What Is Osteoarthritis? What Are the Common Forms of Treatment?
Knee pain can stem from a number of different causes. Sometimes the source is obvious, as when you’ve been hurt in a motor vehicle accident, workplace event or while involved in some type of sports. Often, though, there’s no single traumatic event to which you can point and say “that’s when my knee started hurting.” The pain may simply have started as a minor throb or twinge, but now makes it difficult to engage in ordinary activities, such as standing up, walking, sitting or even lying down. You may be suffering from osteoarthritis.
What Is Osteoarthritis?
Typically, osteoarthritis begins to affect your joints in late middle age. It’s a form of arthritis that stems from the deterioration of the cushioning (cartilage) that you have at the end of your bones. Unfortunately, that cartilage tends to break down over time. Because your knees are used every time you’re on your feet, they are subject to a lot of wear and tear. When the cartilage wears thin, the rough edges of your bones rub against each other, causing pain and limiting the functionality of the joint. Common early symptoms of osteoarthritis in your knees can include:
- Discomfort during or after any activity that requires use of your knees
- Stiffness or loss of flexibility/range of motion
- A grating or grinding sound or sensation in your knees
- Inflammation, swelling or tenderness, either when you use the knee or touch it
- The development of hard lumps around your knees, known as bone spurs
What Are the Treatment Options for Osteoarthritis in the Knee?
At Core Medical Center, we offer a wide range of pain management strategies for the treatment of osteoarthritis in the knee:
- Injections, including epidural, facet injections, tendon sheath and bursa injections, and nerve blocks—the targeted application of medications to minimize pain
- Radiofrequency ablation—The use of a special tool that uses electrical current to kill nerve endings and reduce pain
- PRP therapy—The use of platelet-rich plasma (PRP), taken from your own blood, to help regenerate tissue and facilitate healing
- Trigger point therapy—The treatment of trigger points to pain (often knots or sensitive areas in your muscles) with injections that facilitate relaxation of your muscles, allowing them to loosen and strengthen
- Viscosupplementation—The use of hyaluronic acid (typically through injections) to reduce pain and swelling
Contact Core Medical Center Today
At Core Medical Center, with offices in Blue Springs, Missouri, we take the time to get to the source of your pain, offering treatment with a long-term approach. To learn more about the many different ways we can treat osteoarthritis in your knees, contact us online or call our offices at (816) 427-0201 to schedule an appointment.
