Question

What vitamin am I lacking if my knees hurt?

Answer 1

The vitamin that you're lacking if your knees hurt is vitamin D.

A vitamin D deficiency is a primary cause of knee pain, especially in females and often leads to weakened bones, cartilage degradation, and increased risk of osteoarthritis.

A vitamin D deficiency can cause muscle weakness and inflammation, and often lead to postmenopausal knee pain.

And calcium and magnesium deficiencies can also contribute to knee pain and affect bone density and muscle function.

Vitamin D is crucial for absorption of calcium and bone health, and a deficiency in vitamin D leads to weakened joints, inflammation and a higher risk of developing knee osteoarthritis.

Low levels of calcium also reduce your bone density and contribute to aching joints and magnesium deficiencies causes muscle cramps, spasms and joint instability and a vitamin B12 deficiency can also cause nerve pain or neuropathy, which presents as discomfort radiating into your knee.  

The best painkillers for treating knee pain are NSAIDs like ibuprofen, Advil and Motrin or naproxen such as Aleve, which can help reduce inflammation and pain.

You can also help treat knee pain by applying some topical diclofenac gel like Voltaren for localized pain relief from knee pain.

Tylenol is also effective for treating knee pain, but it doesn't reduce inflammation.

Meloxicam tablets and even Magnilife Fast Acting Natural Knee Pain Relief is also good for treating knee pain.

Walgreens Lidocaine patches are also good for relieving knee pain.

If you have knee pain under your knee cap you can use the RICE method, which involves using Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation.

Taking some NSAIDs like ibuprofen/naproxen can also help alleviate or relieve pain under your knee cap.

For the RICE method in relieving pain under your knee cap, rest your knee and apply some ice packs for 20 minutes several times per day and use a compression bandage and keep your knee elevated.

While your knee cap is hurting, avoid any activities that can make the knee cap pain worse, like climbing of stairs, squatting, kneeling and high impact sports.

You can also do physical therapy and exercises and strengthen the quadriceps, hips and glutes to help improve your knee alignment.

Some exercise you can do to help strengthen the quadriceps, hips and glutes and help to relieve pain under your knee cap include, wall sits, straight leg raises and stretches.

For stretches, focus on your quadriceps and hamstring flexibility.

The straight leg raises help to strengthen your quadriceps without stressing the joint.

And for wall sits, slide down a wall, into a squat and hold for 3 to 5 seconds and keep your weight on your heels.

Using medication, like NSAIDs, and ibuprofen, Advil, Motrin or even naproxen like Aleve for pain and swelling, for 2 to 3 weeks can also help relieve the pain under your knee cap.

In some cases you might need to or want to use a knee brace with a patella cutout or taping to help with alignment and pain.

And wearing shoes with specialized shoe inserts can also help correct any alignment issues that lead to the pain.

If the pain under your knee cap gets worse or doesn't go away, you should seek medical attention or see your doctor about it.

Pain under your knee cap is most commonly caused by Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome, which is also known as runner's knee, where your kneecap does not glide smoothly in it's groove.

The irritation is often a result of weak thigh/hip muscles, overuse or even misalignment, that causes pain during activities such as squatting, climbing stairs or even prolonged sitting.