Knee Pain

In order to treat the underlying causes of your knee discomfort, such as gout or rheumatoid arthritis, your doctor may recommend medication.

Your knee will become more stable if the muscles surrounding it are strengthened. Depending on the particular disease causing your discomfort, your doctor can suggest physical therapy or various strengthening activities.

Exercises to create proper technique during your sport or activity and to modify movement patterns that might be harming your knees may be necessary if you participate in physical activity or play a sport. It’s also crucial to perform exercises that increase your balance and flexibility.

Pressure can be relieved from the side of the knee that is most impacted by osteoarthritis by using arch supports, which occasionally have wedges on one side of the heel. Different kinds of braces may be used in specific circumstances to support and safeguard the knee joint.

Exercise therapy (such as yoga, walking, swimming, free weights, etc.) offers the patient the chance to address the impact of pain in their life and promotes active patient engagement in the care plan. Exercise therapy can help with issues like weakness, posture, and repetitive motions that cause pain in the musculoskeletal system.

Your doctor might advise injecting drugs or other materials straight into your joint in specific circumstances. As examples, consider:

• A corticosteroid medication injected into your knee joint may help lessen the symptoms of an arthritis flare-up and offer temporary pain relief. Not every situation can benefit from these infusions.
  
  

• Hyaluronic acid. Hyaluronic acid is a viscous fluid that is injected into the knee to increase mobility and reduce pain. It is comparable to the fluid that lubricates joints naturally. Even though research on this treatment’s efficacy has yielded conflicting results, alleviation with a single or series of shots may endure up to six months.
  
  

• Plasma rich in platelets (PRP). Numerous growth factors that are concentrated in PRP seem to lessen inflammation and encourage healing. Although some research has indicated that PRP may help certain patients with osteoarthritis, more research is required.

It’s typically not required to have surgery right away if you have an injury that might need it. Prior to making a decision, weigh the benefits and drawbacks of both surgical reconstruction and nonsurgical rehabilitation in accordance to your top priorities. Your alternatives, should you decide to have surgery, could be as follows:

• Your doctor may be able to use a fiber-optic camera and long, narrow tools that are introduced through a few tiny incisions around your knee to assess and repair joint damage, depending on the nature of your accident. Arthroscopy can be used to rebuild torn ligaments, remove loose bodies from your knee joint, and replace or repair damaged cartilage—especially if it’s causing your knee to lock.

• Surgery to partially replace the knee. During this treatment, your surgeon will just replace the damaged area of your knee with plastic and metal components. Small incisions are often used for the procedure, so you should recuperate faster than if you had to have your entire knee replaced.
  
  
• Complete replacement of the knee. During this operation, your kneecap, shinbone, and thighbone are surgically removed along with any damaged bone and cartilage. This is done to make room for an artificial joint composed of polymers, metal alloys, and premium plastics.
  
  
• In order to improve knee alignment and reduce arthritic symptoms, bone from the shinbone or thighbone may be removed during this treatment. You might be able to postpone or avoid having a total knee replacement with this operation.