Ouch, you’ve just sprained your knee! It may not be a serious injury but it can be very painful. The most common symptoms of this are swelling and bruising. Here are two quick tips to get you off the knee pain fast.
- Relaxation
You must first protect and rest the knee to reduce pain and speed up healing. Stop or take a break from any activity that is causing the pain or soreness (don’t forget to put a small pillow under your knee to lessen the pain).Put ice over the swollen area, place a tubigrip compression bandage – which is a specially designed, elasticated bandage that provides firm and comfortable support for sprains, strains and weak joint.
Then elevate to reduce swelling by making the excess fluid drain back into the body system. And you must make sure that the affected area is higher than the level of the heart.
- Recover
When you feel that you are ready and able to get back on track, start to exercise and regain strength, gather movement and function of the knee. This will help you reduce the stress on your sore knee.Massage or rub the area to relieve the pain and encourage blood flow. However, do not rub the area if it hurts. To maintain flexibility, try doing a hamstring stretch or a knee-to-chest exercise.
Avoid extensive exercises such as running, playing basketball, skiing, tennis until your knee is no longer swollen.
These are just some of the tips you can follow immediately. If you needed further assessment on the severity of the sprain, it is best to consult your physical. For more tips on how to deal with knee sprain, visit this page.
