Knee Pain can be caused by injuries, mechanical problems, certain types of arthritis, or may continue as persistent pain after knee replacement surgery. Knee osteoarthritis (OA), is the most common form of arthritis. It is a condition that causes the destruction of knee cartilage, resulting in joint pain and stiffness, affecting mostly the elderly.
What causes osteoarthritis?
Osteoarthritis can be classified into primary and secondary. Primary osteoarthritis is related to aging. With age, the water content in the cartilages decreases and makes them more susceptible to degradation. Osteoarthritis can also affect the joints earlier in life due to injuries, obesity, loss of strength in surrounding muscles or a job that puts repeated stress on joints.
What are the symptoms of osteoarthritis?
- Joint pain
- Stiffness, especially in the morning or after a period of inactivity
- Locking
- Limited joint movement
- Grating of joints when moved
Treatment for osteoarthritis:
Non-surgical treatments:
Genicular nerve radiofrequency ablation is a non-surgical, noninvasive technique used in the management of knee pain. It can be used for knee osteoarthritis (OA), chronic knee pain related to multiple surgeries in the past, and ongoing pain after knee replacement. This noninvasive treatment option has the capacity to decrease pain and improve function and quality of life. It can last for about a year and can be safely repeated when pain comes back.
You are a candidate if:
- You don’t want to undergo surgery.
- You’re not a good surgical candidate due to other medical conditions.
- You have tried steroid injections, Synvisc, orthovisc injections (artificial cartilage), weight loss, motrin kind of medications, but without much pain relief.
- You have had knee replacement but still have pain
This technique differs from all other treatment alternatives because this procedure causes denaturing of the 3 sensory nerves primarily responsible for transmitting knee pain from an arthritic joint to the brain. It does not involve the risk of paralysis since only pain sensing nerves are denatured. It does not take away sensations from the skin. If you injure yourself, you’ll know.
This can be done safely with local anesthesia in office setting. Conscious sedation can be used for anxious patients.
At Dominion Spine and Pain, our treatment options provide excellent pain relief from knee pain with long lasting results using non surgical techniques. Call us today at (301) 659-0003 for more information.
