Knee Arthritis

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Knee Arthritis

Physiotherapy

Physiotherapy has been shown to be effective in improving the symptoms of up to 70% of patients with early osteoarthritis.

The more severe your arthritis unfortunately the less effective this can be.

Physiotherapy can be beneficial even if you ultimately require surgery because pre-operative physio “Pre-hab” helps you recover faster.

Exercises focus on strength, stability, range of motion and pain management.

If physio exacerbates your pain, injections can relieve this pain temporarily

Injections

Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) uses a fraction of your own blood (obtained by spinning your blood in a centrifuge), injected into your knee to relieve your osteoarthritic pain. It is wears off after approximately 3 months but can help to relieve your pain, allow you to do physio and recover from a recent deterioration in symptoms.
Hyaluronic acid is a manufactured version of your own knee lubricant. Similar price to PRP, though 10-20% of patients experience a significant foreign material reaction
Steroid/cortisone injections are cheaper than PRP or hyaluronic acid but do not always last as long or provide as much pain relief. These injections can slightly raise the risk of infection if you have a knee replacement in the next 3- 6 months.

Tablets

Regular paracetamol is useful due to its favourable side effect profile and no addictiveness. Not the strongest pain killer but generally the safest. Avoid if severe liver disease.
Anti-inflammatories can be used for short flare-ups. They cannot be used on a long-term basis due to issues with reflux, kidney problems and occasionally cardiac effects.
Avoid stronger (opioid based) painkillers due to the development of tolerance/addiction. If you require opioid pain relief such as these on a regular basis to relieve your pain it may be time to consider operative management rather than opioids.

Diet

Patients with knee arthritis can often put on weight because their painful knee slows them down.

It can be difficulty losing weight through exercise given how painful your arthritic knee may be.

Lower weight can mean less force through your arthritic joint and therefore less pain.

Dr Connon works with local GPs and dietitians to optimise your diet to help reduce your knee pain.

Activity Modification

Low impact aerobic activity is encouraged for your joint health, general health and mental wellbeing. You may need to alter which exercise you do – for example, switch running for swimming or cycling.

Radiofrequency Ablation

If your arthritis is not responding to the above measures but is not bad enough to consider knee replacement surgery yet, radiofrequency ablation may be an option for you.

Dr Connon will use Xray guidance to place 4 needle-like probes are your knee to target the nerves that supply the pain feeling to your knee.

This can provide up to 12 months of reduced discomfort in some patients.

Surgical treatment

Surgical treatment is considered when the above non-operative management has failed to relieve your pain and get you back to doing the things you love.

If pain is affecting your quality of life significantly despite trying the techniques above, talk to Dr Connon about whether we can improve your symptoms with surgery.

07 5413 4300