Knee joint pain can be one of the most excruciating experiences for anyone living with osteoarthritis or an old athletic wound that flares up seasonally or regularly.
Knee pain can interfere with your livelihood, physical activity, and severely impact your physical and mental health.
Many people who live with chronic aching and swelling at the knees turn to knee replacement as an effective solution to relieve their pain.
However, at Advanced Regenerative Medicine, we constantly ask our patients: Do you think knee replacement is the healthiest solution?
Let’s explore what knee replacement is, why we don’t think it’s a good idea and how you can relieve your knee pain without the need of invasive procedures and reliance on prescription painkillers.
What is a Knee Replacement?
Also known as knee arthroplasty, knee replacement is an in-depth surgical procedure that removes damaged cartilage and bone from the knee.
After a surgeon has extracted the damaged cartilage, it is replaced with metal and plastic man-made prosthetics.
The recovery process for a knee replacement is around 2 months, and the replacements should last around 15 years.
Why Do So Many Patients Rely on Knee Replacement?
Osteoarthritis and knee injuries are extremely painful ailments. Knee replacement is amongst one of the most popular solutions for “quick” and “long-term” relief from pain.
Thus, it’s often the first option someone looks into when trying to take their life back from chronic knee pain.
Is it Always the Right Choice?
The short answer is it isn’t. Knee replacement is an invasive procedure that comes with painful territory and a lengthy healing process that holds patients up for weeks.
Some other reasons to not leap for a knee replacement are:
- Your knees may not be the problem. Sometimes knee pain stems from damage in the spinal nerves. Unfortunately, knee replacement can’t resolve this issue and you’ll be left with hospital bills and remain in pain.
- Despite tempting advertisements, it’s rare for knee replacement surgery to get a person back to peak activity. It’s likely that you won’t be running down a beach or getting back into contact sports after recovery.
- Particles from the prosthetics can break off of the metals and enter your bloodstream.
- Knee replacements don’t last forever. If you get a knee replacement at a young age after an athletic accident, you’ll likely have to reenter the operating room within 15 years or so.
Options Beyond Knee Replacement
Fortunately, there are several ways you can approach chronic knee pain without going under the knife.
Watch Your Weight
If your knees are just starting to experience chronic pain, you could be carrying extra weight that is progressing the development of knee arthritis and destroying cartilage.
Losing weight through calorie deficits and low-impact exercise can help you take some weight off your joints and relieve chronic pain.
Practice Low-Impact Exercise
As counterproductive as it sounds, low-impact exercise can strengthen your hamstring muscles and relieve knee pain. Daily light exercise like walking the treadmill or riding a stationary bike can help you regain mobility and strength that eases your knee pain.
Cortisone Shots
Knee injections like cortisone and hyaluronic acid can lubricate your joints and help bring back mobility to your knees. However, this approach only offers a few months’ worth of relief before knee pain reappears.
Natural Regenerative Therapies
Several procedure options are available for patients who want to regenerate bone tissue without surgery.
Natural regenerative therapies are a newer alternative to knee replacement that can benefit younger athletes or those experiencing the early stages of chronic knee pain.
Why Choose The Orthobiologic Approach?
At Advanced Regenerative Medicine, we have over 30 years of experience with healing knee pain through non-invasive procedures.
Our orthobiologic approach is all-natural and helps repair your damaged bone and tissue without painful surgery.
The best part is that our process can help get you back into the physical activity you love.
Whether you’re a weekend warrior or someone who is just ready to get back into the real world without pain, Advanced Regenerative Medicine can help you with:
- Stage 1-3 of Osteoarthritis
- Chronic knee pain
- Knee instability
- Knee arthritis
- Torn meniscus
- Torn ACL
- Limited range of motion
Step Into Relief with Advanced Regenerative Medicine
Don’t let chronic knee pain hold you back and don’t feel like you have to resort to knee replacement for relief. Reach out to Advanced Regenerative Medicine today to learn more about our procedures and how we can help effectively and naturally relieve your pain.
Schedule your free consultation today!
