If you were to cut your knee open, you will find that it is comprised of two very important bones called the femur and the tibia. These two bones are doing a balancing act on one another and at the same time they’re totally surrounded by muscles and connective tissue. This design is so unique that it is the only weight-bearing joint in the body that’s built that way. Unfortunately, this unique design makes the knee more prone to pain, injuries, and arthritis.
If you’re experiencing long-lasting knee pain, it is extremely important for you to check with your doctor to rule out any serious damage to your knee. However, treating knee pain effectively does not always have to be fixated on the joint.
For the most part, when you go to the doctor for knee pain, the main focus is always on the area that hurts, and that is the knee itself. Keep in mind that for the knee to operate at top efficiency and free of pain, all of the muscles, ligaments, and tendons surrounding the knee joint have to be in perfect harmony. Therefore, if one or more of these elements are not working properly, knee pain is usually the result.
According to some doctors, improper balance and alignment of the ankle joints could play a major role in knee pain. For instance, if the ankle joint cannot support the patient’s weight properly and evenly, problems can arise. The ankle joint should be able to support body weight by rolling inward or outward without causing strain to the knee joint or soft tissue. People with unstable ankles are more at risk for injuries, particularly people that engage in certain activities such as basketball, jogging, and tennis.
Therefore, if it is evident that the person’s ankles have alignment problems, there are some exercises that you can do to help walk properly and restore balance to the soft tissue that surrounds the knees.
Home remedies for knee pain
- The tightrope exercise will help to position the ankle over the foot and the knee over the ankle, which will help to get rid of any structural misalignment that can cause you to have knee pain.
You will need to go to a part of your home where there is a long area where there is no objects in your way. A large living room or a hallway is perfect. When you find a suitable area, you will then need to place two parallel lines of masking tape on the floor; make sure that the lines of tape are six inches apart.
Now that you have the appropriate space and the tape on the floor, it is time to take off your shoes and sox and walk on the lines of tape with your bare feet. Upon taking each step, try to align the center of each heel as well as the second toe of each foot with the inner edge of the tape. For best results, walk back and forth for five minutes 2 or 3 times daily.
This is a great exercise for people with knee pain because it helps them to adapt a style of walking that evenly delivers weight correctly through the knee joint.
- Whenever you’re out for a walk, try to look down every few minutes to make sure that your feet are tracking. Confirm that your toes are not pointing outward, which is a bad habit that is very common. The best walking position for you is the position that you use when you walk the tightrope as explained in the exercise above.
Natural cures for knee pain using reflexology
There are numerous reflex points in your feet, and each of those points’ parallels to a certain part of your body. According to health professionals that practice reflexology, you can stimulate reflex points in your feet with certain essential oils, which will get rid of pain in that particular body part.
You can find the knee reflex point by running a finger down the outer edge of your foot. When running your finger down your foot, you should encounter a bony area that’s sticking out midway between your heel and little toe; once you find that spot, the reflex point is right below on the bottom of the feet.
If you are experiencing ligament pain, you can mix a drop of lemongrass essential oil with 4 to 5 drops of vegetable oil. However, if you would like to regenerate nerve tissue, it is recommended that you substitute geranium oil for the lemongrass.
Put a little drop of the oil mixture on the reflex point of the foot that is on the same side as the knee that is giving you trouble. Once the oil is on the correct spot, rub it in gently by rolling your fingertips over the oil. Fortunately, if for some reason you cannot find the reflex point, the treatment will work just as fine if you rub the diluted oil mixture over the entire foot.
You can use the oil at least once or twice daily until the pain succumbs. Hopefully, after a few days, the pain should be no more.
Knee pain relief using acupressure
People that have already injured a knee can find relief for their knee pain, decrease inflammation, speed healing, and help to prevent further injury by paying close attention to an area or acupressure point that sits right behind the knee in the middle of the crease. Acupressure practitioners call this area the commanding middle point or BL54.
Massage therapists know this area very well, and many swear that they get extraordinary results when dealing with clients that have knee pain. People that engage in sports that cause the knees to turn and twist more than normal are usually the ones that benefit from this treatment more so than others. By taking advantage of this particular point, injuries heal a lot quicker and the chances of re-injury are slim.
The best way to locate the point is to place your thumb between your bent knees, try to position the thumb in the crease that’s located in-between both sides of the knee. Once you’ve found the spot, you can apply firm and steady pressure to the area, but not so hard that it causes you pain; however, you want to feel it, so it is up to you to apply the right amount of pressure. Apply pressure to the area for sixty to ninety seconds. In addition, you can use your fingertips to rub lightly in small circles round the area of the point. Because this technique can be used to prevent injuries, you should do it for both knees and not just the one that’s giving you problems. This can be done throughout the day or as needed to help alleviate any discomfort.
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