Knee Arthritis

What is knee arthritis?

Knee arthritis is inflammation of the knee joint. Of all the joints in the body, the knees are among those that develop arthritis the most.

Most often, knee arthritis is either:

Rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that causes joint damage and pain throughout the body. Typically, it affects both knee joints.

Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis is a type of arthritis that develops over time as your joints sustain wear and tear and the cartilage between bones wears down. It’s most common in older adults, as they’ve had the most time to accumulate damage.

Post-traumatic arthritis

Post-traumatic arthritis happens after a knee injury, such as a fracture, ligament tear, or meniscus tear. This type of arthritis can appear years after your injury. 

What are the symptoms of knee arthritis?

Symptoms of knee arthritis include:

• Gradually increasing knee pain 
• Knee swelling, tenderness, and/or redness
• Instability that causes your knees to sometimes buckle or lock up
• Reduced range of knee motion
• Changes in the appearance of your knees 

Sometimes, in combination with these symptoms, knee arthritis can cause popping, cracking, or grinding sounds in your knees when you move them.

As knee arthritis progresses, many find it harder and harder to walk comfortably and perform simple movements, like climbing the stairs.

How can you treat knee arthritis?

Contact Spine Center and Orthopedic Rehabilitation of Englewood offers a number of different treatments for knee arthritis, including:

Viscosupplementation (gel injections)

During this treatment, your team injects hyaluronic acid into your knee joint. Hyaluronic acid is a substance that naturally occurs in the synovial fluid that surrounds healthy joints. People with osteoarthritis in particular have an abnormally low concentration of hyaluronic acid in their knee joints.

The goal of treatment is to lubricate your bones so that they can move more smoothly against one another, and to absorb shock. Gel injections offer the possibility of relief for patients who haven’t had good success with other treatment methods. 

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections

Platelet-rich plasma, or PRP, is composed of growth factors isolated from your own blood. To make PRP, the team draws a minimal amount of your blood and spins it in a centrifuge to separate your platelet-rich plasma from the rest of your blood.

They then inject the PRP into your knee area, where it hopefully promotes new tissue growth and decreases knee inflammation.

Coolief* Cooled Radiofrequency 

Coolief* Cooled Radiofrequency treatment is a minimally invasive, medication-free treatment that offers knee arthritis pain relief by deactivating pain-transmitting sensory nerves.

To provide you with relief, your team makes a tiny incision in your knee and places an electrode inside the nervous tissue. This electrode connects to Coolief*’s water-cooled radiofrequency generator. 

The radiofrequency causes surrounding water molecules to move, creating friction and iconic heating, which deactivates the nerves. 

Don’t let knee arthritis slow you down. To find out what treatments might work for you, reach out to Spine Center and Orthopedic Rehabilitation of Englewood online or over the phone today.