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Knees bear most of your weight during daily activities and even more so when playing sports or exercising. If you develop knee pain, contact John East, DO, at Addison Pain + Regenerative Medicine in Addison, Texas. Dr. East and his team determine your condition’s cause and offer comprehensive treatment to restore knee health. Call the office today to schedule a knee pain evaluation or complete the online booking form.
What typically causes knee pain?
Your knee, the largest joint in your body, is a complex combination of bone, cartilage, tendons, and ligaments. Acute injuries cause sudden pain and loss of function when part of the knee breaks, tears, or over-stretches. Fractures (broken bones) and dislocations, where the bones in the knee separate, are some of the most severe acute injuries.
Ligament tears can also be serious. They affect the four connective tissues attaching the bones in your knee together, including the medial collateral (MCL) and anterior cruciate (ACL) ligaments. Acute conditions like ligament and meniscus cartilage tears are often due to sports injuries.
Repetitive strain conditions like bursitis and tendinitis cause increasing pain as inflammation builds up from overuse.
Chronic (long-term) conditions cause gradually worsening pain, weakness, and stiffness. Arthritis is a frequent cause of chronic knee pain, particularly osteoarthritis, a widespread condition where the protective articular cartilage wears away from the ends of your bones.
How is knee pain treated?
If you have mild knee pain from something like a muscle strain, rest and applying ice packs ease discomfort and prevent swelling. You might need to use a compression bandage to support the damaged tissues and take over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medication to manage the pain.
You should seek medical attention if your pain is more severe or doesn’t improve after a few days of treatment at home. The most serious injuries might require urgent surgery to repair broken bones. Other problems might benefit from wearing a walking boot or using other aids to keep weight off the knee.
Physical therapy is also essential to reduce pain, promote healing, and improve function.
Nothing’s helping my chronic knee pain — what can I do?
Addison Pain + Regenerative Medicine specializes in helping people whose knee pain doesn’t respond to standard treatment or is caused by an incurable condition like arthritis. Advanced treatments the team offers include:
Viscosupplementation
Hyaluronic acid injections into the knees helps ease arthritis symptoms by lubricating the stiffened joints.
Cortisone injections
Cortisone is a potent anti-inflammatory steroid. Injecting it into the knee can ease pain long-term.
Nerve blocks
Genicular nerve blocks contain a local anesthetic that numbs the primary knee nerve for instant short-term relief.
Genicular radiofrequency ablation/rhizotomy
Radiofrequency ablation is a minimally invasive procedure using electrical impulses to heat the knee’s primary nerve.
You might also benefit from platelet-rich plasma (PRP) or bone marrow aspirate (BMA) injections. These treatments use cells from your body to stimulate tissue repair.
Call Addison Pain + Regenerative Medicine for expert knee pain diagnosis and treatment, or book an appointment online today.