Middle-aged and elderly people with knee pain should not only take glucosamine, but also pay attention to rest and symptomatic medication

A friend told Huazi that her mother had pain in both knees, but after going to the hospital for an X-ray, no obvious lesions were found. Huazi said that joint pain is very common in middle-aged and elderly people, especially in the elderly population over 65 years old, almost half of them will have joint pain, mainly in the knee and hip joints, which are the lower limb joints that bear more weight.

She said her mother was taking glucosamine, but the pain did not ease. Huazi told her that her mother should reduce her activities and rest well, and that other drugs should be used for symptomatic treatment according to the specific symptoms.

1. Why do middle-aged and elderly people have knee pain? The reason for joint pain is related to excessive joint activity. During the movement of the joint, the cartilage on the joint surface will be worn, but the human body will also repair the cartilage. Under normal conditions, the two are in a balanced relationship. However, when the human body enters old age, the repair speed of cartilage will slow down. If excessive activity occurs at this time, it will cause excessive wear of the cartilage and produce inflammatory changes, which is called degenerative arthritis.

Many people start to participate in sports such as walking and hiking after retirement, which are particularly prone to joint injuries, especially for those who are already overweight. The joints are more prone to excessive wear and tear during excessive activity. In addition, with aging, the secretion of synovial fluid in the joints will also decrease, which will eventually lead to joint inflammation and cause pain.

2. Correctly understand the role of glucosamine. The full name of glucosamine is glucosamine, which is a natural amino monosaccharide. It is an important component of hyaluronic acid in synovial fluid and an important nutrient for articular cartilage, which can promote cartilage repair. Although glucosamine has a good effect on degenerative arthritis, in fact, most people report that their symptoms have not been significantly improved after taking glucosamine.

This is because the human body can synthesize glucosamine. Generally speaking, people with a normal diet structure will not lack glucosamine in their bodies. Only those who produce too little glucosamine will see a more obvious effect after supplementing glucosamine. But for most people, the effect of additional glucosamine in nourishing cartilage is very limited.

3. Joint care and symptomatic medication The cause of degenerative arthritis is cartilage wear caused by excessive joint activity, so "braking" the joints to reduce wear. This is an effective and simple way to reduce joint damage and promote joint recovery. Reducing joint activity can allow cartilage repair ability to regain the upper hand. In other words, the key to the treatment of degenerative arthritis is "care" to allow the joints to get enough rest.

If the joint pain is severe, or there are inflammatory reactions such as redness and swelling, you can consider using non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as diclofenac sodium, celecoxib, meloxicam, etoricoxib, etc., which have good analgesic effects and certain anti-inflammatory effects, and can quickly relieve the symptoms of joint pain.

You can choose external analgesic ointments or patches and use them on the joints. They can be absorbed through the skin and work. They can also avoid systemic side effects that may occur after oral administration and reduce the risk of medication. If external medications are not effective, use oral medications under the guidance of a doctor or pharmacist.

If joint function is impaired, exogenous sodium hyaluronate can be directly added to the joint capsule to relieve joint pain and improve joint function. Alternatively, local anesthetics, glucocorticoids and other drugs can be used to relieve symptoms. However, these methods require injection and sterile operation in medical institutions.

To sum up, the most common cause of knee pain in middle-aged and elderly people is degenerative arthritis after excluding bone diseases. In addition to supplementing glucosamine during treatment, you also need to get enough rest to avoid further damage to the joint cartilage. If the pain is severe or joint dysfunction occurs, you need to use drugs to treat the symptoms under the guidance of a doctor or pharmacist. I am pharmacist Huazi, welcome to follow me and share more health knowledge.