Best
Knee Arthritis Treatment
in Hyderabad

Symptoms:

Osteoarthritis is a slowly progressive disorder worsening over time. It progresses from stage 1 to stage 4 and so does the signs and symptoms of the disease

Symptoms include

• Pain : usually the pain is mild on climbing stairs or walking on irregular surface , but as the disease progresses the pain increases in intensity and later on pain at rest may also be present. In severe cases, night pain is common, leading to disturbed sleep for the patient.
• Stiffness of the joints– stiffness of the joint occurs eventually and mostly noticed while getting up from sitting position . Early morning stiffness is common .
• Tenderness– Tenderness is pain felt when pressing a specific point on the joint. Depending on the extent of cartilage damage on either the medial or lateral side, tenderness may be present accordingly.
• Decreased range of motion – when the pain and stiffness becomes severe , range of motion decreases
• Crepitus or grating sound from the joint
  This happens when two bony structures come in contact with each other .
• Swelling – in acute condition, swelling of the joint can be seen

Risk factors:

• Family history – arthritis run in families , those whose parents or siblings suffer from arthritis are prone for this
• Age – It usually occurs in old age but can also happen in rare cases at a young age.
• Gender – female gender is said to have more chances of developing this arthritis

Previous joint injury

Obesity – increased weight of the patient will put more strain to the joint and hence more prone for osteoarthritis

Diagnosis

Physical examination of the joint – tenderness , swelling , crepitus , restricted joint movements

Laboratory tests –
Blood test , Urine tests, joint fluid examination is done to rule out other types of arthritis

Joint fluid analysis– repeated collection of fluid on the joint will require joint fluid analysis to rule out other causes of arthritis and joint pain like septic arthritis or tuberculosis of the joint

X-rays – X-rays will reveal the loss of cartilage, reduced joint space, bony spurs, osteophytes, and bone irregularities, aiding in determining the stage of osteoarthritis.

CT Scan – Taken from different angles and cross-sections of internal structures, though it is not required in most cases.

Ultrasound of the joint – this is the gold standard technique of identifying the joint, damaged cartilage , calculate the thickness of cartilage , abnormal bony spurs and ostophytes , presence of fluid of any , abnormalities of ligaments and muscles

Treatment

As it is a progressive disease , it requires a comprehensive approach towards
management. Each individual will respond differently to different types of treatment

Medications
Over the counter medicines – Pain relievers are frequently available and may help reduce pain initially, but they might not reduce inflammation in the joint. Acelofeanc , paracetamol , tramadol are few medicines taken frequently

These medicines may help in pain relief initially but later on the side effects will predominate and regular intake is not recommended.

Counter-irritants – creams and ointments may give some relief by counter irritating the joints

This is also not a permanent treatment and gives initial treatment

Physical therapy
Specific physical excercises for the joint to strengthen the muscles around the joint is of prime importance . This will increase the flexibility of the joint and will decrease the stiffness is the joint. The excercises should be specific for each individual based on body type , age , regular activities .

Occupational therapy – Occupational therapy aims to modify your daily activities and tasks to ensure proper performance without placing excessive stress on the joints.

Surgical interventions
Joint replacements was done very frequently until few years back. The original
damaged joint is removed and a metallic joint is put into the body. If complications arise from replacement therapy, treating them again can be challenging.

Non surgical interventions
Viscosuplementations – it is done to provide a jelly fluid in the joint which will prevent the friction between two bones. Injection of hayluronic acid is given whose composition is similar to the composition of the fluid inside the joint . Usually this will work between 3 months to one year

This can be repeated again once the pain starts

Cortisone injection – cortisone is a medication injected in the joint to decrease the pain by decreasing the inflammation. It’s a temporary method of decreasing pain

Non surgical treatment
Radiofrequency ablation of the joint can be done under fluoroscopic and ultrasound
guidance . It will decrease the pain signals from the joint to be carried to the brain . It
is done using Radiofrequency machine and after identifying the target nerves ,
Radiofrequency waves are given to dampen the pain signals

This is a permanent treatment, done as day care procedure without any
complications

The results are similar to the replacement surgery

How to take care of your joint
Excercises to be done as advised by a physical therapist
Avoid taking pain killers
Weight reduction
Heat and cold therapies in severe pain
Braces may help in case where excessive movements is required
TENS therapy – In resistant cases, this therapy may provide assistance, but only on a short-term basis.