Many people suffer from joint knee pain and have been told that they need to have surgery to relieve the pain, do physical therapy or to simply deal with the pain if they are opposed to doing surgery, which causes individuals to live off pain medications and a lot of over the counter medications. Many individuals are opposed to do surgery because they are either afraid of the pain after the surgery, the amount of time needed to heal, the amount of medications they may be on due to the pain, or the idea of retraining themselves to walk normal and run again. But, due to the advancements in alternative medicine, there are now many non-surgical alternatives for joint knee pain. The best way to determine these non-surgical alternatives is to see a physician that specializes in pain managements and joint regenerative therapy so that they can evaluate you and determine if you qualify for these non-surgical treatments.

Alternative treatments

Supartz: Supartz is a non-surgical injectable viscosupplment treatment that is used for knee osteoarthritis and knee pain. Viscosupplementation of hyaluronic acid, which is a natural substance that is found in your joint cartilage and within the synovial fluid that fills the joint space, lubricates the joints so that the joint moves freely and smoothly causing less bone on bone friction.

Prolotherapy: When individuals suffer knee pain or injuries, they don’t realize that they may have caused micro tears to the many ligaments surrounding the knee joint, in which is a complex joint in itself. If gone untreated, it can potentially become worse and cause greater tears of the ligaments and increase the pain that is already there. When individuals experience severe pain, the body begins to over compensate for the weakness and pain with other surrounding muscles in order to perform a specific motion or movement.

Prolotherapy in Los Angeles can be highly beneficial because where the micro tears are; Prolotherapy will help not only with pain relief but also in rebuilding newer and stronger ligament tissues. Prolotherapy, also known as Regenerative Joint Injection, utilizes the body’s inflammatory response (healing processes) to strengthen and repair injured joints and damaged connective tissues. This treatment is in the same category as PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) because they both act as regenerative therapy to joints. Within the healing mechanism, the body is laying down new tissue in the damaged or weakened areas. This occurs when a Licensed Physician that specializes in pain management and joint regenerative therapy injects the injury site with a solution containing natural substances such as Dextrose (sugar) and a local anesthetic that stimulates the healing process. The injection stimulates growth of new ligament fibers, resulting in strengthening of the weakened area and causing instant pain relief.

Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) Injections: Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) on the other hand is similar to Prolotherapy injections but have their own benefits, processes and objectives in regards to pain treatment. Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) therapy is a regenerative treatment that utilizes the bloods own growth factors that are within the platelets to help repair damaged cartilage, tendons and ligaments. Platelet Rich Plasma can be used in multiple joints of the body such as the hips, shoulders, elbows knees and in the lower back due to its heavy stress load that they carry and the benefits that studies have shown PRP provides for them.

With Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) Therapy, your blood that is comprised of Red Blood Cells, White Blood Cells and Platelets are drawn by a Physician who then separates the healing properties (Growth Factors) within the blood through an FDA approved process. The Physician then injects the growth factors into the injured area or the area that is causing pain. Once injected, the growth factors begin to repair the damaged tissues and reduce inflammation thus providing lasting pain relief and healing which can prevent surgical interventions (ie. Hip Replacement, Total Knee Replacement, or Arthroscopic Surgery).