Knee Arthritis Treatment

It is important to remember that there is no cure for arthritis, the changes in the bone and cartilage cannot be undone. But the effect of those changes can be minimised.

Here you will find information on the best knee arthritis treatment options.  We will start with general treatments you can do at home, then look at medication and finish with the most common options for surgery.

Top 15 Knee Arthritis Treatments

The goal of knee arthritis treatment is to enable you to manage your symptoms so you can get on with your life. By reducing pain and swelling, and improving the strength and mobility of your knee, you can improve your day to day life. 

The best treatments for knee arthritis are:

1. Knee Arthritis Exercises

• Strengthening Exercises: Stronger muscles means more support for the knee and therefore less force through the bones resulting in less pain
  
  
• Mobility Exercises: when the knee starts getting stiff and the muscles get tight, it can change the way forces go through the knee and can put extra pressure on the cartilage and bones. Walking on a leg that doesn't fully straighten, even just by a few degrees, is much harder work so it is important to keep your knee as flexible as possible.

If you are a keen runner and suffer from arthritis, it's best to avoid hard running surfaces like pavements. Instead opt for a treadmill, cross trainer, or grass. Use the links above to find arthritis exercise programmes that can help as part of your knee arthritis treatment.

2. Knee Arthritis Braces

In the arthritis knee brace section, you can find out all about the different styles, how different arthritis knee braces work and read user reviews, all to help you choose the best one for you. 

Arthritis braces should not be used as the sole treatment but in combination with other knee arthritis treatment options to get the best results.

3. Heat and Ice

Many people find that using ice or heat as part of their knee arthritis treatment really helps.

• Heat: warmth to an arthritic joint can be very soothing and is a lovely, natural knee arthritis treatment. The heat sensation helps to block out the pain and also helps increase blood flow to the area.  This brings in all the chemicals and nutrients that the joint needs whilst at the same time taking away the waste products that can be irritating the joint and contributing to the pain.
  
  
• Ice: ice can be a really useful knee arthritis treatment tool to help reduce pain and swelling.

The simplest ways to apply heat are to either use a hot water bottle (ensuring it has a fluffy cover or a towel wrapped around it), or a microwaveable wheat bag and use for about 15-20 minutes at a time

To find out how to safely and effectively use ice, visit the ice treatment section or visit the Ice Wraps section to find out about the best ways to apply ice, such as ice bags, instant ice packs or cryocuffs.

4. Natural Arthritis Remedies

5. Keep Moving

6. Acupuncture

7. Weight Loss & Diet

Research has shown us that reducing body weight by 5-10% can considerably reduce arthritis knee pain. It can also improve your ability to carry out exercise. 

Weight loss is only recommended as part of knee arthritis treatment if you are overweight so always consult your doctor before using weight loss as a knee arthritis treatment option. You can find out how much weight you might need to lose with these body mass index charts.

There are also certain foods that it is worth avoiding with knee arthritis as well as some that can help. By making good arthritis food choices, you can help reduce inflammation which can significantly reduce arthritis knee pain. Visit the diet for arthritis section to find out more.

8. Walking Aids

Sometimes people with knee arthritis find it helpful to use a stick or crutches. Crutches can be used to reduce how much weight is going through the knee when we walk. A stick doesn’t really take any weight off the joint but it does help us to balance.

If you are using just one stick or crutch, always use it on the opposite side to where the pain is e.g. if it's your left knee that is sore, hold the stick in your right hand.

The reason for this is that when we walk normally we swing our opposite arm with our opposite leg (think of the army marching). This is the most efficient way for our body to move, so we want to mimic that when using a walking aid.

Find out more about how to use walking aids with arthritis along with our top tips on how to go up and down stairs with them.

9. Gel Knee Pads

10. Pacing Your Activities

One of the key thing with knee arthritis pain is to pace your activities through the day – don’t try and do all the strenuous jobs at once. Alternate between physical activities and more gentle ones.

Keep using your knee, but rest when it becomes painful. Otherwise you can end up in a boom and bust cycle where when you feel good you do loads but pay for it the next day. 

Little and often works so much better. This is a very simple knee arthritis treatment option, but can be very effective.

11. Footwear

12. Tips For The Stairs

13. Medication for Arthritis

Medication can be a really useful part of knee arthritis treatment. This may be over-the-counter treatment or prescription medications:

• Pain Relief: If arthritis pain is bothering you, then talk to your doctor about what pain-relief would suit you best. It may be that a simple over the counter medication such as paracetamol is sufficient, but you may need something stronger
  
  
• Anti-Inflammatories: The ones most commonly used for knee arthritis treatment are Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAID). Some are available over the counter e.g. ibuprofen and stronger ones are available on prescription. NSAIDs work by reducing swelling and pain.

I know a lot of people don’t like taking pills but they can be really useful. It is generally much better to take medication in the short term so that you can do your arthritis exercise programme than it is to battle through pain while your knee gets weaker and more painful.

Appropriate medication is one of the most important knee arthritis treatment options available.

14. Knee Injections

There are two types of injections that can be used for knee arthritis treatment:

• Corticosteroid Injections: a mixture of local anaesthetic and steroid that is injected into the joint to help decrease pain and swelling
  
  
• Joint Lubricant Injections: such as synvisc, involve injecting a natural gel-like substance found in normal joints into the knee to help lubricate it

These knee arthritis treatment injections are often carried out by your own doctor. Whilst they won't cure your arthritis, they may relieve pain for up to 6 months. You can find out loads more about how they work and the pros and cons using the links above.

15. Knee Arthritis Surgery

Often, conservative knee arthritis treatment is enough to manage the symptoms and progression of arthritis. However, sometimes the pain becomes too debilitating and knee arthritis surgery is advised.

The most common surgery performed for arthritis is a joint replacement. If the arthritis is confined to one side of the joint, then a partial knee replacement can be performed which preserves the knee ligaments. But if the arthritis is more widespread, then a total knee replacement is required.

You can find out all about what happens during knee replacement surgery, the recovery and rehab process and how to get the best results in the knee replacement surgery section.

What Else Can Help?

Check out these articles to find out even more about all the different aspects of knee arthritis:

1. Arthritis Overview: Introduction to Arthritis
2. Causes of OA: The most common causes of arthritis
3. Symptoms & Diagnosis: The symptoms of OA and how is it diagnosed
4. Stages of OA: How the disease progresses
5. Diet For Arthritis:  Which foods to avoid and which foods can help
6. Natural Arthritis Remedies: including supplements and homeopathy
7. Knee Replacements: Replacing an arthritic knee with a new one
8. Arthritis Book: Everything you need to know now in a handy book
   

SAFETY ADVICE: Remember to always consult your doctor before taking any medication as there are some side effects and contraindications associated with certain drugs. Always discuss any new knee arthritis treatment with your doctor first to make sure it is appropriate for you. 

Page Last Updated: 16/01/24
Next Review Due: 16/01/26

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