
Ask HN: Knee Pains, Reasons and Cure? - slowkid
To All of you, as hackers, what&#x27;s the best way to
1- cure and prevent knee pains
2- cure and prevent knee swelling
3- when your age is &gt;40 or &lt;40 (i assume treatments will be different)<p>Thanks
======
eaandkw
This depends on several things. First is what your daily activity is. If you
are sitting at a desk all day the issue could be a lack of flexibility. This
is because of the way the body is connected to itself. The knee swelling could
be anything from diet to exercise related. If it is bad enough you should
probably go to a doctor, chiropractor, or some other medical professional.
That would at least rule out the obvious issues like torn ligaments etc.

~~~
slowkid
I have three case studies right away. Male, Age 60, left knee pain, doctor
says its aging, life style active. Male, Age 50, both knee pains, doctor says
its uric acid, inactive life style. Female, Age 50, both knee pains, doctor
says its aging, active life style.

Please advise.

~~~
eaandkw
I'm not a doctor so it would be unethical and irresponsible for me to diagnose
anyone online. But I have a stretch therapy business and we relieve and reduce
a lot of pain all over the body. Sometimes the person has pain in the lower
back but the issue is tight hamstrings. I have also had people that have had
issues such as different types of arthritis like rheumatoid arthritis,
vascular arthritis, and bursitis is different locations of there body. Your
case studies could try going to some specialist doctors or even going to a
chiropractor. Just do your research for the chiropractors. Some are better
then others and you should probably stay away from the franchise type
locations. Not that the franchise locations are bad they just aren't set up to
diagnosis any serious or hard cases. How are you involve in the case studies?
I really don't have any context for anything you are telling me.

~~~
slowkid
1- The case studies I mentioned are acquaintances. 2- I don't want to leak
your business secret or any recpie for stretching but still can you explain
basic stretching for joints(knees specially) considering two age brackets > 40
and < 40

------
matt_the_bass
I have small méniscal tears on both knees. I’ve found significant relief with
three things:

\- strengthening my quads (biking or elliptical)

\- stand up desk with correct height keyboard and monitor

\- switching to minimalist shoes. (I really like the comfort of my Xero shoes
but their quality is really poor)

Ymmv. Good luck.

~~~
slowkid
This is a great information and seconds what I've already learnt over time. 1-
How to strengthen quads when age > 40 considering severe knee pain/swelling?
2- will do that 3- By that you mean weight must be very low or you mean sole
of the shoes must be minimale?

Thanks

~~~
matt_the_bass
I like biking and elliptical for strengthening the quads. You don’t need to
push hard but you do need to keep you knees aligned correctly. Start at a
physical therapist to learn correct positioning if needed.

As for minimalist shoe, these are shoes with almost no sole and explicitly no
soft cushion or “support”. The intent is to mimick bing barefoot. Human bodies
have evolved sophisticated shock absorbing structures. Use them. Zero is
pretty inexpensive to try these type of shoes out but their quality is
lacking.

Note, you’ll need 3-6 weeks to get used to them. Your feet will hurt until you
build the muscles and learn not to land steps heel first.

I know about my tears from xrays. The surgeon didn’t think they warranted
surgery if I could mitigate with other methods since they were not bad. He
said the surgery and recovery is painful so why go through it as a first
choice. I’m thankful he said that.

~~~
slowkid
thanks matt_the_bass!

------
sethammons
For _me_, dealing with knee pain requires heavy squats and stretching.
Sometimes it is mashing out knots from muscles where the knotted muscle is
pulling on the knee in a bad way.

As others have said, it really depends on the person. Medical abnormalities
can toss a huge wrench into this. In general, if you don't use it, you lose
it. Do things that cause muscle to build and support joints and do some
mobilizing/stretching.

~~~
slowkid
Thanks for your feedback. Use them or lose them. So for <40 age we can do what
you advised squats and stretching. But what about >40? please suggest.

Also I want to add
[https://superuser.com/a/914862](https://superuser.com/a/914862) the first
comment of the accepted answer tells other side of the story(out of memory
stuff). This is just for the analogy. What do you suggest for that?

~~~
sethammons
40, 50, 70... If you can move, try expanding your range of motion. If you can
do the range of motion, start adding weight. I don't think there is something
magic that stops one from starting to be healthier at 40. I'm also a layman.

~~~
slowkid
loved your thoughts! thanks alot

------
phakding
Even a doctor won't diagnose without having a look at the patient in question.
You are asking laymen to come up with a medical cure/prevention. There are so
many factors involved. All the life long choices contribute to the chronic
conditions. You should go ask a doctor/specialist/diagnostician.

~~~
slowkid
I agree with your feedback. Specialists are required here. But do you know any
hack to improve joints quality specially knees under two buckets. 1- Age > 40
and 2- Age <40.

Thanks

