What to try when one joint keeps hurting

Ease a stiff knee before walking farther

Try a shorter walk on level ground. Warmth before moving may loosen a stiff knee, while cold may settle swelling afterward. Don't keep testing a deep bend that brings sharp soreness. A cane in the other hand may reduce the load.

Have the knee checked if it gives way, locks, or swells quickly. The same goes after a fall. QC Kinetix may offer regenerative care prepared with your blood and placed in the sore knee instead of an operation; the people who examine you and do the treatment are called medical providers. Ask whether you'll see a doctor. No treatment comes with a sure result.

Shorten your stride when a hip aches

Hip soreness can appear in the groin, outer side, or buttock. Try shorter steps and a firm chair that's easier to leave. A cane can help if walking feels uneven. If lying on that side wakes you, change sides.

Seek prompt care when groin soreness starts after a fall or a leg won't support you. With a slower ache, ask whether the joint itself hurts or whether a nearby muscle or tendon is sore. Joint trouble and muscle or tendon soreness may need different care.

Keep a sore shoulder in an easy range

Move the arm where it feels comfortable. Don't repeat the reach that bites just to see whether it still hurts. A pillow under the arm may make sleep easier. Warmth before gentle motion and cold after use may also help.

New weakness matters. If you can't lift the arm after a fall, seek care soon. At a routine visit, show the exact reach that hurts. Ask whether the soreness comes from the shoulder joint, a nearby muscle, or a tendon.

Support an ankle that swells after use

Wear shoes that hold the foot well. Shorten outings for a while, and put the foot up when you rest. Old twists can leave stiffness behind. A deep ache may come from arthritis or worn cartilage inside the ankle joint.

Call your doctor about new swelling without a clear cause. A hot, red ankle also needs medical care. After a twist or fall, seek help if you can't take a few steps. For soreness that lingers, ask whether a brace, easier exercise, or different shoes could help.

Evidence sources

1. A randomized controlled study of 111 patients aged 18-65 with hip osteoarthritis compared three weekly ultrasound-guided injections of PRP, hyaluronic acid, or both. PRP had the lowest VAS at every follow-up and beat HA significantly at 6 months (mean VAS 21 vs 44). But the WOMAC advantage present at 2 and 6 months was NO LONGER significant at 12 months, and the combination arm did worse than PRP alone.

   Dallari D, et al. — Ultrasound-Guided Injection of Platelet-Rich Plasma and Hyaluronic Acid, Separately and in Combination, for Hip Osteoarthritis: A Randomized Controlled Study.. The American journal of sports medicine, 2016.

2. The PRIMA trial randomized 100 patients with ankle osteoarthritis to two ultrasound-guided intra-articular PRP injections or saline placebo. AOFAS scores improved 10 points with PRP (63 to 73) and 11 points with placebo (64 to 75); the adjusted between-group difference over 26 weeks was -1 (95% CI -6 to 3, p=0.56). The authors state the results do not support using PRP for ankle osteoarthritis. The evidence for a biologic in one joint does not transfer to another.

   Paget LDA, et al. — Effect of Platelet-Rich Plasma Injections vs Placebo on Ankle Symptoms and Function in Patients With Ankle Osteoarthritis: A Randomized Clinical Trial.. JAMA, 2021.

3. A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials found that augmenting arthroscopic rotator cuff repair with platelet-rich plasma reduces the retear rate and improves clinical function scores, whereas platelet-rich FIBRIN gives no clinically meaningful benefit - with the authors cautioning about the small number and heterogeneity of studies. The shoulder's best biologic evidence is for PRP used ALONGSIDE a repair operation, not as a substitute for one.

   Peng Y, et al. — Efficacy of platelet-rich plasma and platelet-rich fibrin in arthroscopic rotator cuff repair: A systematic review and meta-analysis.. PM & R : the journal of injury, function, and rehabilitation, 2023.

4. A pairwise and network meta-analysis of 18 randomized trials in rotator cuff TENDINOPATHY found corticosteroid helps at 3-6 weeks but not beyond 24 weeks, while PRP and prolotherapy may yield better outcomes in the long term (over 24 weeks) - with the authors warning that heterogeneity requires cautious interpretation. Tendon and joint-surface problems do not behave the same way, and a shoulder page should not borrow knee-OA evidence.

   Lin MT, et al. — Comparative Effectiveness of Injection Therapies in Rotator Cuff Tendinopathy: A Systematic Review, Pairwise and Network Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.. Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation, 2019.

5. The evidence overview underpinning the 2020 EULAR recommendations on intra-articular therapies pooled 29 quality-appraised systematic reviews. Hyaluronic acid showed a small effect on pain and function in KNEE OA but not in hip OA or shoulder capsulitis; intra-articular glucocorticoid showed small effects in knee OA and on function in hip OA and shoulder capsulitis; PRP showed benefit in knee OA but NOT in hip OA, and mesenchymal stem cells behaved similarly. Overall conclusion: most intra-articular therapies exert SMALL effects and are well tolerated.

   Rodriguez-García SC, et al. — Efficacy and safety of intra-articular therapies in rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases: an overview of systematic reviews.. RMD open, 2021.

6. The RESTORE trial - a participant-, injector- and assessor-blinded RCT of 288 adults aged 50+ with symptomatic medial knee OA (Kellgren-Lawrence 2-3) - compared three weekly intra-articular PRP injections against saline placebo, with co-primary endpoints of 12-month knee pain and medial tibial cartilage volume on MRI. PRP did not beat placebo on either. It is the single best-designed test of the specific claim that PRP changes joint structure, and it was negative.

   Bennell KL, et al. — Effect of Intra-articular Platelet-Rich Plasma vs Placebo Injection on Pain and Medial Tibial Cartilage Volume in Patients With Knee Osteoarthritis: The RESTORE Randomized Clinical Trial.. JAMA, 2021.

7. A four-arm, multicentre, single-blind phase 2/3 randomized trial of 480 knee OA patients (KL II-IV) compared autologous bone marrow aspirate concentrate, autologous adipose stromal vascular fraction and allogeneic umbilical-cord-tissue mesenchymal stromal cells against a corticosteroid injection control. At 12 months NONE of the three orthobiologic injections was superior to another, or to the corticosteroid control, and none of the four groups showed a significant change in MRI osteoarthritis score from baseline. No procedure-related serious adverse events occurred.

   Mautner K, et al. — Cell-based versus corticosteroid injections for knee pain in osteoarthritis: a randomized phase 3 trial.. Nature medicine, 2023.

8. The Cochrane review of exercise for knee osteoarthritis found high-quality evidence that land-based therapeutic exercise provides short-term benefit in pain and physical function, sustained for at least 2-6 months after the programme ends, with mild transient soreness the only reported adverse effect across 45 trials. It is the best-evidenced treatment for this condition and it costs nothing per injection.

   Fransen M, et al. — Exercise for osteoarthritis of the knee.. The Cochrane database of systematic reviews, 2015.

9. A randomized trial in the New England Journal of Medicine compared physical therapy against intra-articular glucocorticoid injection for knee osteoarthritis and found physical therapy produced better WOMAC outcomes at one year. When a clinic offers an injection, the comparator that matters is not 'nothing' - it is a course of supervised exercise.

   Deyle GD, et al. — Physical Therapy versus Glucocorticoid Injection for Osteoarthritis of the Knee.. The New England journal of medicine, 2020.