Realistically most, if not all of us do not give enough attention to our joints. Perhaps this habit developed because we do not see our joints physically, do not understand their functions or simply because we do not know how important their roles are in performing our regular body movements.
Consequently, we continue to not pay attention to our joints until they start feeling painful.
To put it simply, joints are the connections between bones. They are located there to join bones, cartilages and teeth to one another.
From this, we can gage that our entire physique is made up of joints. Each one of them is designated with their own distinctive shape and structure to control the range of motion between the areas that it links. With this feature, joints help muscles and body parts to move in various directions.
The common term used for joints in medical fields is articulation.
As per mentioned, these articulations are located all over our bodies, but one of the most obvious ones include our knee joints. The knee joint is one of the strongest and vital joints in our bodies. It assists the lower leg to move in coordination to the thigh, all while carrying the body’s weight.
This joint helps us to carry out regular to-dos such as walking, climbing up the stairs and sitting. It becomes agitating when we start to feel pain or tension around our knee joints, as it affects our day-to-day activities.
Joint pains are commonly caused by certain factors. Of which include:
- Age
- Joint inflammation (arthritis)
- Obesity
- Injury affecting any of the ligaments or other muscles surrounding the joint
- Excessive vigorous exercise
- Bone cancer
The ageing factor is the top cause of joint pain. It is a natural happening and almost inevitable. This is because as we grow older, the cartilage (soft tissues that cover and protect areas at the end of the bones) slowly begin to wear, making the bones exposed to each other.
When we move often, the bone joins grind against each other and cause friction, resulting in pain and inflammation.
What symptoms show that you are suffering from joint pain?
- Joint redness
- Joint swelling
- Joint warmth
- Limping due to pain and discomfort
- Loss of range of motion
- Stiffness and locked – unable to bend and extend the knee
- Joint weakness
If you are suffering from any of the above symptoms, we highly urge you to get help as fast as possible. Here are some effective ways to relieve or reduce the pain in your joints:
- Wrap ice cubes in a towel and let it rest on your joint in pain. Practise this for 15 minutes periodically. The cold temperature from the ice will slow down the blood flow. Coherently, it will reduce the tissues swelling in that area.
- Exercise routines that are within your capabilities. This is not intended to further worsen your joint pain by over exerting it. However, it is to strengthen the resilience of our joints. Other than exercising, ensure that you get enough relaxation so as your joints can rest.
- One of the safest methods of relieving joint pain is to consume medications or supplementary health capsules. This is because the medications may include ingredients that will help heal your joint pain from within your body.