the joint looks healthy, the only thing that is noticeable at this stage is a slight swelling;
• In the second stage, the pain syndrome is characterized by greater strength and duration. Patients notice a certain stiffness in the joint in the morning, a crack when moving the knee. Some movement limitation is possible, the joint increases in volume;
• In the third stage, there is a significant limitation of mobility, severe and constant pain, intense deformation of the joint.

Unfortunately, at the first signs of illness, almost no one raises the alarm. As a result, people seek out specialists with already advanced osteoarthritis, when much more complex treatment is needed.

Osteoarthritis of the knee with late diagnosis and lack of adequate therapy can have very serious consequences, even the complete immobility of the affected leg, when movement in space without a crutch becomes completely impossible.

In more advanced cases, the only way out is surgery, during which an artificial joint is implanted.

These operations are complex, expensive and can be complicated.

Therefore, it is very important not to ignore knee pain and not to delay the visit to the doctor.

Treatment of arthrosis of the knee joint by alternative methods

To defeat gonarthrosis, a complex therapy is important: a combination of drugs prescribed by a specialist with folk remedies for arthrosis of the knee joints.

Traditional methods of treating knee arthrosis have a very good effect, especially in the early stages of the disease's development. Its use at least relieves pain and, at most, allows you not to bring the subject up for expensive operations.

Furthermore, one should not lose sight of the fact that this disease is chronic and therefore requires constant attention. Modern specialists attribute osteoarthritis of the knee joint to incurable progressive diseases.

Therefore, most treatment consists of taking certain medications continuously to relieve pain and reduce the inflammatory process. However, taking medications for a long time and without interruption is harmful. That is why for people with gonarthrosis, it is so important to be able to use popular methods, at least during periods of remission.

So, let's find out what is the treatment alternative for knee joint arthrosis. The experience in combating this disease goes back hundreds of years, so the list of remedies that can be used at home is very extensive. For convenience, all folk remedies for the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee joint can be divided into four groups.

Medicinal herbs

The first group includes medicinal herbs: burdock, onion, celandine, cabbage leaves, etc. Herbal treatment for osteoarthritis of the knee joint involves the use of self-prepared medications, both inside and out.

• Compresses made from fresh horseradish root, cabbage or burdock leaves, which need to be applied to a sore knee, isolated with cotton or several layers of bandage and left overnight, provide tangible relief. Previously, the leaves of the cabbage were crushed or beaten for greater effect to release juice, you can lightly grease the leaves with honey. Burdock leaves are dipped in boiling water for 30 seconds and then cooled. The horseradish root is chopped and slightly heated;
• You can also use celandine: a few tablespoons of dried herbs should be boiled with boiling water and then cooled to 40-50 ° C. The resulting infusion is drunk before meals, and the rest of the fermented celandine is applied asa compress;
• If the disease is in the early stages, ice healing can be used. The ice pack is firmly attached to the sore spot with a woolen cloth and remains there until the ice melts. This compress is used when you need to quickly get rid of the edema and stop the inflammatory process;
• Compresses take a long time, so for many people, different types of friction will be more convenient. Rubbing is a liquid mixture of healing agents that must be rubbed vigorously on the skin of the affected area. For the treatment of arthrosis, rubbing the aged elecampane root with vodka, chamomile tincture, yellow dandelion head tincture and sunflower oil are especially suitable. It is best to apply them on clean, preferably vaporized skin. It is necessary to rub the sore knee daily for 5-10 minutes, then wrap it in a towel or warm cloth for a while;
• Another proven recipe is saber tincture, for the preparation of which 1-1, 5 tablespoons of herbs are placed in 100 ml of vodka and leftover. The knee is treated with the resulting dye twice a day for a month;
• There is a recipe based on potato sprouts. They are washed, placed in a glass container, drizzled with vodka and left out of the light for three weeks. After this period, the infusion is filtered, the used shoots are discarded;
• You can also peel and chop the garlic head, pour 200 ml of vegetable oil on it and leave it in the dark for a week. The dye has a strong smell, this should be taken into account if you need to go somewhere soon after applying the friction. In that case, you should wash the places where the dye has entered well;
• Many people see the benefits of medicinal herbal baths: malt, senna and others. A pine bath gives a good effect. You can buy a ready-made collection of conifers at a pharmacy or prepare a decoction yourself. To do this, take young conifer branches with a total volume of approximately one liter, pour two to three liters of water and cook for about 10 minutes. Then, the broth is filtered, the branches are thrown away and the liquid is poured into a water bath. You should take baths with medicinal herbs for 15 minutes.

The simplest is the salt bath. Three tablespoons of common or sea salt and the same amount of baking soda are poured into a bowl of hot water, after which the sore knee is immersed in the bowl for 15 minutes.

After the bath, the feet should be quickly dried and hidden under a warm cloth.

Infusions prepared by the user are administered internally. They do not need to be boiled, the dried herbs are simply poured into boiling water and kept to cool. Infusions are given 2-3 times a day, half a glass at a time. Infusions of horsetail, juniper, young nettle and birch leaves are prepared for the treatment of knee arthrosis.

For pain, a curative infusion of onions is very effective: two medium-sized onions are placed with a liter of boiling water and insisted, the resulting liquid is consumed in three doses.

Another simple but effective recipe is blueberry tea. Pour a tablespoon of fresh or dried lingonberry leaves with a glass of boiling water.

Like most infusions, this tea should be drunk half a glass twice a day for a month, preferably in the afternoon.

The use of these decoctions helps to restore metabolic processes in the affected cartilage tissues, reduces pain syndrome and promotes the removal of harmful compounds from the joint fluid.

Self-massage

The second popular remedy for osteoarthritis of the knee joint is self-massage techniques. Self-massage is very effective, although it does not require any cost, except temporary. Note that the knee must be prepared before the session! It is best to heat it with a hot bath or gentle circular rubbing.

Then, you can go directly to the massage.

Its main techniques are as follows:

1. Circular strokes with the palm of your hand. We alternate the lungs, without pressing, stroking clockwise and against it, at the same time that we affect not only the knee itself, but also the adjacent areas. This technique reduces muscle tone and improves blood and lymph flow in the area affected by arthrosis;
2. Rubbing. We rub the knee in a circle, while applying tangible pressure. It can be rubbed with the palm of the hand or with the bent wrist. This relaxes the muscles and improves joint mobility. Circular movements are most effective in a Turkish pose if the condition of the knees allows this position;
3. Knee with fingertips with moderate pressure. This technique allows you to have a beneficial effect on deeper structures.

Self-massage can be performed by taking a bath at a comfortable temperature. Some sources mention the honey massage at night, but usually a special cream or ointment is used. You can make this ointment yourself.

This requires adding a small amount of an essential oil to the container with petroleum jelly. Rosemary oil has a positive effect on blood circulation, peppermint oil has a refreshing and analgesic effect and lavender oil helps to stop inflammation.

The duration of the self-massage procedure is about 15 minutes, and can be performed 2 to 4 times a day. Only self-massage performed regularly will be effective. In addition, massage is useful as a preventive measure, in which case it will be enough to perform it at least once a week.

When doing the self-massage, you should not experience pain or discomfort, otherwise you can only make the situation worse.

Corrective Gymnastics

The third remedy is corrective gymnastics. It also requires preliminary preparation, heating, which can be used as a self-massage. Such a complex use of these two media has a positive effect on their effectiveness.

Here are three simple exercises:

• Sit at a table or high chair with your feet off the floor. Then swing your legs from side to side, the movements should not be accentuated and the range of motion is very large. The duration of the exercise is approximately seven minutes;
• Sit in a comfortable chair with your knees bent at right angles and your feet flat on the floor. The exercise can be performed with only one affected leg, but it is useful to use both legs not only when both knees are affected, but also for preventive purposes. Place your foot on the balls of your feet, raise your heel off the floor as high as you can, then lower it to the floor and continue to repeat this movement at a calm pace for five minutes. It can be performed with both legs alternately or simultaneously;
• Assume the same posture as the previous position, only now rest on the heel. Use your toes to tap the floor lightly. The duration of the exercise is five minutes.

Some exercises can be done early in the morning, still in bed. They are a kind of exercise for the joints. One of these exercises is the bicycle exercise.

Another exercise is performed as follows: bend one leg and keep the other leg extended, pull the fingers of the extended leg towards you as far as possible, and then change legs. Repeat several times. You can also alternately pull your legs towards your chest and straighten.

Power adjustment

The fourth way to treat knee arthrosis at home is considered nutritional adjustment. It is not enough to affect the body from the outside, it is necessary to make up for the lack of substances necessary to restore the structure of the cartilage cells.

Therefore, you will have to make changes to the usual menu: add some products and delete some or reduce their use to a minimum.

The issue of nutrition is especially relevant for overweight people, since, in gonarthrosis, extra pounds further aggravate the already precarious state of joint structures.

Let's start with a list of recommended products:

• Dairy products: cheese, cottage cheese, sour cream, kefir with a fat content of not more than 3. 2%. They contain many proteins that are useful for restoring cartilage tissue;
• Millet, rice and buckwheat porridge, whole grain bread. These foods are rich in complex carbohydrates, without which synovial fluid synthesis is impossible. You should not buy instant porridge. They will not be useful, because cereals are processed for them in a completely different way than when cooking porridges at home, which results in the destruction of most useful elements;
• Gelatin dishes: fish with jam, meat with jam, jam, pudding. Gelatin provides the restoration of cartilage cells due to the high content of collagen and chondroitin;
• Any fruits and vegetables, as they are rich in fiber. Vegetables, carrots, beans, celery, radishes and cauliflower are especially useful;
• Steamed or steamed meat and fish, especially when combined with vegetables;
• Sprouted Wheat;
• Nuts: hazelnuts, pine nuts and almonds.

For a better absorption of healthy foods, it is recommended to consume two glasses of mineral water a day.

Let's move on to the list of harmful products:

1. Salt and spices. They cannot be totally eliminated from the diet, however, to combat joint diseases, it is worth limiting their use. This rule does not apply to saffron: on the contrary, its use is considered beneficial. Turmeric has been proven to have a positive effect on cartilage tissue, which contributes to its growth and recovery;
2. Any fatty, smoked and preserved dishes;
3. Semi-finished products;
4. Fast food and carbonated drinks;
5. Alcoholic beverages: even a low alcohol content slows down metabolic processes, which negatively affects the regeneration process;
6. Sweets and flour products. They are loaded with simple carbohydrates that can trigger weight gain. As mentioned above, extra pounds create an additional load on joints already weakened by arthrosis;
7. Coffee. This drink can be consumed, but only in small quantities, otherwise, calcium will be eliminated from the body;
8. Pepper, cabbage and tomato, which block collagen, preventing the cartilage tissue from regenerating and growing;
9. Citrus and Cherry. Due to the high content of acids, its use negatively affects the structure of bones.

To get the most out of this diet, remember to drink plenty of water: at least 1. 5 liters a day. The daily caloric intake must not exceed 3, 000, and the food must be at room temperature, in no case hot.

Don't forget that the treatment of knee arthrosis is a long process and your success depends on your availability to regularly perform all necessary procedures and follow a diet.

Regular visits to your doctor, listening to your advice and at the same time using folk remedies for osteoarthritis of the knee joint, you can make significant progress in the fight against this disease.