Suffering from Osteoarthritis of the Knee?
If you are experiencing knee pain, redness, and swelling, it is likely because of knee osteoarthritis.
Osteoarthritis is caused due to the damage to joint cartilage, bones, and muscles, which leads to the wearing out of the joint cartilage, causing bone-on-bonerubbing and pain.
Conventional treatment of osteoarthritis focuses on reducing the symptoms of knee pain or trying to reduce the speed of joint damage progression in order to maintain knee function.
Some conventional osteoarthritis treatment practices include –
- Weight Loss
- Losing excessive weight can reduce stress and pain in the knees. In addition to causing extra stress on the knees, obesity also promotes inflammation that may speed up cartilage degeneration. Hence, weight loss can help in saving cartilage and mitigating pain, thus helping the osteoarthritis patient.
- Physical Therapy and Exercise
- While rest may seem the natural solution for pain, exercise is really important. Not only does it help to shed the extra pounds, exercise stimulates the production of antioxidants in the body that can reduce inflammation and prevent joint deterioration.
- Your physical therapist can help you follow a guided exercise routine to improve osteoarthritis. This may include low-impact aerobic exercises, muscle strengthening and stretching exercises, and flexibility exercises.
- Pain Medications
- Pain medications only help in easing the pain. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs may be prescribed for the treatment of osteoarthritis. Corticosteroid injections may be recommended to reduce inflammation and improve joint function.
- Supportive Aids
- In severe cases, where mobility becomes restricted, mechanical support with mobility aids may help patients shift the load away from an affected knee and maintain mobility.
- Surgical Treatment
- If osteoarthritis is severe and conventional treatment options fail, your doctor may recommend surgery to remove the damaged parts of the joint and replace them with artificial implants. However, surgery is invasive, carries several risks like blood loss, anesthesia issues etc. and requires a long period of rehabilitation and recovery, before you can get back on your feet and lead a normal life.
Stem Cell Therapy
Stem cell therapy is an excellent regenerative medicine treatment option for patients with knee osteoarthritis.
Stem cells have the potential of repairing and regenerating damaged joint tissues by stimulating the body’s natural healing mechanism. Stem cells can be simply injected into the affected joint in an outpatient procedure. Once they reach the site of damage, stem cells differentiate into new, healthy cells, repairing the impaired joint. This helps to treat the root cause of damage in the joint, halts disease progression and relieves pain in the long term.
To learn more about stem cell therapy, call the leading stem cell clinic in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles and Bay Area, call Advanced Stem Cell Institute at 855-937-7836 today.