Non-Surgical Alternatives to Surgery for Knee Pain

Knee replacement surgery is a major operation that should be chosen as a last option for those suffering from knee pain. There are several steps you can take to help reduce and control the pain and inflammation, which is caused by knee arthritis, and perhaps avoid surgery entirely.

Lifestyle Modification to Minimize Knee Pain & Injury

One of the most important steps you can take in preventing or controlling damage to your knees is lifestyle changes. This may include weight loss to reduce excessive force on your knee joints, avoiding activities such as running and twisting, which can aggravate the knee injury, modifying exercise to no- and low-impact, and other changes in your daily routine to reduce stress on your knees.

Exercise and Physical Therapy

Exercise and physical therapy may be prescribed to improve strength and flexibility. Exercises may include strengthening exercises such as riding a stationary bike, and stretching exercises such as flexing the ankle up and down, tightening and holding thigh muscles, sliding the heel forward on the floor, leg lifts, and knee extensions.

Exercise can strengthen your leg muscles and reduce your knee pain. If you really need a knee replacement, this may not help, but many forms of knee pain can be mitigated by exercise.

Anti-inflammatory Medications

Arthritis pain is caused by inflammation in the knee as the bones rub against each other due to eroded cartilage. Reducing the inflammation of the tissue in the knee can provide temporary relief from pain and delay knee surgery.

Anti-inflammatory medications may be prescribed to decrease swelling in the joint. A corticosteroid injection may also be used to reduce pain; in this procedure, a powerful anti-inflammatory agent is injected directly into the joint.

Glucosamine and Chondroitin

A dietary supplement called Glucosamine and Chondroitin may improve the joint's mobility and decrease pain from arthritis of the knee. Glucosamine and Chondroitin sulfate, both naturally occurring molecules in the body, can slow the deterioration of cartilage in the joint, reducing the pain of bone grinding on bone. Glucosamine is thought to promote the growth of new cartilage and repair of damaged cartilage, while Chondroitin is believed to promote water retention, improving the elasticity of cartilage, and inhibiting cartilage-destroying enzymes.

Bracing

A brace may be used to provide external stability to the knee joint. Braces are devices made of plastic, metal, leather and/or foam, and are designed to stabilize a joint, reduce knee pain and inflammation, and strengthen the muscles of the knee. By putting pressure on the sides of the joint, the brace causes the joint to realign. This decreases the contact between the two rough bone surfaces, reduces the pain, and increases mobility.

These non-surgical options for treating arthritis can delay knee surgery by providing short-term relief. However, any drug therapy program is likely to have side effects, and these should be taken into consideration. Non-surgical procedures may also have limited results compared to the long-term results of knee surgery.

Joint Fluid Therapy

While medications and supplements can be helpful in reducing inflammation and pain and help you delay or avoid knee surgery, there are trade-offs. Drug therapies may have side effects, and there is a limit to how much pain reduction can occur.

In a procedure called joint fluid therapy, a series of injections is made directly into the knee joints. This therapy is designed to reduce knee pain by improving lubrication in the knee, replacing the synovial fluid that lubricates the knee. Hyaluronate is used for the treatment of osteoarthritis knee pain in patients who have failed to get adequate relief from simple painkillers or from exercise and physical therapy.

A solution made of highly purified sodium hyaluronate (trade name SUPARTZ*) is used in this procedure. SUPARTZ is made from a natural chemical found in the body and is found in particularly high amounts in joint tissues and in the fluid (synovial fluid) that fills the joints.

The body's own hyaluronan acts like a lubricant and shock absorber in synovial fluid of a healthy joint. Osteoarthritis reduces your synovial fluid's ability to protect and lubricate your joint.

A physician administers an injection of SUPARTZ solution into your knee once a week for 5 weeks (a total of 5 injections). This helps to re-lubricate your knee and reduce the pain of osteoarthritis, possibly delaying or helping you avoid knee surgery.

*Trademark of Seikagaku Corporation