KNEE PAIN
Are You a Candidate for Spinal Recovery Center’s Knee Pain Relief Program? Are Your Knees Stiff in the Morning?
- Do Your Knees Hurt When Going Up or Down Stairs?
- Do You Frequently Take Ibuprofen or aspirin for Your Knee Pain?
- Do You Limit Activities the You Enjoy Because of Your Knee Pain?
- Have You Been Told That You Will Need Knee Replacement Surgery?
If you answered yes to any (or as in most cases) all of these, give us a call or click the below to schedule a knee pain screening.
Treatment for and Relief From Knee Pain is just a phone call away
at the Spinal Recovery Center!
Serving Warren MI, Sterling Heights MI, and Metro Detroit.
Viscosupplementation Therapy is now available in the Detroit area. Call us today and see if you are a candidate for this revolutionary non surgical treatment as an alternative to Knee Replacement Surgery.
FAQ
Some people who have constant pain in their knees have a condition called osteoarthritis. Unlike the temporary pain and inflammation caused in a joint by an overactive immune system response, osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease.
Osteoarthritis mostly affects the cartilage. Cartilage is the tissue that covers the ends of bones in a joint. When healthy, cartilage allows bones to glide over one another and provides a “shock absorber” function. The normal knee joint also contains a small amount of fluid called synovial fluid, which is a thick, gel-like substance that cushions the joint and provides lubrication to reduce friction.
In osteoarthritis, the surface layer of cartilage breaks down and wears away. Adding to the problem, the synovial fluid in your knees loses its ability to lubricate the joint. This combination causes pain and stiffness, limitation of joint motion, and some inflammation in your knees.
Viscosupplementation is a procedure in which a thick fluid called hyaluronate is injected into the knee joint. There are no cures for osteoarthritis, so viscosupplementation will not cure osteoarthritis of the knee. However, it is thought that hyaluronate will improve the lubricating properties of the synovial fluid, reduce the pain from osteoarthritis of the knee, improve mobility, and provide a higher and more comfortable level of activity.
When is viscosupplementation considered a treatment option?
Viscosupplementation is usually reserved until other treatment options have been tried and have not relieved your pain. Three to five injections, each 1 week apart, are required.
How soon after viscosupplementation injections do patients report pain relief?
Not all patients are helped by the injections. Of those who are, many report feeling some pain relief during the 3- to 5-week course of the injections, while pain relief is delayed in others. Most patients report the greatest pain relief 8 to 12 weeks after beginning treatment. The length of pain relief varies; some patients have reported benefits for more than 6 months following the injections.
What are the side effects of viscosupplementation injections?
The most commonly reported side effects associated with the injections are temporary injection-site pain; swelling, heat, or redness; rash and itching; bruising around the joint; and fluid accumulation in the injected knee. These reactions are usually mild and don’t last long. As with steroid injections, infection and bleeding are also rare complications.
Talk to us here at the Spinal Recovery Center about viscosupplementation if you have osteoarthritis and have not found pain relief from other means such as exercise, physical therapy, weight loss, pain relievers, or steroid injections.
- American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Viscosupplementation Treatment for Arthritis. Accessed 11/4/2014.
- Zychowicz, ME.Viscosupplementation for knee osteoarthritis. American Association of Nurse Practitioners 2014, 26: 163–175.
- Dennis Y. Wen. Intra-articular Hyaluronic Acid Injections for Knee Osteoarthritis. American Family Physician. 2000 Aug 1;62(3):565-570.
- Click here for Cleveland Clinic Treatments & Procedures