Do you suffer from pain in your knees, hips, neck, or spine? Thousands of people worldwide will totally understand you. Orthopedic problems are getting younger every year due to the sedentary lifestyle, poor ecology, lack of exercise and physical activity, unbalanced diet, bad habits, stress, diseases, and dozens of other reasons that harm our skeleton and the most vulnerable its places – the joints.
So, once you notice you experience constant pain when walking, jogging, leaning, or even simply bending your join, what should you do? Is surgery the only way to return you to a full life without discomfort and pain? Fortunately no, modern medicine offers a few non-surgical treatment options to avoid surgery and improve function of your joints. Interested? Keep on reading!!!
Hyaluronic Acid for Joints is Real Salvation!
Orthopedic injuries, muscle injuries, diseases, and other conditions create lots of discomfort in everyday life and demand immediate action. The musculoskeletal system is not something to joke about, so once you have noticed something strange, directly see orthopedic specialist to treat the condition.
Among effective non-surgical treatment options, we can single out oral medications, physical therapy, steroid injections, hormonal injections, and injections with hyaluronic acid. The choice of the therapy depends first of all on the diagnosis of orthopedic conditions and the patient’s preferences. Unfortunately, surgeries like knee replacements are not possible to avoid, especially in the cases of joint injuries or severe osteochondrosis or arthritis, but at the early stages, there are ways to prevent and slow down the development of many diseases and conditions.
And one of the most innovative, modern, and effective ways to relieve pressure in the joint and reduce pain are injections of hyaluronic acid. Here we are talking exclusively about problems with joints (most likely knee joint).
The thing is that the joint is a place where two bones meet. It makes our hands and legs bend and move. To prevent the 2 bones from friction to each other, the joint is filled in with synovial fluid, also called the joint fluid. It contains hyaluronan or hyaluronic acid, in other words, that make? it viscous, smooth, and slick – perfect for lubricating the surface of the bones and preventing them from rubbing.
With age or as a result of certain orthopedic disease, the concentration of synovial fluid in the joint may decrease. It is accompanied by inflammation, swelling, and of course, unbearable pain in the joint. The knee joint suffers the most because of the load it carries every day.
That is why the injections of hyaluronic-acid-based preparations like Actemra, Hyalgan, Euflexxa, Aclasta, Supartz, Orthovisc, Bonviva, Synvisc, Monovisc, Durolane, and others can effectively reduce inflammation, pain, and other symptoms of orthopedic conditions.
Unfortunately, such treatment does not provide a permanent effect as hyaluronic acid is gradually digested by the organism. As a rule, it takes from 6 to 9 months for the preparation to be totally worn out from the body. It means that to maintain the effect you will have to take reinjections with the interval in 6-9 months.
Indications for Hyaluronic Acid Injections
Unfortunately, hyaluronic acid is not a panacea for all diseases, and there are cases when it is helpless. To get to know whether you can choose any of the above-mentioned remedies to treat your knee joint, you need to undergo a special medical examination and have a consultation with the therapist. These are medical conditions when hyaluronic acid injections can be one of the variants of treatment:
- Joint arthrosis
- Rehabilitation after arthroscopy
- Recovery from traumatic joint injury
- As an alternative to surgical treatment
If you did not find your orthopedic condition on the list, do not be upset. Remember, there are other options like physical therapy, occupational therapy, steroid injections, sports medicine, etc., that might help you strengthen muscles and bones and renew the proper movement of your joints. There is always a way out!
Contraindications to Hyaluronic Acid Injections
Hyaluronic acid is one of the safest substances to inject into the body. Why? First of all, it is a natural component of many tissues in our organism: muscle and surrounding tissue, skin matrix, synovial liquid in the joint, ocular body, and so on. Another reason is that hyaluronic acid used in modern orthopedic injectable drugs is of synthetic origin that makes it hypoallergenic. Moreover, it causes no body rejection of the preparation.
Despite the high degree of safety, there are still certain medical conditions that make you not a perfect candidate for injections with hyaluronic acid:
- Hypersensitivity to the main or auxiliary components of the drug
- A wound or other damage to the integrity of the skin at the injection site
- Dermatological problems of the skin over the joint
- Acute joint inflammation
- Pregnancy, breastfeeding
- Childhood
- Acute period of various infections
- Ankylosing spondylitis, rheumatoid arthritis
If you have any of the above-mentioned conditions, you will have to look for another surgical alternative.
The Bottom Line
Unfortunately, modern people do not take proper care of their health in general, and orthopedic conditions in particular. Add here poor ecology, stress, excessive activities, intensive physical work, or on the contrary, sedentary lifestyle with 8-hours work in the office, and problems with joints are guaranteed to us.
Of course, the best way out is to live an active lifestyle, do sports, walk, eat fresh and healthy food, get enough sleep, and avoid injuries, but this is not always possible. If you have pain in your joints or bones, do not think that surgery is the only possible variant to effectively treat muscle pain and pain in the joints. Look for alternatives.
Modern medicine does not stand still and constantly develops new and more innovative ways to ease the life of people. The invention of hyaluronic acid for orthopedic purposes is perhaps one of the most incredible discoveries that have prevented thousands of people from joint replacement surgeries – not very pleasant procedures to undergo. If you or somebody of your close ones suffer from pain in the joints, talk to the therapist about this option, and maybe it will become the perfect treatment that will return you to active life filled with happiness, joy, and activities without pain and discomfort.