How I got rid of the pain in my knee after it started aching for no reason.

I decided to share a bit of experience I had some time ago about how I cured a pain in my knee after it started to ache for no apparent reason.

I can’t say exactly when I started feeling the pain in my right knee, but I know I still have no idea what caused the stress in the first place. I usually sit with my legs folded so initially I thought that maybe I strained it a bit by sitting with my legs folded for too long. Even though it was hurting badly and was really uncomfortable, I figured that I maybe did not need to go to see the doctor as I could use a bit of simple home remedy and it would be okay after a short time. I was so wrong. Curing my aching knee was not going to be so simple.

Warm Compresses, Voltarine and a Doctors visit. Was this the answer?

The aching continued in spite of my applying warm compresses, using the steam remedy by placing my knee over a basin with hot water and covering it with a towel and applying the voltarine gel to ease the pain. That did not work. Nothing seemed to help at all. I was puzzled. On a visit to the doctor for my regular checkups I mentioned my aching knee to him. He performed his regular checks and gave my knee a bit of inspection (I always loved his thoroughness) and then to my surprise said "Child do you play netball or are you engaged in any physical activities?" I replied that I was not. I only exercised every once in a while and basically have two left feet when it comes to sports. My doctor then told me to get out and play some netball and there was nothing wrong with my knee. Honestly exercising for me was for keeping healthy and toned.

I know he was right about my lack of exercise but I really did not think that was the reason for the ache in my knee. I trust my doctor but I have no qualms about second guessing him. I would do this by asking him questions about his findings (this was not often as I almost always got a clean bill of health) and I would also have him tell me what medicines he had prescribed and what was its function. I am not a fan of taking medicines.

I went home and did some exercises when I felt like it, but the pain was sometimes so intense I just felt something had to be wrong with the knee. I did some soft exercises trying to get the knee muscle relaxed. On my next visit to the doctor I told him I wanted an x-ray. He looked at me surprised and shook his head but wrote the order for the x-ray to be done. This was now several months since I first felt the pain in my knee. I did not do the x-ray and the pain did not go away. This went on for maybe more than three years. Sometimes there was no pain but I could tell my knee was not 100% well.

It was not until earlier this year (2010) that my knee became pain-free. My knee started acting up very badly to the point of bringing me to near tears. I used the warm compress and the steam baths but that seemed to only make it worst. In total frustration I decided to get some ice and try using a cold compress. That is exactly what I did.

I could not believe that at the end of that first ice pack session the pain was gone. When compared to the warm water treatment which seemed to aggravate the pain more each time I used it, the cold compress got rid of the pain on the very first try. I now realize that whenever I lift something such as a bucket when doing my gardening my knee gets a bit aggravated so now I avoid doing that as much as possible. It is now several months since my one and only ice pack treatment and the pain is yet to return.

For so long I kept using the warm water treatment only to find that doing just the opposite by using an ice pack was actually the way to go.

A German Health Show on the Benefits of a Cold Temperatures and Aching Joints

I recently watched a German health program "In Good Health" where they fucused on the use of extremely cold tempretures to treat joint inflamations and pains such as those related to rheumtism. Based on the results this cold treatment method has proven to be a very effective treatment. Sure althletes have always opted to use icepacks as a popular method of treating injuries but the fact is that other than being used on areas where we received a bump or to relieve a headache, cold treatment might not be used much on the home scene.

On the program I mentioned earlier the patients were subjected to extremely low temperatures for approximately three minutes pushing the body to it limits. I do believe the most commmon reaction to joint pain is to apply a balm of some type, take some pain medication and keep the joint warm as opposed to exposing it to a cold temperature. As far as I know rheumatiod patients are kept warm when they have an onset, as opposed to being put through a cold treatment.

Well Folks... That's What worked for me

As is the case with just about all medical situations, individual reactions to any given treatment will defer. The ineffectiveness of prescribed methods of treatments have lead many of us to try something on our own no matter how simple it may seem, and that trial and error method has accounted for many of us finally finding something that works for us.

Right now a shot of cold treatment seems to be just what the body ordered to deal with joint pains and inflamations. That said, I hope to finally be able to find out just what caused my knee to act up in the first place. Nothing beats getting to the source of the situation.