The hard truth is arthritis knee pain affects millions worldwide, impacting mobility and quality of life.
Knee osteoarthritis is the most common type, with studies showing over 32.5 million adults in the U.S. have osteoarthritis—a condition where cartilage wears down over time, resulting in painful joints and stiffness.
Other types, like rheumatoid arthritis, can also cause knee arthritis symptoms, affecting multiple joints due to an autoimmune disease.
Understanding the causes, risk factors, and treatment options for arthritis knee pain relief is key to mobility and minimizing discomfort. Fortunately, medical advancements in physical therapy, topical treatments, and anti-inflammatory medications offer many viable solutions for patients.
In this article, we’ll cover:
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Common symptoms and causes of knee arthritis
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Treating osteoarthritis using nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), topical NSAIDs, and hyaluronic acid injections
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Weight loss, lifestyle changes, and specific exercises to improve joint pain relief
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The possibility of joint replacement surgery or arthroscopic surgery
Whether you want to get pain relief naturally or try other treatments, this guide will help you take the next step towards less pain and more mobility, including using Motive’s advanced stimulation device.
Symptoms of Arthritis Knee Pain
Understanding the symptoms of arthritis knee pain is the first step if you want to achieve pain relief.
While the severity of knee arthritis varies from person to person, common signs include joint pain, stiffness, swelling, and reduced mobility.
Let’s take a closer look at each of these symptoms:
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Pain: People with knee arthritis experience a mild ache or sharp pain, especially after exercise. This knee pain gets worse with prolonged standing, walking, or when using the stairs. Over time, even everyday activities like getting up from a chair or bending down can become difficult.
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Stiffness: Knee stiffness is most noticeable in the morning or after long periods of inactivity. The knee joint feels locked or hard to move, making it harder to walk after sitting. Specific exercises and gentle movement can help reduce stiffness over time.
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Swelling: Inflammation in the knee joint causes swelling. This is due to excess fluid buildup, a reaction to joint problems like cartilage wear or irritation. Applying cold packs can help reduce inflammation and get temporary pain relief.
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Decreased Range of Motion: As osteoarthritis progresses, the knee's range of motion becomes limited. Simple actions like bending or fully extending the knee become difficult, affecting mobility. If left untreated, knee arthritis can lead to further muscle weakness, making it even harder to move.
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Other Symptoms: Additional symptoms may include warmth and tenderness around the knee joint, creaking or grinding sounds (crepitus) with movement, and feeling more uncomfortable in cold or damp weather.
If you have any of these symptoms, early intervention in the form of topical treatments, physical therapy, or anti-inflammatory meds can help relieve pain and slow progression.
Tired of knee pain holding you back? Motive offers a non-invasive solution to strengthen your quadriceps and finally find relief from arthritis and other causes.
Causes of Arthritic Knee Pain
Knowing the underlying causes of arthritis knee pain is key to finding the right pain relief solutions. While osteoarthritis is the most common, other types of arthritis can also cause joint pain. Several risk factors can increase the likelihood of getting knee arthritis.
Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative condition where the cartilage in the knee breaks down over time.
Source: Novus Spine Center
As this protective layer erodes, the knee joint experiences more friction, resulting in joint pain, stiffness, and swelling.
This wear-and-tear happens gradually and is more common in older adults, athletes, and those with repeated knee strain.
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Unlike OA, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease where the body’s immune system attacks the joints, causing inflammation, pain, and joint damage.
This condition often affects multiple joints symmetrically, meaning both knees can have arthritis pain at the same time.
Other Types of Arthritis
While OA and RA are the most common types of knee arthritis, other conditions can also cause joint pain, such as:
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Psoriatic arthritis: Linked to psoriasis, this type causes joint inflammation and swelling.
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Gout: A buildup of uric acid crystals in the knee joint causes sudden, severe pain and inflammation.
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Post-traumatic arthritis: Previous injuries, such as ligament tears or fractures, can cause long-term damage to the knee joint and arthritis pain later in life.
Risk Factors
Several factors can increase the risk of developing knee arthritis. The most common ones to keep an eye on are:
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Age: The risk rises as joints experience more wear over time.
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Genetics: A family history of arthritis pain makes some more prone than others.
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Obesity: Excess body weight places extra stress on the knee joint and accelerates cartilage breakdown.
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Previous injuries: A history of knee injuries, joint problems, or arthroscopic surgery increases the likelihood of arthritis knee pain.
While some risk factors like age and genetics are out of a person’s control, lifestyle changes like losing weight, physical therapy, and taking anti-inflammatory medication can help relieve pain and slow the progression of knee osteoarthritis.
Treatment Options for Arthritis Knee Pain Relief
Managing arthritis knee pain requires a combination of pain relief solutions tailored to your needs. From lifestyle changes to medical interventions, there are many treatment options to relieve pain and improve mobility.
Below, we’ll look at non-invasive therapies and medical treatments for knee arthritis relief.
Surgical Options
If other treatments don’t relieve pain, surgery may be necessary to restore function and relieve pain in the knee joint. Surgery is usually considered for those with severe arthritis knee pain that affects daily activities.
The options include:
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Arthroscopy: This minimally invasive procedure involves making small incisions to remove damaged cartilage, smoothing out bone surfaces, and addressing joint problems. While arthroscopic surgery may give short-term relief, it’s generally better for younger patients with mild to moderate osteoarthritis and not those with advanced knee arthritis.
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Joint Replacement: For severe cases where cartilage wears down completely, joint replacement surgery may be recommended. In this procedure, orthopedic surgeons remove the damaged parts of the knee joint and replace them with artificial implants. This surgery can give long-term joint pain relief, improve mobility, and allow patients to go back to everyday activities with less pain.
Non-Surgical Options
For many people, alternative therapies can help relieve pain, improve mobility, and slow down knee arthritis without surgical risks.
A combination of lifestyle changes, medications, and injections can relieve pain and manage arthritis knee pain without surgery.
Here’s how.
Lifestyle Modifications
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Weight Management: Carrying excess body weight puts extra stress on the knee joint and accelerates cartilage wear. Losing weight can reduce pain and improve mobility, especially for knee osteoarthritis.
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Exercise: Doing low-impact exercises like swimming, cycling, and walking helps strengthen the muscles around the knee joint, improves stability and flexibility, and reduces stress on painful joints. Specific exercises prescribed by a physical therapist can also improve joint function and reduce inflammation.
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Physical Therapy: A physical therapist can design a personalized program that targets the muscles supporting the knee joint, improving strength, flexibility, and overall knee range of motion. Physical therapy is great for people recovering from injuries or looking to delay the need for joint replacement.
Medications
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Pain Relievers: Over-the-counter medications like acetaminophen can relieve pain, especially for mild to moderate arthritis pain.
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Anti-Inflammatories: Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like ibuprofen and naproxen sodium can reduce inflammation and relieve pain. COX-2 inhibitors, a newer class of anti-inflammatory medications, have similar benefits with fewer gastrointestinal side effects.
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Disease-Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drugs (DMARDs): For people with rheumatoid arthritis, DMARDs slow disease progression by suppressing the immune system and reducing inflammation in the joints to improve pain.
Injections
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Corticosteroids: These injections deliver anti-inflammatory medication directly into the knee joint, relieving pain for a few weeks to a few months. However, repeated use can damage the joint over time.
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Hyaluronic Acid: Used to treat knee osteoarthritis, these injections lubricate the knee joint, improve mobility, and offer pain relief for a few to several weeks.
Finding Relief with Motive: A New Path for Arthritis Knee Pain
Arthritis knee pain makes everyday life a challenge, even the smallest tasks.
Getting help is key to finding the right treatments, whether lifestyle changes, medication, physical therapy, or surgery.
Knowing your options empowers you to take control of your joint health and work towards pain relief and mobility.
Motive was designed to treat knee pain from arthritis by targeting one of the main culprits: muscle weakness around the knee joint. By strengthening key muscles, Motive helps support painful joints, improve movement, and reduce pain over time.
If you have arthritis knee pain, there are now more options than ever to manage the discomfort and return to an active life. Whether NSAIDs, physical therapy, injections, or surgery, know that relief is possible.
Motive offers a new way that is clinically proven, convenient, and relieves pain without taking medications or getting surgery.
Get started on your journey to less pain and more mobility with Motive Knee.
Learn more today!
