Many daily activities can unwittingly cause joint pain.The most common locations for joint pain are the knees, ankles and around the shoulders. Find out what treatments you can do at home.
Joint pain is caused by an injury that affects the ligaments and tendons surrounding the joint. Generally, joint pain causes pain in the injured body part, the severity and pain caused by joint pain varies from mild, moderate to severe.
Causes of Joint Pain
Various things can be a risk factor for joint pain, starting from an unbalanced nutritional intake, excess weight, increasing age, type of work, the influence of stress, to physical activities carried out daily and the occurrence of injuries can also affect the incidence of joint pain complaints.
The causes of joint pain are various, but some physical activity can also cause joint pain, such as:
- Standing too long
Standing for too long can cause joint pain, because the body's support will be given in the long term and affect the spaces between joints, especially in the hip joints, knees and feet. If you have a job that requires standing most of the hour At work, occasionally try to stretch your knees by alternately bending your knees briefly to minimize joint pain. On the other hand, sitting or sleeping for too long can also trigger joint pain, as the space between the joints is not used for a long time to move or support the body's weight.
- Lifting heavy weights
Lifting weights that are too heavy can also cause joint pain in the back. In addition to lifting heavy weights, lifting or moving items in the wrong body position can also trigger joint pain in the back. When moving an object, be careful to avoid back injury.
- Jump
Various situations and activities, sometimes requiring us to jump to reach a destination, this thing that is often underestimated, can actually cause joint pain and injury, if we are not careful in doing it.
- Excessive exercise
Exercise is able to build muscle strength and maintain joint health, but if done in excess, exercise can also cause joint pain. Some sports are also suspected to trigger joint pain in certain body parts. Like running and basketball, which use the knees as a support when jumping. In these two types of exercise, the risk of experiencing joint pain in the knees and ankles tends to be greater.
- Injury
Sprains caused by injuries during exercise can also cause joint pain in the injured body part. Generally, sports that require repetitive muscle movements such as badminton, rowing, and golf are more at risk for sprains. Lifting weights and various types of exercise in gyms, which are generally repetitive in nature, can also be the cause of injury and joint pain.
Coping with Joint Pain at Home
As an initial treatment for joint pain, you can do it at home. You can try performing an action known as RICE which is:
- rest
Resting and caring for the affected joint will give the joint recovery time and reduce the pain it causes.
- Ice
Cold temperatures exposed to ice on the area experiencing joint pain, will help to divert the pain or reduce swelling if there is joint tissue injury. You can wrap the ice in a soft cloth and apply pressure to the joints.
- Compression
Emphasis on the joint can be applied using an elastic bandage, to help reduce swelling and keep the joint in position. But make sure you don't wrap the bandage too tightly, so that blood circulation is maintained.
- Elevation
Place the part that is experiencing joint pain, higher than the body, for example by propping a pillow on the leg or knee that has joint pain.
In addition, you can also take a warm bath, especially in the morning so that the body is more relaxed, and the pain that appears can be reduced.
In addition to these simple treatments, you can also use creams or topical medications that can be applied to the parts of the body that are experiencing joint pain. For example, topical medications that contain capsaicin. This drug can divert the joint pain experienced, so that it feels less. However, the content of capsaicin can cause discomfort in the form of a burning sensation on the part of the body that the cream is applied to.
Another topical medication that can be an option is one that contains diclofenac sodium. This drug is classified as a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). In contrast to capsaicin, the sodium content of diclofenac is able to overcome the problem of joint pain without causing a burning sensation on the body part that is applied. This type of topical medication is known to be effective in joint pain in various areas of the body, such as knees, feet, ankles, elbows, wrists and hands. In addition to its benefits for reducing pain, the anti-inflammatory properties of diclofenac sodium, can reduce the inflammatory reaction in the area that is applied.
To avoid joint pain, it's good if you always stretch your joints before and after and on the sidelines of activities, exercise regularly, avoid forcing various activities, and live a healthy lifestyle.
If home remedies are not able to overcome the joint pain experienced, immediately consult a doctor. Especially if it is accompanied by other symptoms such as swelling, redness and pain when pressed or lasts for more than two weeks despite treatment at home.
