Expert: Karen Brawner - 4/17/2005

Question
Hello, I am a female in my early twenties and have been working for the past seve months in a job which involves long periods of standing - approximately 7 to 8 hours per day five days a week.  In the first few months that my legs ached I put it down to starting this new job.  The pain went away but in the past two to three weeks it has returned and is considerably worse in my left knee joint.  Throughout the previous seven months at work, I constantly try to bend my legs as much as possible and sit down whenever I can.  I have also been doing leg exercises for seven months which invlove lying on my side and raising each leg, in turn, twenty times.  I also try to massage my knee joints every evening after work to prevent varicose veins.  However, the pain in my knee joints is too much now, as it has come back again.  Apart from reducing the amount of time standing, what else could I do to reduce the pain?  Also, is it possible the pain is a sympton of something more serious?  And what natural remedies could you reccommend?  I have not visited my doctor about any of this, so far.  

Answer
Dear Byron,   You really need to see your doctor...  This could be just about anything from osteoarthritis to rheumatoid arthritis to joint damage from other causes...

Until you get a proper diagnosis which will probably include a exray or MRI of the knee, there are not treatments other than to take medications like Advil, Motrin, Tylenol for the pain..

thank you,   karen