Osteoarthritis of the Knee - Treatment Options

Everything changes with time, including our joints. Moving around, running, kneeling, jumping, climbing stairs, and all our other activities, which are great for our body. But over time, due to wear and tear of cartilage the bone starts rubbing painfully against bone. When joint cartilage erodes, joints become stiff, swollen, very painful, and arthritic.

There are several types of arthritis, osteoarthritis: the wear and tear kind; is by far the most common. It becomes more common with age, and it can also happen if you are overweight. Osteoarthritis cannot be cured. Medications and even lifestyle changes won't heal your joint problems, but they can relieve your pain and help you to recover your knees, wrists, hips, and shoulders to move smoothly.

Simple Ways to Protect Your Joints

If you are overweight, it could have a big effect on how you feel. Losing those extra pounds takes pressure off your joints. Even though there is no single “osteoarthritis diet,” but it’s good for your entire body to favor lean protein, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and good fats.

What treatments are there for osteoarthritis of the knee?

There’s no permanent cure for osteoarthritis as yet, but there are several treatments that can help to ease symptoms and decrease the chances of your arthritis becoming worse.

Drugs for osteoarthritis of the knee

Painkillers (analgesics) can help you with pain and stiffness but they don’t affect the arthritis itself and won’t repair the injury to your joint. Painkillers are best when used occasionally only when you’re in pain or when you’re likely to be working out.

Paracetamol is generally the best and most well-tolerated painkiller, but ensure you take the right dose as many people take too little; try 1 g (usually 2 tablets) 2 or 3 times a day as prescribed by your physicians.

Steroid injections

Steroid injections can be prescribed by the physicians and given directly into your painful knee joint. The injections usually start working within a day or so and may reduce the pain for several weeks or months. They’re mostly used for very painful osteoarthritis, for quick attacks caused by shedding calcium crystals and to help you through significant events (such as a family wedding).

Knee surgery

Surgery may be recommended by knee specialist in Mumbai if you have extreme pain or mobility problems. A knee replacement operation can give considerable pain relief in cases where other treatments did not helped enough. Replacements now days last on an average over 15 years. If your knee locks, a surgery to wash out loose fragments of bone and other tissue from the joint can take place – this is called arthroscopic lavage.