Dr. Bhagiratha

Knee injury can occur from the direct blow as well as through stretching and twisting injuries. At times the ligament that holds the knee in place gets stressed and results in sprains. Depending on the extent of the ligament and fibre damage, the sprains are graded. Then there are knee injuries that are caused by overuse of it. These injuries cause harm to the tendons and the muscles. Since the knee is interconnected to a lot of other structures, any damage to the knee can have serious repercussion to other connected bones and ligaments.

What are the Risk Factors?

1. Muscle imbalance leading to hamstring spasm.
2. Imbalance of the thigh muscle leading to injury of the knee.
3. Pregnant women and people who are overweight are at increased risk of  knee injury

Signs and Symptoms of a Knee Injury:

Knee injuries that are serious in nature can result in instant swelling along with difficulty in bending it. People may find it difficult to bear any sort of weight whatsoever. Joint pain, swelling, inflammation of the muscles are some of the other symptoms of injury to the knee. Pain, instability, locking of the knee can be felt while walking fast or climbing stairs.

When to Contact a Doctor?

Any knee injury should be instantly reported to a doctor. Signs such as deformity, loss of sensation, cold ankle, swelling of knee etc. are signs of a knee injury. A doctor should be consulted, if home remedies such as rest, elevation, compression and ice treatment fail to fetch any fruitful results. If the swollen area has become warm and red and accompanies fever, it is a sign to visit the doctor.

How is a Knee Injury Diagnosed by a Doctor?

A doctor starts the diagnosis with medical history along with physical exam of the patient. Doctor first does a thorough inspection of the nerve and blood supply of the area.The next step of the diagnosis includes palpation. This is a step where the doctor tries to find out the exact location of the pain and tries to correlate the same with the injury location. The doctor might also stress the ligament in order to find out if they are fine. Other imagery tests such as X-ray and MRI are performed to find out the exact location of the injury.

Treatment Available-

The nature of the injury decides the treatment plan. In many cases, the injured area is suggested to be kept at rest or moved in the specific direction as per the direction of a physiotherapist. For serious injuries with a tendon or ligament injury, a reconstructive surgery is necessary to get the knee to the original condition. The type of surgical procedure depends on the kind of Injury one have faced.

In case you have a concern or query you can always consult an expert & get answers to your questions!

Hi,

I’m Dr. Sidharth Verma and I will tell you in this video, about back pain and what to do if you have back pain. So, the back pain is fairly common and it affects most of us at some point in our lifetime. So, if it starts having pain in your back. By back, I mean upper, middle, or lower back. what would you do? If you have a pain for 2 to 3 months, then you did not go to the doctor immediately, you can also follow some simple steps and this can help you in getting relief from the back pain. These steps are first of all you should analyze whether have had any injury. Because injury means that there must be some sprain or strain or maybe some ligament tear or which has resulted in this pain because is a protective mechanism of the body. So, a body is trying to tell you there is something wrong somewhere so you have to pay attention to it. If you have a short-lived pain with the  injury then I strongly recommend that you should go to a doctor and get yourself examined.

This is especially true if you’re having other symptoms also like you are having some tingling or numbness or weakness or maybe some urine disturbances or maybe some other symptoms like severe pain which is intolerable. However if there is no history of injury and you are having a back pain which you think may be due to some stress or some strenuous exercise or you are not sure of due to what reason it’s happening then you may follow the steps which I will tell you and you can have a good amount of relief from your back pain. So, The first step is, we make a great mistake of resting as soon as we have back pain, so, by resting, I mean that we will often call our office and tell Okay I am not coming for 5, 7 days and maybe I will not even drive, not move. So, we immobilize ourselves but however this is not required in most of the cases as if the pain is muscular, it is likely to even worse by your immobilization or you’re giving a total rest to your back. So what to do if not to do a complete resting? So the first and foremost thing which you need to do is to correct your posture or your activity which has led to this back pain. So You can start by analyzing your daily posture, you can start with analyzing with our daily work, you can start by analyzing your diet if you are overweight you can start by analyzing your weight and then you can probably have a relief from this bask pain as well as preventing the worsening of your symptoms. Another possible thing which you can do or try at your home is and it’s very simple, you can improve your sleeping bed or where you sleep in the night. Often, I have seen patients that, they sleep on greatly cushioned bed and as soon as they lie down the mattress just compresses and they fell very fluffy and very nice, but it is not good for your back.your mattress should be hard enough, so, that it is now easily compressed and when you lie down on it. You can easily lie on it comfortably but it should not be very compressible.

This is important because you lie down your body and your mattress should be able to maintain the normal curves. Your back has normal curves so if you can maintain them while you are lying down you will be good and fine. Another common thing which you can do is to increase your water intake. If you are having a less water intake, then, you are dehydrated. You have more chances of worsening your back pain. Now come to some common painkillers which usually people take in their homes or in their offices or their workplaces if they have this back pain. These painkillers are drugs which actually meant to give you short-term relief from your pain and they should not be taken for a  prolonged period of time without medical advice. Although they are available over the counter, that means they are available to you without a prescription but you should better avoid them because excessive use may lead to harm and this may affect your systems like the renal systems and that is the kidneys or the hepatic system. So, what kind of painkillers can you possibly take? You can start with the paracetamol or crocin and the dose should be 650mg once a day. The role of this paracetamol is now very questionable and some people have advised that since it will not help in the long run. So, it should be better avoided. Another common drug which people take is are some sprays which consist of a drug known as declo-finnick the common brands names are Bellini, dr.gel, or dynapower, so, they actually defuse through your muscles or through your skin and then they reach your muscles and the surrounding tissues and they help to decrease the inflammation and help you relief from your pain. Another thing which you can try is if there is a strain or sprain or something. In acute condition like if you had an injury today and then you can apply cold on the region and if you had this problem say 3,4 days then you can try applying heat and this helps you to recover and there are certain things which you should take care of these things are there then you should immediately seek medical advice. These things are also known as red flags, so if you are having back pain and you are having any of these things then you should go immediately to the doctor. These include a fever and neck rigidity, that is stiffness in your neck muscle, any nausea, vomiting, any weakness in your lower limbs or any part of the body. If there is any urinary symptom or bladders symptoms we also call it and as well as any difficulty in passing the stools so if you if there is any seizure that is if the patients are having seizures then also you should immediately try and visit the nearest doctor. Now if you don’t do that then there are chances that the condition will increase and it will result in maybe increased damage over a period of time. To know more you can visit library website on www.lybrate.com/dr.sidharthverma, and you can also visit my website at pain.org.in. Thank you.

Joint and muscle pain arises when excess pressure is exerted on a particular joint or due to the wear and tear of a particular muscle. This is one area where many people face chronic pain, with symptoms such as deformity of the joints, swelling, immobility of the joints and severe joint pain. There are a lot of topical as well as oral medicines for chronic pain within conventional medicine, but it may not always be effective for all types of patients.

Homeopathy has been known to provide effective cures for many types of muscle and joint related ailments.

Let's first look at the common causes for muscle and joint pain related problems:
- Sports related injuries
- Vehicular accidents such as a car or bike accidents
- Bad postures or habits
- Other underlying physical or medical conditions

So what are the ways in which homeopathy can cure certain conditions and alleviate pain in patients?

- Arthritis: One of the most common problems that many people report is that of arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, which causes a lot of pain in many people. In many cases, the use of Natrum Muriaticum and Bryonia has been known to allay the pain.
- Moving and shifting joint or muscle pains: Many patients have this problem where they face joint or muscle pain but instead of it being constant in one area, it moves around the body. Pulsatilla is known to effectively reduce the symptoms in these cases.
- Tennis elbow or tendon related problems: This is a common ailment, which in many cases is caused by strenuous activities, such as sports. Rhus tox has been known to be effective in such cases.
- Muscular conditions: There are many muscle-related conditions such as fibromyalgia and fibrositis among others have also been reduced after the usage of Rhus tox.

Homeopathic medicines like Medorrhinum, Ruta, Formica Rufa, Arnica, Symphytum and a few others are useful for treating such conditions, depending upon the exact symptoms and causes. If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a Homeopath.

Being flexible is not always about doing splits or doing some random bending. It is about achieving a level of mobility that will not hold you back from doing whatever you are able to do. Most people think that stretching or flexing your muscles and body as the first method to defend you from pain. But if stretching and flexing can be done correctly, it can lengthen one's muscles and give one relief from pains and aches. Stretching is also done to increase the functional range of one's joints and muscles. There are various ways by which one can stretch their muscles. However, the question which looms over here is which is the correct procedure and which is the wrong one.

The Wrong Vs the Right Way: Before discussing about the correct way, let us talk about the various wrong ways in which stretching can be done. The first rule is that if stretching is causing you pain or if it is hurting you, then you are probably taking it too far. A muscle needs to relax as much as possible, if it needs to stretch. If one is stretching so hard that he or she cannot relax then the muscle will not lengthen. Stretching should never be painful.

One should also avoid stretching for an insufficient length of time. Only a few seconds of stretching will not hold the therapeutic effects of stretching.

The following methods are few of the correct ways to stretch:

1. Always start with the warm muscles. Warm your muscles by doing some aerobic movement or by applying heat with the help of a warm bath.
2. After warming your muscles, monitor your level of discomfort. Let it go once you feel pain.
3. Hold any stretch for at least 30 seconds.

Stretching the Correct Muscle: There are muscles, which need to be stretched and there are muscles, which should not be. So getting to know the correct muscles to be stretched is as important as knowing the correct procedure to stretch your muscles. Every muscle, which does not hurt should not be stretched. There are different types of muscles that cause pain like stiff, tight, short muscles and long muscles. Muscles that are tight should only be subjected to stretching. Stretching muscles that are too long is not a good idea.

Using Physiotherapists: Most people who cannot determine which muscle should be stretched and which should not be should consult a physiotherapist. Physiotherapists can quickly and easily diagnose muscular issues. They will also show ways to stretch which are most effective for particular needs.

Stretching should be made a part of one's life. It is a way by which one can become their healthiest self and avoid muscular imbalances.

In case you have a concern or query you can always consult an expert & get answers to your questions!