Never forget that your treating doctor is a highly qualified professional who handles such cases day in day out. Have faith in his recommendations & stick to his recommendations. If you have any doubts or questions, please seek a clarification directly from him only. Do not take consultations from people around you, as they may not be having the complete information on the health problem that you may have. Pease do also remember that each patient responds to treatment in a different manner depending upon his adherence, body response, etc.
Treating knee pain is a multidimensional approach. The treatment starts with a physical evaluation of your knee, which could include the following components:
- A medical history. Your orthopaedic surgeon will gather information about your general health and ask you about the extent of your knee pain and your ability to function.
- A physical examination. This will assess knee motion, stability, strength, and overall leg alignment.
- X-rays. These images help to determine the extent of damage or deformity in your knee.
- Other tests. Occasionally blood tests, or advanced imaging such as a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, may be needed to determine the condition of the bone and soft tissues of your knee.
Depending upon the stage & status of your knee, your doctor will advise you the various options, which could be of direct benefit to you. They could include the following:
Weight Reduction: This will have an immediate & direct benefit to reduce your pain. Less weight means lesser load & lesser pressure on your knee joints, hence lesser friction when you move your knees for any activity. This is the most challenging but the most responsive part of your recovery plan.
Physio-Therapy: This is best conducted under the watchful & experienced guidance of a qualified professional. Through this method, the specialist tries to bring your knee joints back into action. Physio-Therapy is a science which stimulates your muscles to make them stronger which will help them to more the joints easily with greater strength, thereby reducing the muscular aspect of your pain. Physiotherapist are in great demand now a days due to their role in stimulating the body own defense to the support of the patient. Physiotherapy requires great discipline, patient & adherence from the patient. Patients who show strong discipline to the recommendation of their Physio-Therapist recover much faster then others.
Eating Healthy: After the age of 40 years, it is always advisable to maintain a tight control on your eating habits. This is the stage when mostly other diseases like, High Blood Pressure, Diabetes etc may start creeping on towards you, which could affect your health & mobility adversely. It is important for you to have diet which is nutritious, yet non fattening. A healthy diet should include a mix of green vegetables, pulses, seasonal fruits, etc in moderation will help to keep your body healthy and good shape. Depending upon your health condition, your nutrition specialist can help to tune your diet to keep you in excellent health condition. Don”t forget to consult your nutritionist.
Medications: When despite the above actions, the pain does not subside, the doctor might advise you some safe ‘Pain Killer’ which can be available across the counter for ‘SOS’ or regular use. However never take these without the doctor’s recommendation as some them could have adverse effects unknown to you. The doctor will prescribe you a pain killer, which will have provide you the best effect with the least of the side effects, as per your physical condition & after ruling out all the probable side effects to you. Always stick to the doctors recommendation. Never forget that your doctor is a highly qualified professional & he knows best. If you have any queries or clarification, please clear them with your doctor rather than asking from fellow patients, friends or relations etc.
Procedures: Depending upon the condition and stage of your joints, the doctor will advise you procedure treatments customized to you. The treatment could include the following options:
- Non-Surgical: These could include wearing supportive devices like: Knee Caps. Braces, etc which can help your muscles to share or shift your body load. These could also include other methods like application of hot or cold fermentation or application, bandages, water exercises.
- Medications: The role of every medicine is to help your body’s natural system to cope up & to support it to become more responsive. Medicines will help to reduce your pain to provide you relief & motivate you to make your muscles stronger & responsive. The doctor will prescribe these carefully after taking into account your health & medical condition, other medicines being taken by you, rule out any cross drug interactions & reactions. These could also include external applications for pain relief, Glucosamines and condrointin, cortico steroid injections etc.
- Viscosupplementation: This is a very unique class of medications, which contains lubrication fluid for smooth movement in the knee joint. These are injected directly into the knee joint by a specialist doctor, to improve joint movement, reduce friction & hence reduce the target joint pain to the patient.
- Surgical Treatment: If your arthritis does not respond to the above treatments, then you may be required to undergo a surgical treatment option. However your doctor will be the best person to guide you & explain you the situation, since these are expensive options. These options could include, Arthroscopic Surgery, A Total or Partial Knee Replacement Surgery (TKR), grafting etc.