Top 3 Solutions for Chronic Knee Pain

Chronic knee pain can significantly impact your quality of life. It hinders mobility and causes persistent discomfort. Luckily, there are several options for managing this issue. In this article, we will explore the top ways to treat chronic knee pain.

Physical Therapy

Physical therapy is often a first-defense treatment in the domain of orthopedics for addressing chronic knee pain. In PT, you are guided through individualized, tailored exercise programs. These exercises are aimed at strengthening the muscles around the knee joint, improving flexibility, stability, and range of motion. This in turn will reduce stress from the repetitive pounding forces of walking and running on the knee.

In PT, you will also be treated with pain-relieving modalities such as ultrasound and electrical stimulation. These aid in reducing inflammation and promoting healing. Regular, consistent sessions with a physical therapist can help you embrace a proactive approach to managing chronic knee pain.  

Medication and/or Injections

For more immediate relief from your knee pain, medications and injections are a salient option. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as Ibuprofen are commonly recommended OTC medicines to reduce inflammation and pain.

Stronger prescription medications in the same class of drug are also available for inflammation and pain relief. Additionally, corticosteroid injections directly into the knee provide swift relief from joint pain by targeting inflammation right at the source.

Recently, advancements in orthopedics have seen hyaluronic acid injections come onto the scene. These are possibly more effective for knee pain relief than other painkillers. This medication serves as a lubricant for the knee joint. It eases the effects of friction and pounding forces and improves mobility.

Surgery

Sometimes, conservative treatments will fall short of improving joint pain to your satisfaction. At this point, it is time to discuss surgical options with your doctor. Several surgical procedures exist that repair or replace damaged tissues or deteriorated joints.

When ligaments and other structures in the joint have been worn down over a long period causing chronic knee pain, surgery is almost always a last resort. Surgery requires a period of downtime to fully recover but also can provide long-term pain relief and improved function. This is a result that you may not otherwise be able to achieve.

Another Alternative: The MACI Procedure

A revolutionary treatment for knee pain in the field of orthopedics is MACI (Matrix-Induced Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation). The MACI Procedure is a stem cell therapy. This unique approach involves extracting some of your own cartilage stem cells; then specially treating them in a lab to grow new cartilage and using this new cartilage to repair the damaged cartilage in the knee joint. MACI holds promise in providing a lasting solution for chronic knee pain as a form of regenerative medicine.

Stem cell therapy is a prominent feature of the MACI procedure. It harnesses the body's natural healing processes to refresh damaged cartilage in the knee. This approach is not a band-aid technique, only addressing the symptoms. MACI targets the root cause of your chronic knee pain. The MACI procedure is very promising, offering renewed hope to individuals who have tried many treatments for chronic knee pain to no avail.