Diseases of the joints cannot be completely cured with the current development of medicine. Science does not stand still, but no cure has yet been found that can restore tissue damaged by pathology. Patients must try all kinds of drugs and methods in search of a cure. Traditional medicine often cannot provide an effective route. And then the patient begins to wonder how to treat osteoarthritis of the knee joint with folk remedies.
Advantages and disadvantages of traditional medicine
Traditional medicine for osteoarthritis of the knee joint is widely used. The disease is difficult to treat, and limb mobility is gradually reduced. Even traditional therapies only focus on relieving pain and preventing complications. Patients and doctors are ambivalent about conventional medicine, but still resort to it if conventional medicine does not bring the desired result.
Treatment of knee osteoarthritis with folk remedies has both disadvantages and advantages. The pluses include:
- Availability and low cost of most materials;
- many medicinal plants strengthen the immune system;
- few side effects;
- User friendliness.
The raw materials that are used to treat the knee with folk remedies are often found in the preparations of pharmaceutical companies. Therefore, in most cases, alternative medicine is safe if the dosage and rules of use are followed. It's also worth noting that the recipes people use to treat knee osteoarthritis are passed down orally and have proven themselves over time. However, caution should be exercised. Before taking any medication, tell your doctor and listen to his recommendations.
Like all other methods, folk methods have their drawbacks:
- the risk of allergic reactions;
- many methods are contested by traditional medicine, their effectiveness has not been confirmed by research;
- some of the recipes available on the Internet or published on the pages of newspapers and magazines are incorrect. For example, they can contain incompatible components;
- the same plant material has a different effect, for example herbs or fruits with different degrees of ripeness, etc.
Doctors are largely sympathetic to the use of traditional medical prescriptions for this disease. In addition, they sometimes advise the patient on some methods themselves. However, for treatment to be effective, it must be comprehensive. Therefore, even with folk remedies, one should not refuse traditional medicine.
Effective treatment methods
Basically, popular folk recipes for osteoarthritis of the knee joint suggest how to prepare drugs with anti-inflammatory effects. The effect is achieved by accelerating local metabolic processes. This allows you to relieve pain, improve knee mobility and expose pathological processes.
Traditional medicine in this case is not limited to decoctions and ointments. Like the traditional one, it involves many techniques and methods of influencing. Most often, all kinds of ointments, rubs, compresses and applications are used, that is, local agents. Their effect is more noticeable. More rarely, infusions and decoctions are used for oral administration.
It is important to remember that alternative medicine is most effective in the early stages of the pathology. So, treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee joint of the 2nd degree with folk remedies will no longer give as good a result as at the beginning of the disease.
Local compresses
It is difficult to imagine how to treat knee pain without compresses using folk remedies. This form of treatment is often preferred by patients. The compress improves the microcirculation of the blood and thereby relieves inflammation and swelling. This makes the joint looser, making it easier to move the limb. A big plus about compresses is that they can usually be made from products that are always on hand.
Consider popular recipes:
- Oat compress. Pour boiling water over 5 tablespoons of Hercules. It shouldn't be a lot of water. Cook the flakes over low heat for 8-10 minutes. The pulp should be viscous, not thick or runny. Let the mixture cool down and wrap it in cheesecloth or natural fabric. Apply to the sore knee for several hours. Can be attached to the leg with plastic wrap and left overnight.
- Horseradish Compress. Grate the root, cover with water and heat over low heat. Do not bring to a boil, just let it steam while the water warms up. Then shake off the water, but don't wring it out. Wrap horseradish in cotton and apply to the knee for 2 hours. This recipe will help relieve pain.
- Compress cabbage. You need vegetable juice. Soak a woolen cloth in the liquid. Apply to the joint before bed. You can use a cabbage leaf smeared with honey. Then fix with foil. It is convenient to leave such a compress overnight.
As you can see, all components are completely safe. They can only harm allergy sufferers. Compresses should be applied until the main symptom - pain - is alleviated. You can do the procedure every day, but it is recommended that you take breaks after 21-30 days. It is most convenient to apply compresses before bed and leave them on overnight.
Tinctures and decoctions
Tinctures are made with alcohol or water. Plants or their components are used as raw materials. Some infusions and decoctions can be used internally, while others are used to make compresses or ointments. Infusions and decoctions are usually made from herbs that have anti-inflammatory properties. You can use funds from one component or from several. But don't forget to study their interactions with each other.
For tinctures and decoctions for arthritis, the following raw materials are widely used:
- Lingonberry leaves;
- Grass and chamomile flowers;
- Chestnuts;
- Saber;
- Birch buds;
- Marigold flowers;
- Hop cones;
- Wormwood.
Topical application of tinctures and decoctions usually has no side effects. If you take them internally, you should be careful. In addition to allergic reactions, they can also cause digestive disorders.
It is worth remembering that it is better to use only a freshly prepared product.
Medicinal herbal baths
Many patients, constantly searching for an answer to the question of how to relieve pain from osteoarthritis of the knee joint, discover therapeutic baths. The localization of the pathology complicates the procedure a little. It is more convenient to take full-fledged herbal baths. With their help, the patient acts not only on the knee, but also relaxes, which is also important for treatment.
Baths with pine needles are useful (can be used together with branches). The raw materials are immersed in hot water, allowed to scald until the water has cooled to an acceptable temperature, and removed. This bath can be taken for 20 minutes. Jerusalem artichoke is also used to prepare baths. Some tubers are washed and chopped, and then immersed in hot water. Add a tablespoon of turpentine and take a bath when the water cools down a bit.
In order for the effect to be felt, the procedure should be carried out 10-12 days in a row.
Mud therapy
Peloid therapy is often prescribed by doctors to patients with osteoarthritis. The patient is sent to a sanatorium, where mud with suitable properties is used. Saki and Essentuki are popular in our country. Such therapy will help accelerate recovery, normalize blood circulation and local metabolism.
In addition to acting on the joint, healing mud removes toxins and toxins from the body, which also has a positive effect on the treatment. Usually, after rehabilitation in a sanatorium or health resort, the patient notices an improvement and is in the best of moods, which makes further therapy easier.
Applications with medicinal plants
Applications with various additives are carried out on patients during physiotherapy in the hospital. But at home, you can do such procedures using herbs and paraffin wax. Applications are also made from medicinal mud or clay, enriched with decoctions of plants.
The difference to conventional compresses is that the lotion has to act chemically, thermally and mechanically on the affected area. This is achieved by applying a vegetable pulp to the knee, which is irritating. You can preheat it for a thermal impact. The mechanical effect can be achieved by applying adhesive tape to the knee with watermelon, sunflower, melon or buckwheat kernels glued to it.
Rub with camphor and fats
In folk medicine, the treatment of joints with camphor oil is often practiced. The substance is used both in its pure form and in a mixture with other components. This is believed to help restore some joint lubrication, but this is a very controversial statement that has not yet been confirmed by conventional medicine. One thing is certain - folk remedies with camphor are effective in relieving pain. To treat knee osteoarthritis, 10% oil is required, but alcohol is also suitable.
Patients note a positive effect after rubbing them with fats. Badger is used most often, less often pork or beef. The latter usually serve as the basis for herbal ointments. Badger fat is also used in its pure form.
Fats and camphor in the form of rubbing dilate blood vessels, which increases blood supply to the knee and improves trophism.
Effective swaddling with mom and honey
There is another effective recipe that has the answer to how to heal the knee joint. Folk remedies often involve the use of mummy - a resinous substance of natural origin. When mixed with bee products, it has a strong analgesic effect. To prepare the medicine, it is necessary to combine 100 g of liquid honey and 0. 5 g of mummy.
Wraps are made in the evening and left overnight, and in the morning the leftovers are washed off. The process is repeated for 10 days, after which they take a break for 2-3 days and continue the course if desired.
Hirudotherapy
This method does not quite correspond to the definition of "folk remedies", since it is possible only in a clinic, but it is still considered unconventional. As the observations of specialists show, hirudotherapy is effective in the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee joint. The use of medicalLeeching is only possible as part of complex therapy.
The effect is based on enzymes that are injected into the patient's blood during the bite. Thanks to these substances, blood circulation is improved and pain is relieved.
When should one forego alternative treatment?
Treatment of the knee with folk remedies is not always possible and useful. It goes without saying that with joint damage of 2 and 3 degrees one should first listen to the recommendations of the doctors. In this situation, traditional medicine will not help, but rather make the problem worse. Unconventional treatment should be stopped immediately if new symptoms occur, the pain worsens, or an allergic reaction occurs. You also need to consult a doctor who can advise you on the appropriateness of using folk remedies.
Nowadays, doctors are looking for a cure that can cure joint disease without denying natural medication. As with any remedy, care should be taken not to ignore conventional medicine.