Knee pain can occur due to an old injury, osteoarthritis, a sprain or any other cause. The pain may be so severe, it prevents you from going ahead with daily activities. A few home remedies available in any well-stocked Indian Kitchen (or an up-to-date First Aid Kit), alleviates the pain, before visiting the doctor.
Knee Pain Home Remedies

Most knee pain is due to physical exertion, a lack of essential nutrients like Vitamin D, calcium and iron, along with age-related wear and tear of muscles and tissues. Remember excruciating pain that hasn't faded away within a couple of days, requires professional medical attention. In the meantime, here are a few home treatments that relieve pain, swelling, stiffness in the case of injuries.

Fantastic Home Remedies To Soothe Joint Pain In The Knee:

Ample Rest

  • Protect the injured or painful area;
  • Stop or change the activity that is causing pain;
  • Take rest and don't use the painful knee if possible;
  • Keep a small pillow under the injured knee to support it.

Ice Packs

  • Applying ice or cold packs to the affected area 2 or 3 times a day reduces swelling and eases pain;

Avoid Alcohol

  • Avoid hot showers, hot tubs, hot packs, or alcoholic beverages for the first 48 hours after a knee injury.

Wrap Bandage

  • The injured knee in elastic bandage will help decrease the swelling;
  • Wrapping the knee too tightly causes the area above or below the wrappings to swell.
  • Tight elastic bandages cause numbness, tingling, increased pain, coolness, or swelling in the area below.
  • The elastic bandage is not meant to protect or stabilise a knee injury, only to alleviate the swelling.

Sometimes old injuries and age-related knee pain can be treated with remedies commonly found in the Indian kitchen:

Ginger

The anti-inflammatory compounds in ginger help reduce swelling on the knee along with the pain. Brew ginger in hot water, with a little honey & lemon. Drink 2- 3 cups a day until the pain eases.

  • Grate 1 - inch Ginger piece & boil for 10 minutes in 1 cup water.
  • Strain the decoction & add a little honey & lemon before drinking.

Turmeric

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) says this root may slow the progression of rheumatoid arthritis, one of the main causes of knee pain. Curcumin, an anti-inflammatory chemical found in Turmeric, also has anti-oxidant properties.

  • Boil a half teaspoon each of ground ginger and turmeric to a cup of water for 10 minutes.
  • Strain, add honey to taste and drink this 'tea' twice a day.
  • Boil a teaspoon of turmeric powder in a glass of milk, add honey to sweeten the brew and drink once a day.

Caution: Turmeric has blood-thinning properties; people on blood-thinner medication are advised not to take this remedy regularly.

Lemon

Are you wondering why lemons or lemon juice was an ingredient in the home remedies that we've mentioned above? That's because lemon is a low-cost remedy for arthritic pain. The citric acid in lemons and limes dissolves uric acid crystals, which causes some types of arthritis.

  • Cut one or two lemons into quarters.
  • Bundle the pieces in a cotton cloth and dip them in warm sesame (til) oil.
  • Place the cloth on the painful knee for 5 - 10 minutes.
  • Do this twice a day until the knee pain disappears.

Tulsi

This holy plant has anti-rheumatic and antispasmodic properties.

  • Boil a cup of water with a few leaves of Tulsi (Holy Basil) for few minutes.
  • Let the decoction sit for 10 minutes, strain and drink the brew.
  • Drink at least 3 - 4 cups of Tulsi 'tea' every day until the knee pain eases.

Castor Oil

Castor oil is a wonderful natural solution to ease joint pain in the knees and is even documented in the ancient Ayurvedic manuscripts of Sushruta Samhita, Charaka Samhita, for its potential in managing arthritis symptoms. It is known as Eranda Tailam as per the Ayurveda terminology in Sanskrit and possesses ricinoleic acid, a powerful phytonutrient with anti-inflammatory properties that reduces aching, discomfort in the bones, muscles, joints in the body.

Warm 3 tbsp of castor oil and transfer it to a clean bowl. Take a portion in the palms and rub it on both knees in gentle circular motions for 2 minutes each, applying pressure mildly. This oil massage with castor oil vastly improves blood circulation to the knees and generates heat, which helps increase the range of motion of the joints and lessen knee pain.

Yoga Asanas

A holistic form of exercise that activates the body and calms the mind, yoga is highly effective in pacifying joint pain in the knees. In instances of rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, doctors advise avoiding very vigorous training routines and recommend strengthening yoga postures which are low to moderate-intensity workouts.

Yoga exercises such as Trikonasana, Veerabhadrasana, Vrikshasana entail just basic, simple standing, stretching and bending motions and can be performed daily in the morning for 15 – 20 minutes. These postures reinforce the spine, knee, thigh, hip and leg muscles, promote blood flow to the bones and joints, remarkably enhancing their flexibility and decreasing swelling, pain and inflammation in arthritis.

Conclusion:

These home remedies are simple ways to alleviate mild to moderate knee pain arising from old injuries, overexertion or arthritic symptoms. However, severe knee pain that disrupts your ability to move around needs to be examined by a doctor at the earliest. Knee pain that increases in intensity or joint swellings that don't go down cannot be left untreated and also need to be analysed by a medical professional immediately.