What’s the Difference Between Arthritis and Bursitis?
They both cause joint pain and swelling, but arthritis and bursitis aren’t the same. Find out the difference between these two issues to better understand which one is causing your joint pain.
Noninvasive Treatments for Knee Pain
Large and complex joints, your knees are designed to help you walk, run, climb, and squat. Because of their complexity and function, your knees are susceptible to injury and disease that leads to pain.
Though knee pain is a common problem, surgery is rarely the first recommended treatment.
At Orthopedic & Wellness in Frederick, Germantown, and Waldorf, Maryland, our pain management and orthopedic experts, Dr. Matthew Roh and Dr. Ojedapo Ojeyemi, take an individualized approach to your knee pain and offer several noninvasive therapies to help you get relief.
About your knee pain
Knee pain is a symptom that can affect anyone at any time, and it may occur from a range of causes. You may develop knee pain after an injury or from general wear-and-tear that comes with age.
Common causes of knee pain include:
- Arthritis
- Strain or sprain
- Tendonitis
- Meniscal injury or tear
- Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury or tear
- Bursitis
- Dislocation
- Infection
- Fracture
The best treatment for your knee pain depends on the underlying cause. While noninvasive treatments are preferred in most cases, some knee injuries require surgical intervention, such as an ACL tear or severe fracture.
But if we can, we’d prefer to ease your knee pain with noninvasive treatments.
Physical therapy for pain relief
No matter the underlying cause of your knee pain, physical therapy can help you get relief from your discomfort. This includes knee pain that requires surgical intervention.
It can be difficult to believe, but exercise is one of the best noninvasive treatments for pain relief. Improving the movement and flexibility of your joint reduces inflammation and promotes healing. It may also prevent your knee pain from worsening.
In addition to flexibility, the goal of physical therapy is to improve the strength of the muscles that support the knee joint. This helps reduce stress on your knee to help minimize overall discomfort.
Improving the strength of your supportive muscles may also reduce your risk of injury.
Splinting and bracing for support
To support healing or alleviate chronic knee pain, you may benefit from splinting or bracing. These devices can protect or support the structure of your knee to help ease your pain and help you get back to your active lifestyle.
Our orthopedic experts, along with your physical therapist, can help you find the knee splint or brace that best fits your needs.
Anti-inflammatory and pain medication
Whether your knee pain is chronic or the result of an acute injury, you may benefit from our pain management services to help you get the relief you need. Some of the medications we recommend to reduce knee pain include anti-inflammatory and over-the-counter pain medications.
In addition to medication, we may also suggest icing your knees to reduce inflammation and ease your pain. This can be especially helpful at the end of a long day or after your physical therapy session.
Minimally invasive treatments for knee pain
Though we can help you get relief from your knee pain with noninvasive treatments, we also offer minimally invasive therapies that we perform at the office that may help speed up your recovery.
Some minimally invasive treatments that can address your knee pain include:
- Steroid injections to reduce inflammation
- Viscosupplementation injections to treat osteoarthritis knee pain
- Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy to reduce inflammation
Knee pain is a common complaint, but there’s no need to simply live with the pain. We offer many effective treatments to help you get the relief you need so you can get back to doing the things you love.
To schedule a knee pain consultation, contact us today by calling the office nearest you or booking an appointment online.
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