Osteoarthritis of the Knee - How to Treat It

If you have osteoarthritis of the knee, you should get treatment as soon as possible before it becomes severe. The treatment will depend on the severity of the symptoms. There are some options available that you can use.

This condition can be best described as the wearing out of the cartilage - the soft layer in the joints between your bones. Another way of describing the problem is as a degeneration of the joints. Not only the knee can be affected by this condition, it may also occur in the fingers and hips. Osteoarthritis affects mostly elderly people, but it becomes more and more common in obese people of all ages.

This medical condition should be diagnosed by a doctor so that the most adequate type of treatment is prescribed. Sufferers who do not experience severe symptoms, but are feeling the common pain and experiencing swelling of the knee can be treated at home.

If you have osteoarthritis of the knee you will be prescribed medications that will relief the pain and inflammation. You can also apply ice to the affected areas for twenty to thirty minutes twice or three times a day.

An important part of the treatment is for the sufferer to rest their knee optimally. This does not mean to start leading a sedentary life, but simply not to do any physical activity that can make the condition worse. There are even specific exercises that you can do in order to strengthen the muscle around this joint. This type of exercising is essential for continuing your normal life.

If you are suffering from a severe case of osteoarthritis of the knee, there are other treatment options available. An injection shot of hyaluronic acid can effectively relief the pain for six months or even for a whole year, but this approach is expensive.

There are also three types of surgical interventions available for osteoarthritis of the knee. Through arthroscopy, the damaged parts of the bone are removed. While with osteotomy, the bone is reshaped or repositioned in order not to cause pain. The last one is called the arthroplasty that is the replacement of the joint with an artificial one.