An effective treatment for knee pain

[ZombieCake]

topical rubifacients

Does that include the likes of Voltarol (diclofenac) or ibuprofen creams?  Haven't personally found them that effective at doing anything more significant than emptying the wallet, but maybe that's just me?

 

[aricooperdavis]

Rubefacients are just compounds that irritate the skin and make it red, so wouldn't include Voltarol or Ibuprofen cream, but does include Algesal, Balmosa, Deep Freeze, Movelat, Ralgex, and Transvasin. Diclofenac and ibuprofen gels are considerd to be effective for acute musculoskeletal pain.

 

[nearlywhite]

Same with GP visits - people tend to go when they're feeling at their worst and were about to turn the corner and start getting better. So they ascribe their improvement in symptoms to the GP's intervention - even if the intervention did not go far beyond (as in a GP I had many years ago) looking soulfully at them and saying "you poor soul. Bless you"

It works the other way too. Can't tell you how many patients have told me they were perfectly well till they came to hospital...

I think the best advice you can give to anyone is get to a healthy weight, do enough exercise and try not to eat crap - do those 3 things well and the vast majority of problems disappear.

Oh and try not to live off vitamin I (ibuprofen) if you can help it - a lot of people take significant doses regularly and they're not without some serious side effects

 

[Mike Hopley]

Oh and try not to live off vitamin I (ibuprofen) if you can help it - a lot of people take significant doses regularly and they're not without some serious side effects

...such as stomach ulcers. Nasty.

From a sports coaching perspective, I parrot the advice I've received from physios: it's okay to take (oral) ibuprofen for about two weeks. Sometimes this is beneficial, e.g. if an injury has got stuck in an inflammatory cycle and refuses to calm down. Longer-term use is best avoided.

The topical gels (ibuprofen / diclofenac) are much safer, if for some reason you need anti-inflammatory drugs over a prolonged period.

Inflammation is a surprisingly complex topic. Have you ever wondered why we treat sprains / strains with ice, as a first-aid measure, when this inflammation is the body's natural response and promotes healing?