knee pain and stiffness all day what to do

There are three primary "weapons" for dealing with RA symptoms. The first is prescription medication. Are you on a disease modifying drug like methotrexate or one of the Biologics (Enbrel, Humira, Remicade)? If not, you may want speak to your rheumatologist about the options that would be good for you. If you are on a disease modifying drug, your symptoms may indicate that it's not working very well and a talk with your rheumatologist will be a good idea. It could be that perhaps you haven't been on the drug for long enough for it to really kick in, you may need a higher dose or to discuss options for another medication. As well, there are prescription anti-inflammatories and painkillers that will help with the inflammation and pain - again, speak to your doctor about your options. You should take these as prescribed - for instance, if you have a prescription for Tylenol every four to six hours, take them every four to six hours, even though you're not in a lot of pain at that time. You're in a race with the RA pain and it's important to stay ahead of it.

Secondly, regular exercise is very important to keep your joints moving and it might a good idea to ask your doctor for a referral to physiotherapy so you can learn what kind of exercises will be most useful for you. Spending time in a hot pool will help (if there isn't one near you, doing range of motion exercises in a hot bath will work) and exercising or walking in water is generally easier on the joints than doing it out of water.

Then there's what I call tips and tricks. You can use ice or heat on the joint to alleviate pain. Some people find that ice makes it worse, but heat helps, whereas other people feel that heat increases the feeling of swelling and pain, but ice works better. Try both and see what works best for you. You can also set your alarm clock to a couple of hours before you're supposed to get up, take some painkillers and then go back to sleep - this way, you wake up with the painkiller already working and it's easier to get going. Massaging the joint with one of the many creams to help pain can be helpful (Rub A535, hot ice, Tiger balm etc.) and I've recently become aware of a couple of additional items available in health food stores. There's a cream called Traumeel that's quite helpful and believe it or not, oil of oregano helps a lot. You put a drop or two or on the skin, massage it in and it helps for several hours here.