Non Surgical Knee Pain Treatment

Pain-relieving medications can help to reduce knee pain. They include numbing drugs like anesthetics and NSAIDs that can control swelling, inflammation and block pain signals to the brain.

Hyaluronic acid (HA) injections, known as viscosupplementation, can help to relieve pain by lubricating the joints. Your body makes this naturally, but sometimes your production needs a boost.

Cortisone Injections

A cortisone injection is a man-made version of the naturally occurring hormone cortisol, a powerful anti-inflammatory. Also called glucocorticoid steroids, these medicines shrink inflammation and can help reduce pain and swelling.

Our Alliance Orthopedics specialist may also inject a gel-like fluid that puts more lubrication into your knee joint. This can lessen rubbing between bones and make your knee move more smoothly. Gel injections can cause some discomfort at the injection site.

Another option for your knee is hyaluronic acid (HA) injections. These are more effective than steroid injections at relieving symptom flare-ups. However, repeated HA injections may degrade the cartilage in your knee joint.

Hyaluronic Acid Injections

Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a naturally occurring substance that helps your joints move and cushion the joint. HA knee injections, also called viscosupplementation, aim to restore the lubricity of your joint and improve flexibility, which may reduce pain and swelling in your knees.

Your rheumatologist or primary care doctor injects HA directly into your knee after it has been cleaned and numbed. Your doctor can use a topical anesthetic or ropivacaine.

Several studies have found that HA knee injections offer pain relief for many people with osteoarthritis. However, they do not help everyone with OA and may not work for those who have severe mechanical issues within the knee. You should not get HA knee injections if you have blood-clotting disorders or an infection in your knee. Also, if you are allergic to eggs or bird products—hyaluronate is made from a type of protein extracted from rooster combs—you should not have the treatment. Your doctor may recommend hyaluronic acid injections for you if you have not gotten relief from non-drug options, such as weight loss, exercise, physical therapy, tai chi, or heat and cold treatments.

Physical Therapy

A physical therapist can help you improve strength and mobility in your knee, helping reduce pain from bone-on-bone joint friction. Our onsite physical therapy facility offers personalized exercise plans, hands-on care and advanced quantitative MRI monitoring to track your progress.

Other treatment options include red light therapy that increases circulation to reduce inflammation and promote new cartilage growth. We also offer decompression therapy, which uses a table to create negative pressure to increase blood flow, oxygen and nutrients to the knee.

Other treatment options include iontophoresis, which delivers medication to the site of pain using an electrical current. We can also provide a knee brace that increases joint space and unloads the knee, reducing pressure on cartilage and bones. Combined with our injections, these non surgical treatment options can delay the need for surgery, allowing you to enjoy a better quality of life while decreasing your dependence on pain medications. A life without knee pain is possible – begin your journey today.

Osteoarthritis Medication

Injections of corticosteroids, which are man-made versions of the hormone cortisol, may ease pain for several weeks or months. Doctors numb the area before injecting a small amount of medication directly into the knee joint. Doctors generally limit the number of injections per year to three or four in a single joint, because long-term use can worsen damage to the knee.

Oral pain relievers, such as acetaminophen (Tylenol) or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), also reduce pain from OA. However, large doses of NSAIDs can cause stomach upset, heartburn, and bleeding problems. Taking NSAIDs in the form of gels, which are applied directly to the skin over the joint, may be more effective than taking pills.

Other treatments, such as ice packs, heating pads, or capsaicin cream, can also help relieve pain from OA. In some cases, doctors can realign the bones in your knee by cutting across a bone above or below the knee, adding or removing a wedge of bone, to shift weight away from the damaged part of the knee.