Occasional knee pain is common, especially if you are active in your daily life. Your knee can hurt if you had a particularly long day spent on your feet or if you pushed yourself a little too much during your workout. Knee pain usually goes away with self-care methods like resting and applying ice.
Chronic knee pain, on the other hand, is another issue. Pain is defined as chronic if it lasts longer than a few months. However, that doesn’t mean you have to wait months to see a doctor.
Your doctor will most likely recommend you to a pain management specialist if you have the symptoms described below.
Signs It’s Time To See a Pain Management Specialist
It may be time to see a pain management doctor if:
- Your pain is continuously getting worse with little relief from self-treatment.
- Knee pain is affecting your quality of life. If you cannot sleep or do the things you enjoy, have been missing work, or have started to avoid social situations, it’s time to see a pain specialist.
- If you are not satisfied with the results of your current treatment (e.g. anti-inflammatory medication and rest). If you want greater relief from pain and mobility.
- You want to explore your other options for pain control and not want to just mask the symptoms. You want to discover new ways to manage pain.
What’s a Pain Management Specialist?
A pain management specialist is a medical professional with specialized training in diagnosing and treating pain. Treating pain requires specialized training because it is a complex issue. Pain specialists use various methods and techniques to target pain at the source to achieve longer-lasting relief. The treatments they employ do not mask the pain but get to the root of the specific health problem.
What Knee Pain Treatments Can I Try?
If you are wondering what kind of treatments a pain specialist can provide for knee pain, a couple of examples are viscosupplementation injections and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy. Viscosupplementation injections contain hyaluronic acid, which provides added lubrication to the knee joint, significantly reducing pain and enabling smooth movement of the joint. PRP therapy is a type of treatment that involves injecting platelet-rich plasma directly into the joint to reduce inflammation and trigger the body’s natural healing process. Studies have shown PRP therapy to be very effective in patients with knee pain caused by osteoarthritis, with positive results felt even several months after treatment.
Knee Pain Treatment in Blue Springs, Missouri
Core Medical Center is a multi-specialty practice that offers comprehensive healthcare services to patients who are in pain. At our facility, we provide a range of services that include pain management (including interventional pain procedures), chiropractic care, and physical therapy. We treat patients with knee pain, as well as neck and back pain, hip pain, upper extremity pain, and lower extremity pain.
To find out how we can help you feel better, call us at (816) 427-0201 , or use our online form to request an appointment.
