Non Surgical Knee Pain Treatment
Often we see runners and athletes who have pain in the front of the knee, under the knee cap, also known as the patella. When there is a problem with this part of the knee it manifests as pain in the front of the knee after strong exertion (running, walking, or stair climbing.) This pain may be due to erosion of the cartilage on the under side of the patella, poor tracking of the patella in its groove on the front of the knee, or an inflamed tendon on the lower edge of the patella.
The patella is covered on its back side with the thickest layer of articular cartilage of all the joints in the body. Erosion of this cartilage is called "chondromalacia patellae." It is sometimes referred to as patellofemoral syndrome, or runner’s knee. On X-ray it is seen as a decrease in the amount of cartilage underneath the kneecap. It may be caused by trauma or occur spontaneously. If the patella is fractured, pain may still persist after the fracture heals.
Prolotherapy injections for runner’s knee
Prolotherapy, a non surgical alternative to knee surgery is excellent at relieving knee pain related to patellofemoral syndrome. Since 1993, Dr. Hauser has been utilizing Hackett-Hemwall Prolotherapy for knee pain to help thousands of patients avoid surgery, or even to eliminate residual post surgical knee pain.
Prolotherapy injections helps chondromalacia patellae or patellar tracking problems because the pain-producing structure is generally the patellar tendon or the musculoskeletal support around the patella. Prolotherapy injections for chondromalacia involve intra-articular (inside) injections as well as injections on the outside of the knee, stimulating the growth of many musculoskeletal structures around the patella. Hence, the knee gets stronger and the pain of chondromalacia, or patellofemoral syndrome, is relieved.
Patients and athletes with patellofemoral syndrome pain often succumb to surgical procedures, even drastic ones. A good example of drastic surgery is the recommendation to surgically remove the patella in order to remove the pain. This sometimes does relieve the pain, but at a significant cost to the body. The strength to extend the knee is reduced by about 30 percent, and the force exerted in the knee is increased. There are a host of other risks associated with surgery. We have published research on patients treated at Caring Medical as an alternative to surgery. In addition, we have published other research demonstrating a high Prolotherapy success rate when using Hackett-Hemwall Prolotherapy injections as a non surgical knee treatment, and for cases of cartilage regeneration.
The athlete or any knee pain patient must realize that with each procedure and each shaving or cutting of tissue, NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) prescription, or cortisone injection, the risk of developing long-term arthritis is greatly increased. The key to keeping the knee strong is to stimulate the area to heal, not to cover up the pain with a cortisone shot or NSAID therapy. Even worse is to eliminate the painful area by shaving, cutting, or removing tissue. This just delays the pain for a few years until the remaining tissue becomes degenerated. The best approach is to stimulate the area to heal and regenerate articular cartilage. The way we do that at Caring Medical is with Hackett-Hemwall Prolotherapy to treat knee conditions such as these. You can watch Dr. Hauser perform Prolotherapy injections to the knee, to see how we feel Prolotherapy can be effectively performed to treat runner’s knee and other knee injuries.
Want to know if you are a candidate for Prolotherapy? Click here to tell us more about your case. If you are have been told your only option is knee surgery, we encourage you to consider a consultation at Caring Medical. We have a tremendous amount of experience and high Prolotherapy success rate treating knee pain. We would be happy to review your case and see you for an appointment!
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