DIABETES AND KNEE PROBLEM

by Rajiv Madhav

QUESTION: Doctor Sahib,

First of all I gave up smoking without any chewing gum or anything else. Immediately I stop smoking and not taking any other alternative.

I am taking GLIZID M (before breakfast) and volphage after breakfast, as advised by the doctor in a day.

I am walking 40 minutes in the evening and doing some light exercise like yoga and stressing exercises.

Please suggest about my knee which is causing trouble while walking.

Regards

RAJIV MADHAV


ANSWER: Hi Rajiv,

It is very good that you have quitted smoking so fast without using other remedies. What is more, I want to congratulate you for doing exercise and taking your diabetic drugs regularly.

With regards to the pain you feel in your knee, I would say that exist a lot of possible explanations, including diabetes also.

1.Before going to detailed remedies, I would like you to describe me the type of the pain: is it sharp or mild, pulsating or not.

It would be good to inform me the exact location of the pain: whether it is only the knee or/and the shank is also included.

Next, please tell me when the pain appears and when you see it is gone or relieved. For example, if it is when you are walking and suddenly the pain in your knee appears - does it disappear when you sit on a bench to take a break or when you have to massage the leg.

2.In most cases, the pain in the knee is caused by an old trauma or by chronic trauma. For example a lot men, above the age of 50, are experiencing a knee pain, because they have fallen and injured this knee when they are younger, many years back.

Besides this, a trauma from the nearest past may be the exact cause of the knee pain, as it is in your case. If I am not wrong, you have told us in your previous post that you had a sudden fall recently, and, from that day, you have this knee pain.

Now, I want you to understand that the cartilage in the knee joint turns worn with the passing of time, and, that is, sometimes, causing knee pain. in addition, recent or frequent cricks may also cause the knee pain.

3.You have to know that several patients, who are using Glucophage, have reported that terrible pain in their knee. However, their statement has not been approved by the producer of this drug or by FDA and because of this, I’m not able to tell you if this is also what happens in your case.

4.Other possible reason for the knee pain is a condition known as intermitted claudication, mostly related to diabetes complications, especially when there is not a good control of blood glucose. It is characterized by feeling pain in the shank and in the knee while you are walking or running.

It is important to emphasize here that the pain is relieved after breaking for 30 minutes to 1 hour. This condition is appearing especially in diabetics and in those who are smoking.

Both, diabetes and smoking cause obstruction of the small blood vessels in the leg. During physical exercises, like walking and running, doing yoga, the circulation is reduced. In this way, the muscles of the leg are beginning to suffer, because they need more oxygen and glucose, provided by blood, during physical activity.

What you can do to relieve your knee pain?

a.Make a habit of taking a warm bath every evening. This will improve the circulation in the mentioned area, which will relieve the pain.

b.Other good thing to do is to start using warm paraffin wax on your knee. All you have to know is to light a candle and to put some drops of molten paraffin on your knee.

The warm of the paraffin will improve the blood circulation in your knee; subsequently relieving your pain.

c.If the pain of your knee is of any rheumatological origin, you can use certain gel or balm that you find in any drug store.

For example, I like Himalaya joint pain reliever balm, or any other gel you find to reduce the joints’ pain.

Sometimes, in people with arthritis, I have seen that applying warm raw salt on the affected area (including knee joint) has resulted in naturally pain relief.

You can try this: take some raw salt, warm it up in a pan; then, round it up with a cheese cloth, and put it in your knee. Then, cover with some woolly cloth and keep it during night. You will see the difference!

Please do not use this in case you have had any accident, because it will make things worse!
d.If you have fallen recently, I would suggest not to disturb your knee, i.e, try to keep it as relaxed as you can. I hope your doctor told you the same. This is to give time to the knee to recover from the damage.

e.Try to not walk long distances, in order not to give too much pressure or trauma to your knee.

f.To relieve knee pain at night, you can use a pillow under your lower limbs, starting from your knee and sleep. This will reduce the tension of the muscles that are hanging in that area.


Hope it helped! You can discuss with your doctor for more!

Dr.Alba