Four Treatments to Try Before You Consider Surgery for Your Knee Arthritis

Arthritis is one of the most common issues that can cause pain when moving, walking, or standing.  This disease plagues many individuals, especially as you age.  When you suffer from knee arthritis, you may have difficulty standing, walking, running, or even performing basic household tasks without feeling pain, numbness, or aches.  As an orthopedic surgeon in Orange City, we provide medical care that helps many of our patients with knee arthritis live a more pain-free lifestyle.  There are a few different treatments that you can try before you consider having knee replacement surgery when you are suffering from pain related to knee arthritis.

Creams and Ointments

One of the first courses of treatment for arthritis is creams that can be rubbed onto the skin of the painful areas.  These creams and ointments are typically sold over-the-counter, and they help alleviate pain by numbing the area.  They also offer heat and cold treatments that work to relieve muscle aches and pains caused by arthritis in the knee.

Injections

If you are in need of a stronger treatment, your orthopedic surgeon in Orange City may recommend you for corticosteroid injections.  These are administered directly into your knee to offer quick and efficient pain relief that can last for months.  Other injections, like hyaluronic acid injections, work to boost the fluid in your knee joints to alleviate pain when moving.  These injections can prevent pain for up to six months.

Physical Therapy

Movement, exercise, and physical therapy are also highly recommended, often in conjunction with other treatments.  Physical activity can promote movement and strengthen muscles in the affected areas, which can help to cause less pain over time.  When you work with a physical therapist, they can provide you with a specialized program to target the areas you feel the most pain.   This targeted therapy can then be done in a routine program so that you can strengthen your knee.

Weight Loss

Our medical professionals will also recommend weight loss as another course of treatment to help alleviate the pain associated with arthritis.  Each time you gain weight, you add additional stress on your knee joints.  By removing some of the weight off your body, at the recommendation of a doctor, you can actually alleviate some of that pressure.  When you lose weight, you will find other treatments much more successful at preventing pain.

These are some of the common treatment options that are available to patients suffering from knee arthritis.  Before we consider knee replacement surgery to repair the affected area, we want to try many other options to prevent pain and aches related to arthritis.  If you are suffering from knee arthritis, contact us to hear some options that can help you live a pain-free lifestyle.