Knee pain – surgery is not always necessary
The knee joint is the largest joint in the human body and ensures that we can walk, run and jump. When inflammations, injuries or wear and tear affect the bones, joint cartilage, tendons, ligaments and muscles, pain in the knee occurs. Surgery is not always the only solution.
Knee pain affects about ten million Germans. The symptoms can be acute or chronic and affect all age groups. Depending on the cause, knee pain manifests itself differently. The Apotheken Umschau offers an overview on this topic, which symptoms are associated with which knee ailments.
Apart from sports and traffic accidents, osteoarthritis is the most common cause of knee pain. It is not only older people who are affected, because osteoarthritis can also occur at a younger age due to malpositions in the joint (so-called knock knees or bow legs), incorrect stresses, excess weight or injuries. However, when children complain of discomfort in the knees, growth is often the reason.
To treat and relieve knee pain, there are some home first aid measures you can take yourself (for example, using supportive bandages). If this does not help, a visit to the doctor is necessary. After an ultrasound examination or an MRI, the orthopedist makes his diagnosis, on which the further treatment steps depend.
Traditional therapy for knee problems
It does not have to be an operation or even a prosthesis. Usually, anti-inflammatory painkillers are prescribed first or medications containing cortisone are injected into the joint. Physiotherapy and special muscle training to strengthen the muscles around the knee can help to stabilize them again. If the knee is to be kept still to protect it, however, then heat or cold therapies, bath therapies, orthopedic bandages, orthotics, ultrasound therapy or crutches support the healing process.
Alternative healing methods for knee pain
Naturopathy also offers various ways to effectively relieve knee pain. Acupuncture as a method of pain relief originates from traditional Chinese medicine and is also used for knee pain. Ayurvedic massages or therapy with leeches also promise an improvement in the symptoms. If the knee pain cannot be contained even by these alternative healing methods, surgery may be useful in order to live permanently free of symptoms.
However, before such an intervention, one should at least have tried various gentler healing methods in order to be sure that surgery is the only possibility for lasting improvement.
