Alternative For Knee Replacement Surgery

In Clinical Observations At Caring Medical Great Benefit Is Seen In Injecting Bone Marrow Directly After Extracting It

The theory is that the number of stem cells is not as important as how long they live in their natural environment. In other words, when the bone marrow is directly injected, the source of stem cells is fresh and has great potential for healing. We also believe that the body knows best it can use these immature cells to regenerate all injured tissues in the joint.

Know Your Treatment Options

What if there were joint treatment alternatives that not only improved your mobility and reduced your pain, but actually helped your body heal itself? Does that sound appealingbut unrealistic? It isnt. This type of therapy is available right now. Lets explore some of the treatment options that have been developed that might make a joint replacement unnecessary for you.

Hyaluronic acid. This lubricant occurs naturally in our bodies and reduces friction caused by the bones rubbing on each other. However, with age, this substance can diminish, creating pain and wear on the joints. Sometimes a physician will opt to use a corticosteroid injection to provide immediate relief, but this does not solve the underlying problem.

VisCare-Flex® is a treatment offered by Flexogenix® that replaces this important fluid to help nourish the joint and significantly reduce pain. It requires no down time the way surgery does, and most people can walk out of the clinic and drive themselves home. Over a period of 6 to 8 months, the joint will typically continue to improve.

The beauty of this method is that hyaluronic acid naturally occurs within the body and is safe to use as a treatment option.

The Current Literature Demonstrates The Potential Benefits Of Utilizing Concentrated Bone Marrow Aspirate For The Repair Of Cartilaginous Lesions Bony Defects And Tendon Injuries

Doctors in New Jersey at the Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Jersey City Medical Center published their findings in support of this research, in the World Journal of Orthopedics, here is what the paper said:

• The current literature demonstrates the potential benefits of utilizing concentrated bone marrow aspirate for the repair of cartilaginous lesions, bony defects, and tendon injuries in the clinical setting. The studies have demonstrated using concentrated bone marrow aspirate as an adjunctive procedure can result in cartilage healing similar to that of native hyaline tissue, faster time to bony union, and a lower rate of tendon re-rupture.

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Is Delaying Knee Replacement With Hyaluronic Acid Injections Worth It In The End

In our article Research on Hyaluronic injections for Knee Osteoarthritis, We write: It should be noted that we see many patients who have tried hyaluronic acid injections. These injections have worked for these people in the short term. These patients are now in our office because the short-term has not transpired to the long-term and now a different treatment approach needs to be undertaken.

In regard to the use of these treatments as a means to delay inevitable knee replacement, two recent major studies offer contradictory information one study on the benefits of Hyaluronic Acid Injections says that these injections can delay total knee replacement for more than a year and in some patients up to 3.5 years.

Another study says patients should not delay total knee replacement and go right for it, Hyaluronic Acid Injections are not providing the patients with a quality choice.

In the first study on the benefits of delaying surgery with Hyaluronic Acid Injections doctors found:

• For patients who had one course of Hyaluronic Acid Injections, knee replacement was able to be delayed an average of 1.4 years.
• Patients who received more than 5 courses of Hyaluronic Acid Injections delayed Knee Replacement by 3.6 years.

HOWEVER, the second in the journal American Health and Drug Benefitssuggest that patients over the age of 70 should proceed to total knee replacement as opposed to delaying the knee replacement with steroids or hyaluronic acid to save on national health care costs.

Why Does My Knee Hurt

One of the most common reasons for knee pain is osteoarthritis, also known as “wear and tear” arthritis. This disease often requires treatment using either full or partial knee replacement surgery. Generally speaking, as osteoarthritis progresses it causes the smooth cushion between bones to break down. This loss of cartilage can cause your joints to become swollen, hard to move and painful.17 While there’s no cure for osteoarthritis, there are lots of treatment options, including both surgical and nonsurgical options we should discuss. These include:

• Lifestyle changes that can include weight loss and reducing activities that are stressful on your knee
• Physician-prescribed low-impact exercises and physical therapy
• Medications to decrease swelling and provide temporary pain relief
• Surgical options, such as arthroscopic surgery, and partial and total knee replacement

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Radiofrequency Ablation For Knee Pain

If all of these methods fail to control your knee pain from osteoarthritis, there are still options. Radiofrequency ablation controls pain in the knees by destroying the sensory nerves that carry the pain signal from the knee to the brain.

RFA is likely a temporary fix, as nerves will grow back in six months to two years, and the pain may return.

Alternatives To Knee Replacement Surgery Compared

*G: General Anesthesia L: Local Anesthesia

In the comparison, you can see multiple methods share similar recovery times. However, the time for which the result lasts may differ. For example, long-lasting results are expected from gold injections. The HLA injections, though, last only for 3-5 weeks.

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Bone Marrow Aspirate Concentrate Or Bone Marrow Concentrate Type Stem Cell Therapy

Using stem cells taken from a patients bone marrow is becoming a therapy of interest due to the potential of these mesenchymal stem cells to differentiate into other types of cells such as bone and cartilage. This is not a new revolutionary treatment, this treatment has been studied and applied for many years. It is a difficult treatment for some doctors to give. You do need experience in all aspects of the treatment to give the patient the best chance at achieving their healing goals.

Bone Marrow is the liquid spongy-type tissue found in the hallow of bones. It is primarily a fatty tissue that houses stem cells that are responsible for the formation of other cells. These mesenchymal stem cells , also called marrow stromal cells, can differentiate into a variety of cell types including osteoblasts , chondrocytes , myocytes , adipocytes , fibroblasts and others when reintroduced into the body by injection. Bone marrow also contains hematopoietic stem cells that give rise to the white and red blood cells and platelets.

Weight Loss Is Not Easy We Understand That But It Does Help Knee Pain

Losing weight is difficult especially for someone in chronic pain. Over the years we have found that when someone achieves their weight loss goals, it is usually not a diet plan that made the difference for them, it is usually some type of motivation or inspiration that helped these people achieve their weight goals. Perhaps it is a desire to reduce the burden of medicines they are taking every day. Many patients we see have pills for many different disorders. For most people the desire and motivation to lose weight was because of a health scare.

Food can generally be described as pro-inflammatory or anti-inflammatory. Food that is pro-inflammatory would obviously be considred foods that would cause swelling, bloating in stomach and joints, and an unhealthy person. The internet is filled with articles about salmon or fish oils, fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid , onions, garlic, even strawberries and grape seed extract which contain resveratrol.

Sugar is one of the top inflammatory foods to eliminate much as possible. Others include trans and saturated fats, fried foods, processed meat, refined carbohydrates, and artificial sweeteners/additives. Choosing fresh, whole foods instead of pro-inflammatory foods as often as possible has far-reaching effects on our health, including our joints.

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What Is Genicular Artery Embolization

Abnormal blood vessel formation, also known as angiogenesis, is one of the causes of knee pain in osteoarthritis patients. Angiogenesis is a key step in the initiation and maintenance of inflammation in the joint capsule. Abnormal vessels that breach into avascular cartilage in the knee is a hallmark of osteoarthritis, so much so that it is one of the diagnostic features of the disease.

GAE is an interventional radiology treatment that can relieve osteoarthritis pain by treating the offending abnormal blood vessels. The procedure blocks the abnormal blood vessels. Doing this reduces inflammation and its resultant pain.

An interventional radiologist performs the procedure. An IR is trained to perform minimally invasive vascular procedures to treat multiple conditions. They treat their patients using procedures such as angioplasty and embolization .

An IR is a medical doctor that has obtained at least six additional years of specialized training in radiology and interventional radiology.

Patients With Knee Pain And Osteoarthritis Management Are Often Confined Mainly To The Use Of Painkillers And Waiting For Eventual Total Joint Replacement

In the Journal of Medical Internet Research, doctors suggest that despite the availability of this educational material and the evidence-based guidelines for conservative treatment of osteoarthritis. Patients with knee pain and osteoarthritis management are often confined mainly to the use of painkillers and waiting for eventual total joint replacement.

Sometimes the doctors will expand knowledge of conservative management beyond painkillers to3. Hyaluronic Acid Injections

Unfortunately these alternatives, have also been found lacking. Research published in The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association has shown: These conservative treatments while serving as the standard of care, do not really help a patient avoid knee replacement surgery.

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Patients Should Be More Well Educated On The Realistic Expectation Of Knee Replacement Of What The Surgery Can Actually Do For Them

In February 2019, researchers opened a study to see if patients were being well informed about the appropriateness of their knee replacement recommendation. Publishing in the journal BioMed Central Musculoskeletal Disorders, the research team wrote: While the rates of total knee replacement continue to rise worldwide, there are concerns about whether all surgeries are appropriate. Guidelines for appropriateness suggest that patients should have realistic expectations for total knee replacement and that the patient and their surgeon should agree that the potential benefits outweigh the potential harms.

The team then designed various education aids that they are testing to investigate whether the self-reported outcomes of patients who previously underwent total knee replacement can be used to improve decision quality about the appropriate use of total knee replacement They note that many health systems have been routinely collecting patient-reported outcome measures pre and post total knee replacement. Further, While these data have been collected to support decision-making at a health systems level, we believe there is a role for these data to inform setting realistic expectations for patients, and promoting shared decision-making with their care provider.

Stem Cell Treatment For Knee Pain

Stem cell research dates its origins back to the early 1980s. However, human treatment with stem cells did not begin until 2010 when a patient with a spinal injury received human embryonic stem cells as part of a trial in California. Today, stem cells are used successfully in a variety of treatments, including knee osteoarthritis.

Candidates for stem cell treatment for knee pain are patients who suffer cartilage injury from debilitating conditions, like osteoarthritis, degenerative arthritis or rheumatoid arthritis. Patients suffering knee pain from overuse and trauma may also be suitable candidates for stem cell treatment.

Stem cell treatment for knee pain is done by injecting a patients own harvested stem cells to stimulate the body to repair and replace damaged tissue joint or soft tissue around the knee structure. This is a minimally invasive procedure that is performed in an out-patient facility like the Twin Cities Pain & Regenerative Medicine office located in Edina, Minnesota. This procedure normally requires no hospital visits and patients report seeing relief and a return to normal activity in as little as just a few weeks, instead of months.

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Jiffy Knee Replacement: A Less Invasive Alternative To Traditional Knee Replacement Surgery

A jiffy knee replacement is a minimally invasive surgical procedure that can be performed in as little as 30 minutes. It is a less invasive alternative to traditional knee replacement surgery, which can often take two to three hours to complete. During a jiffy knee replacement, the damaged cartilage and bone is removed from the knee joint and replaced with a metal and plastic implant. The incisions made during the surgery are much smaller than those made during traditional knee replacement surgery, which results in less pain and scarring for the patient. Jiffy knee replacement surgery has a number of benefits for patients. In addition to a shorter surgery time, patients who undergo a jiffy knee replacement often have a quicker recovery time and can return to their normal activities sooner than those who have traditional knee replacement surgery. If you are considering knee replacement surgery, talk to your doctor about whether a jiffy knee replacement is right for you.

The Jiffy Total knee technique was developed by local orthopedic surgeon, Manish Patel.

Knee Replacement Alternatives To Consider

Crunching sounds as you climb stairs, chronic aching and swelling: Knee osteoarthritis is a real pain. If youre suffering with it, you may be considering surgery.

Getting a knee replacement is one approach, but you may not need surgery, at least not right away. And some patients cannot undergo knee replacement surgery for various reasons. Other people with knee pain are too young for a knee replacement the artificial knee is only likely to last 15 or 20 years, after which the person may need revision surgery.

There are several things you can try first, on your own or with a professionals help, that can help with knee pain and even delay the need for replacement.

Arthritis doesnt go away, but there are things you can do to lessen the pain and stay more active.

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So Why Were You Recommended For Knee Replacement Surgery

There are several reasons why your doctor may recommend knee replacement surgery. Recently, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons published general criteria which included the following reasons:

• Patients in severe pain.
• Patients with bowed knees, the knee is bending outwards.
• Patients with knock knees, the knees are pointing inwards.
• Patients who cannot bend their knees because of boney overgrowth.
• Patients with knee stiffness that limits everyday activities.
• Patients with chronic knee inflammation and swelling that does not improve with rest or medications.

But if you can still work, your knee still bends, you are still walking a golf course, there can be alternatives to knee replacement that you have not tried yet, and that will be explained below.

You will also be a candidate for knee replacement if these treatments failed to improve your condition:

• anti-inflammatory medications,
• or other arthroscopic knee surgeries.

But the question many people ask is Did i try everything

Obesity Is More Than Stress From Weight Load It Creates Inflammation Without Wear And Tear And Inflammation In The Knee

Research has shown that not only does obesity cause osteoarthritis because of weight load, but it also causes osteoarthritis in a non-mechanical way in other words by inflammation without wear and tear. This type of research is helping doctors get away from the excessive weight load model of thinking, although weight load does cause obvious problems, and helps them look at the inflammation problems. Research has also shown that obese people have an increased risk to develop not only knee but also hand osteoarthritis, the concept that adipose tissue might be related to osteoarthritis not only through overloading suggests that obesity induces a low grade systemic inflammatory state characterized by the production and secretion of several adipocytokines that may have a role in osteoarthritis development.

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A Regenerative Medicine Pioneer

Knee replacement alternatives, such as the platelet rich plasma therapy and stem cell therapy can alleviate pain stemming from overuse, injury, autoimmune disorders, and degenerative arthritis without the risk or inconvenience of surgery.

The most appropriate treatment technique for each particular patient should be discussed with your physician.

Dennis M. Lox, M.D. has found that the combination of conservative therapies, such as pain medication, anti-inflammatories, and cortisone injections, with knee replacement alternatives that employ regenerative and reparative techniques, can effectively treat conditions previously believed to be untreatable.

Dr. Lox founded his center in 1990 with a vision of providing cutting-edge regenerative medicine and conservative pain treatment to improve the quality of life of his patients. Over the years, he has helped professional athletes, active seniors, trauma sufferers, and others overcome their discomfort and reclaim their lives.

With practices in Los Angeles, California and Tampa Bay, Florida, Dr. Lox strives to be one of the most sought-after physiatrists in the World. As a pioneer in regenerative medicine he has helped his patients stay as active as possible at any age

If you would like to learn more about knee replacement alternatives, contact Dr. Lox. In a warm and welcoming environment, Dr. Lox will discuss your condition, educate you on your options, and answer all of your questions regarding knee replacement alternatives.

Physical Therapy For Knee Pain

Knee pain can affect your strength, balance and mobility. If knee pain has stopped you from doing something you enjoy, physical therapy may be able to help you get back to it.

Physical therapy, sometimes called rehabilitation, is a type of treatment that combines exercise, education and hands-on care to strengthen and loosen muscles and joints.

During physical therapy, a physical therapist will guide you through a treatment plan that fits your specific needs. Youll work together to come up with a treatment goal, such as improving your knee mobility, reducing swelling or improving your balance.

Treatment plans often include guided exercise with a physical therapist a few times a week, a personalized exercise plan to do at home and hands-on care like massage.

A physical therapist will also teach you about the causes of your knee pain and show you how to perform regular activities to avoid pain or further injury.

Youll likely finish your physical therapy plan in about three months. However, for lasting results, you should continue physical therapy exercises at home. By strengthening your knees and learning how to move, physical therapy can provide long-term pain management.

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