The Best Methods for Knee Injury Treatment | Knee Pain Doctor Explains

What is the best knee injury treatment?

Maybe you’ve had a sudden, sharp pain after some vigorous exercise. Or you lie awake every night, trying to ignore the chronic, dull pain that’s been bothering you for ages. Almost a 100 million Americans suffer from knee joint pain each year. If you’re one of them, you’ve probably thought, “Oh my God! Do I have to get that knee replacement surgery done?” The answer is… probably not. Several knee conditions, especially in the beginning respond to conservative treatment.

So, when should you opt for these, and when should you see that pain doctor? Read on to learn about the best treatments available, and the pain clinic with them available/covered by all major medical insurances and Medicare. 

RICE – Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation

This is the first-line knee injury treatment, and is ideal if you’ve just had a minor injury, or your arthritis is especially painful. Rest your knee and avoid strenuous exercises for a few days. Apply ice packs around the injured knee joint to bring down the swelling. You should ice the joint for at least 15 minutes every four hours till the pain and swelling come down. Use elastic knee supports such as bandages or sleeves to compress the knee joint, and keep the injured knee elevated to reduce the swelling further.

Walking aids

Using crutches can go a long way in reducing the strain felt by your knee joint till it heals. Knee braces stabilize your knee joints and protect them from further injury. Orthotics (shoe inserts) also reduce strain on the knee joint by controlling excessive movement at the feet.

Over the counter painkillers

In the short term painkillers like ibuprofen and aspirin may help reduce the pain and swelling in your knee joint. Be cautious about the dosage though, and stay within the recommended daily limits on the bottle! If you find yourself reaching for pain pills too often, it’s time to resort to other methods.

Physical Therapy

Depending on the kind of knee injury that you have, exercises can be designed to strengthen your joint, eliminate stiffness, and improve the range of motion.

Knee injections

Different medications can be injected into your knee. Corticosteroid injections help bring down inflammation within the knee. Lubricants, such as hyaluronic acid can be injected to improve smoothness of motion and increase shock absorption. For severe pain, local anesthetics can also be injected to numb the nerve responsible for the pain sensation.

Cold therapy

Applying sub-zero temperatures to the knee joint can relieve pain. The Iovera, one of the modern devices used in knee injury treatment, uses this principle to calm pain and swelling in the knee joint.

Arthrocentesis

In this procedure, also known as ‘joint aspiration’, the pain doctor removes excess inflammatory fluid from your joint using a syringe. Through the same needle, you may get an injection of steroids or lubricants.

Nerve manipulation or Genicular Nerve Block

The genicular nerves are responsible for pain sensation in the knee joint. In cases of severe or chronic pain, these nerves can be numbed using local anesthetics.

Radiofrequency Thermoablation

The nerve can also be desensitized using radiofrequency thermoablation. This is especially effective in chronic pain which has not responded to other methods of treatment.

Prescription Medications

Apart from prescription painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs, a pain doctor might evaluate whether or not you need disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDS), to slow down the progress of degenerative joint diseases.

Surgery? The last resort!

When all else fails, it may be necessary to physically repair whatever’s been damaged in your knee joint.

Arthroscopic surgery

Here, knee injury treatment is done using a scope (a tube with a camera) inserted into the joint, in the front of the knee. This minimally invasive procedure can help repair and rebuild ligament tears, including a torn meniscus and  anterior cruciate ligament tears

Open surgery

When the joint is damaged beyond repair, it may be time to replace it. Partial and total joint replacements are often carried out with great success, but these procedures should absolutely be the last resort.