Is there anyone alive who is not a teenager who has not experienced joint pain, especially knee pain. Even active teenagers have sports injuries, or hurt their joints during some other activity. Granted, the heal a lot faster than those of us who count our years in multiple decades.
Sometimes you can nip pain in the bud by giving the offending joint some love. Massage it. There are many options for what you use as a massage oil or cream. We have our own favorites, which include natural oils that fight inflammation and sore tissue.
You don’t need special training to massage your sore joints. When you do it yourself, you gain the benefit of knowing your body. If you have a partner to work with you, all the better.
Our own Steven Conley has attracted a following for helping people with knee pain. His “5-minute-challenge” program has been widely acclaimed for its results.
You can use the handy Google machine to find credible information, including videos, on how to best massage your knee joints or other body parts. We’ll get you started here with information that our No More Pain staff have personally tried. These instructions come from Denise Mann, a freelance health writer in New York, and appear online.
A 20-minute self-massage done twice weekly improved pain, stiffness and function among people who have knee OA, according to a study in the International Journal of Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork.
You don’t need to become a licensed massage therapist or even know the difference between Shiatsu and Swedish massage to be able to give your knee a pain-relieving rubdown.
Take a seat. Knee self-massage is typically done while seated.
Warm-up. Yes, massage like exercise also requires a warm-up to prepare your joints and bones. Use large, strokes across your knee before starting the massage. Applying heat before the massage can also help relax and ready your muscles.
Identify the painful or sore areas on your knee. Use smaller strokes on these areas. Move your hands or fingers back and forth, forth and back. The good news is you can’t do it wrong! In the study, participants focused on their quadriceps (the four large muscles in the thigh control leg extensions at the knee). Consider using an oil or lotion to easily move your hands over your skin.
Listen to your body. If it is too painful, ease up on the pressure. Massage should not hurt.
There is no one-size-fits-all answer as to how often you should massage your aching knee/s. The International Journal of Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork study suggests twenty minutes twice a week is enough to make a difference. This is all it took for participants to improve the pain they felt when walking on a flat surface, up or down stairs, at night while in bed, sitting or lying, and standing up, when compared with their counterparts who were placed on a wait list in lieu of self-massage training. They also reported less stiffness upon first waking in the morning and lying, sitting, or resting later in the day.
So, give yourself some self-love while you reduce pain in your aching joints.