11/22/2021
A Guide to Managing Knee Osteoarthritis
Introduction: What is Knee Osteoarthritis?
Knee osteoarthritis is abnormal wear of the cartilage in the knee. It is characterized by pain, stiffness, and swelling in and around the knee joint.
Knee osteoarthritis is a chronic condition that can worsen over time. It can result in severe pain, disability, and even permanent damage to the joints if left untreated. The main causes include obesity, injury to the knee, aging, excessive repetitive motion or strenuous impact activity like running or jumping (jumping can cause microfractures), sports like football or soccer among others.
The symptoms of Knee Osteoarthritis
Many patients with knee osteoarthritis experience symptoms that are usually worse in the morning, improve during the day, and worsen again at night.
These symptoms are due to the lack of lubrication that occurs with knee osteoarthritis which makes it more painful for people to walk or climb stairs in the morning. As they move around throughout the day, this lubrication is replenished and hence their pain subsides. As the mobility reduces at night, the pain worsens again when synovial fluid production slows down.
Different Treatments for Knee Osteoarthritis
The treatments for knee osteoarthritis include topical medication creams like diclofenac gel or ibuprofen gel, steroid injections into the joint, oral anti-inflammatory medications like ibuprofen or naproxen which help reduce pain and swelling in the synovial fluid inside the joint. Some supplements may also help with reducing inflammation like omega 3, ginger and curcumin.
Recent studies show that supplements such as glucosamine, chondroitin sulphate and intra-articular injections of hyaluronic acid not only help with pain relief, but also may prevent the progression of the disease.
Intra-articular Hyaluronic Acid (HA) and Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) Injection for Severe Knee Osteoarthritis (Grade III & IV)
Intra-articular hyaluronic acid (HA) is widely utilized in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis pain whereas platelet rich plasma (PRP) enhances the regeneration of articular cartilage. A recent study shows a combination of HA and PRP injections can double the efficacy and results for severe knee osteoarthritis vs. using HA injections alone.
To find out more about PRP injection, please visit our website.
