Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is very common in India. These days we are seeing a lot of young patients (between 35-55 years of age) with knee arthritis as well. In these patients, our aim is to save the knee (Knee joint preservation)as these young patients can’t be offered total knee replacement surgery. so the doctors try to prevent the progression of disease from early to advanced or severe arthritis. *Is it possible ?? Of course it is *..
Let’s know What are the ways to do that
1. Knee exercises and physiotherapy – Doing regular knee exercises is very helpful in early OA, as it improves the flexibility, muscle strength and helps in reducing the swelling. All the exercises are not suitable for every patient, so you should meet a good knee surgeon in delhi or in your city for good guidance. We recommend that don’t do those exercises which increase your pain but you must continue with rest of the knee exercises. You can watch the recommended knee exercises by clicking this link
2. Maintaining healthy Weight – Although we agree that it’s not easy to loose weight for a patient who is suffering from knee pain nonetheless, it’s possible to stop gaining weight & it’s a good first step. As you do knee exercises and physiotherapy, knee pain gets better and it’s possible to go for regular walks as well.
3. Using NSAIDs (non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs) and other pain medications– This strategy is helpful in giving relief from acute knee pain but it’ can be harmful if taken for a long time. If pain is not getting better in 2-3 days then it’s best to visit a specialist knee doctor in delhi or wherever you are based. Your doctor will examine your knee and order relevant investigations like X-rays or MRI (magnetic resonance imaging). This will get you a clear diagnosis and getting appropriate treatment for your condition.
4. Visscosupplementation & PRP (platelet rich plasma) injection therapy– These are chosen for very carefully selected patients. Visscosupplementation is intra articular (inside the joint) injection of synthetic joint fluid like substance which is intended to make the weak cartilage strong. Although it’s success rate in giving pain relief is variable and unpredictable nonetheless it’s one of the treatment options. Recently, intra articular injections of PRP have gained a lot of popularity as they have more predictable outcome in terms of pain relief however we are yet to conclusively prove that it leads to cartilage regeneration.
These all are time tested ways of treating knee pain in early arthritis. Remember, a stitch in time saves nine. If you visit a specialist knee doctor in time then it’s possible to save your knee from going into advanced arthritis.