When to see a doctor

By Mayo Clinic Staff

Joint pain is rarely an emergency. Mild joint pain often can be cared for at home.

Make an appointment with your health care provider if you have joint pain and:

  • Swelling.
  • Redness.
  • Tenderness and warmth around the joint.
  • Fever.

See a health care provider right away if an injury causes joint pain and:

  • The joint looks out of shape.
  • You can't use the joint.
  • The pain is severe.
  • There's sudden swelling.

Self-care

When caring for mild joint pain at home, follow these tips:

  • Try pain relievers you can get without a prescription. These include ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others) or naproxen sodium (Aleve).
  • Don't move in ways that make the pain worse.
  • Apply ice or a package of frozen peas to the painful joint for 15 to 20 minutes a few times each day.
  • Apply a heating pad, soak in a warm tub or take a warm shower to relax muscles and increase blood flow.

From Mayo Clinic to your inbox

Sign up for free and stay up to date on research advancements, health tips, current health topics, and expertise on managing health. Click here for an email preview.

We use the data you provide to deliver you the content you requested. To provide you with the most relevant and helpful information, we may combine your email and website data with other information we have about you. If you are a Mayo Clinic patient, we will only use your protected health information as outlined in our Notice of Privacy Practices. You may opt out of email communications at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link in the email.

April 05, 2023

See also

  1. 6 tips to manage rheumatoid arthritis symptoms
  2. Addison's disease
  3. Adenocarcinoma: How this type of cancer affects prognosis
  4. Adjuvant therapy for cancer
  5. Adrenal fatigue: What causes it?
  6. Adult Still disease
  7. Arthritis
  8. Arthritis pain: Do's and don'ts
  9. Aspergillosis
  10. Atypical cells: Are they cancer?
  11. Autoimmune hepatitis
  12. Behcet disease
  13. Biopsy procedures
  14. Bone spurs
  15. Brucellosis
  16. Bursitis
  17. Cancer
  18. Cancer
  19. Cancer blood tests
  20. Myths about cancer causes
  21. Infographic: Cancer Clinical Trials Offer Many Benefits
  22. Cancer diagnosis: 11 tips for coping
  23. Cancer-related fatigue
  24. Cancer pain: Relief is possible
  25. Cancer risk: What the numbers mean
  26. Cancer surgery
  27. Cancer survival rate
  28. Cancer survivors: Care for your body after treatment
  29. Cancer survivors: Late effects of cancer treatment
  30. Cancer survivors: Managing your emotions after cancer treatment
  31. Cancer treatment myths
  32. Celiac disease
  33. Chemotherapy side effects: A cause of heart disease?
  34. Churg-Strauss syndrome
  35. Coconut oil: Can it cure hypothyroidism?
  36. Complex regional pain syndrome
  37. Curcumin: Can it slow cancer growth?
  38. Dengue fever
  39. Diabetic neuropathy
  40. Diabetic neuropathy and dietary supplements
  41. Types of diabetic neuropathy
  42. Cancer-related diarrhea
  43. Dislocation
  44. Does stress make rheumatoid arthritis worse?
  45. Drinking after hepatitis C cure: Is it safe?
  46. Early HIV symptoms: What are they?
  47. Ease rheumatoid arthritis pain when grocery shopping
  48. Eating during cancer treatment: Tips to make food tastier
  49. Ehrlichiosis and anaplasmosis
  50. Encephalitis
  51. Exercising with arthritis
  52. Gonorrhea
  53. Granulomatosis with polyangiitis
  54. Hand exercises for people with arthritis
  55. Heart cancer: Is there such a thing?
  56. Hemochromatosis
  57. Hemophilia
  58. Hepatitis B
  59. Hepatitis C
  60. Hepatitis C: How common is sexual transmission?
  61. Hepatitis C: What happens in end-stage liver disease?
  62. High-dose vitamin C: Can it kill cancer cells?
  63. Histoplasmosis
  64. HIV/AIDS
  65. How do I reduce fatigue from rheumatoid arthritis?
  66. Hypercalcemia
  67. Hypothyroidism: Can calcium supplements interfere with treatment?
  68. Hypothyroidism diet
  69. Hypothyroidism and joint pain?
  70. Hypothyroidism: Should I take iodine supplements?
  71. Hypothyroidism symptoms: Can hypothyroidism cause eye problems?
  72. Hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid)
  73. Is depression a factor in rheumatoid arthritis?
  74. Jellyfish stings
  75. Joint protection
  76. Juvenile idiopathic arthritis
  77. Kawasaki disease
  78. Living better with rheumatoid arthritis
  79. Living with Lupus
  80. Low blood counts
  81. Lupus
  82. Lyme disease
  83. Mayo Clinic Minute: Will there be a Lyme disease vaccine for humans?
  84. Mixed connective tissue disease
  85. Monoclonal antibody drugs
  86. Mort Crim and Cancer
  87. Mouth sores caused by cancer treatment: How to cope
  88. Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS)
  89. Myocarditis
  90. New Hep C Treatment
  91. No appetite? How to get nutrition during cancer treatment
  92. Parvovirus infection
  93. Pituitary tumors
  94. Polio
  95. Polymyositis
  96. Post-polio syndrome
  97. Premenstrual dysphoric disorder
  98. Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)
  99. Protect your joints while housecleaning
  100. Pseudogout
  101. Pulmonary fibrosis
  102. Reactive arthritis
  103. Rethinking Rheumatoid Arthritis
  104. Rheumatic fever
  105. Rheumatoid arthritis
  106. Rheumatoid arthritis
  107. Rheumatoid arthritis: Does pregnancy affect symptoms?
  108. List Title Rheumatoid arthritis and exercise
  109. Rheumatoid arthritis: Can it affect the eyes?
  110. Rheumatoid arthritis: Can it affect the lungs?
  111. Rubella
  112. Sacroiliitis
  113. Salt craving: A symptom of Addison's disease?
  114. Self-Image During Cancer
  115. Septic arthritis
  116. Sjogren's syndrome
  117. Small cell, large cell cancer: What this means
  118. Soy: Does it worsen hypothyroidism?
  119. Staph infections
  120. Still's Disease
  121. Takayasu's arteritis
  122. Integrative approaches to treating pain
  123. Nutrition and pain
  124. Pain rehabilitation
  125. Self-care approaches to treating pain
  126. Tips to make your mornings easier
  127. Tumor vs. cyst: What's the difference?
  128. Valley fever
  129. Vasculitis
  130. How cancer spreads
  131. PICC line placement
  132. When cancer returns: How to cope with cancer recurrence
  133. Why isn't there a hepatitis C vaccine?
  134. Wilson's disease