Knee Arthritis? 3 Non-Surgical Treatments to Try Before Surgery

Are you tired of chronic pain from knee arthritis? Medication is only a temporary help, and it can lead to organ damage and other side effects when taken for too long. 

Dr. Jonathan Shults, the board-certified orthopedic surgeon with Coastal Empire Orthopedics, provides several options for the non-surgical treatment of knee arthritis. Early treatment can help slow the progression of your knee arthritis. Following are three non-surgical options that can help improve your symptoms and may help prevent or delay surgery. 

Physical therapy

Physical therapy is a standard treatment for knee arthritis because it’s effective. Your therapist uses massage, manipulation, and joint mobilization techniques to relieve your symptoms. 

Massage helps improve circulation and release tight muscles. Your therapist employs joint mobilization to move your leg slowly or quickly with different amounts of force to push or pull your bones and knee joint. This helps release tight tissue surrounding the joint, which improves alignment and mobility. Using joint manipulation, your therapist manipulates your joint using gentle or strong force to move it beyond its range of motion to improve your flexibility. 

Physical therapy may include electrical stimulation and ultrasound to help you feel better. Ultrasound helps relieve muscle spasms. Icing is usually employed at the end of your therapy appointment. 

Stretches and exercises are critical parts of physical therapy. Your therapist teaches you gentle stretches and specific exercises that strengthen the muscles surrounding your knee joint and improve your mobility. When you do the exercises as instructed at home and at your therapy appointments, you’ll feel better.  

Cortisone or hyaluronic acid injections

If you’re in severe pain when you come into the office, Dr. Shults may administer a cortisone shot. This steroid helps calm inflammation in your knee joint, which reduces pain and swelling. You can receive up to three or four cortisone shots per year. When injections no longer work, and you’re in constant pain that limits your mobility severely, Dr. Shults recommends surgery.

Cortisone shots can increase blood sugar levels. They can also lower immunity to infection. If you’re not a candidate for a cortisone shot, Dr. Shults may administer a hyaluronic acid injection. 

Your body naturally produces hyaluronic acid, which acts as a lubricant around your joints, but as you age, it produces less of it. Dr. Shults gives you a hyaluronic injection to increase the fluid level around your knee joint and reduce inflammation.

Platelet-rich plasma

Dr. Shults may recommend platelet-rich plasma (PRP) to ease pain and increase mobility. PRP is an all-natural alternative to cortisone injections. 

It would help if you were in good general health for a PRP injection. Dr. Shults will determine if you’re a good candidate for PRP.    

Our staff draws a sample of your blood and combines the platelets into a mass, which Dr. Shults then injects at the site of your pain. The platelets are full of rich nutrients that rush to the site of your inflammation and help relieve your symptoms. Studies show PRP to be an effective treatment for many cases of knee arthritis. However, just as with cortisone or hyaluronic injections, they don’t help everyone. 

Call Coastal Empire Orthopedics or book an appointment online today for relief from your chronic knee arthritis.