Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis (Knee, Hip Joints Pain)

What is osteoarthritis ?

Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis, affecting millions of people worldwide. Osteoarthritis (also known as degenerative arthritis or wear & tear arthritis) is a form of arthritis that occurs with the wear & tear of cartilage overtime. Eventual loss of the cartilage of one or more joints worsens the pain & the condition.

Cartilage is a protein substance that serves as a "cushion" between the bones of the joints. Among the over 100 different types of arthritis conditions, osteoarthritis is the most common joint disease. Although osteoarthritis can damage any joint, the disorder most commonly affects joints in your hands, knees, hips and spine.

With conventional medical management, the Osteoarthritis symptoms can usually be managed, although the damage to joints can't be fully reversed. Staying active, maintaining a healthy weight and some treatments might slow progression of the disease and help improve pain and joint function.

Some advancement in science like CRRT therapy, PRP, stem cell, oxygen therapies etc., has given the ray of scope in a way to stimulate the cartilage regrowth significantly.

Osteoarthritis commonly affects :

  • hands,
  • feet,
  • spine, and
  • large weight-bearing joints, such as the hips and knees.

Causes of Osteoarthritis

Primary (idiopathic) osteoarthritis, OA not resulting from injury or disease, is partly a result of natural aging of the joint.

  • With aging, the water content of the cartilage increases, and the protein makeup of cartilage degenerates as a function of biologic processes.
  • Eventually, cartilage begins to degenerate by flaking or forming tiny crevasses.
  • In advanced osteoarthritis, there is a total loss of the cartilage cushion between the bones of the joints.
  • Repetitive use of the worn joints over the years can mechanically irritate and inflame the cartilage, causing joint pain and swelling.
  • Loss of the cartilage cushion causes friction between the bones, leading to pain and limitation of joint mobility.
  • Inflammation of the cartilage can also stimulate new bone outgrowths (spurs, also referred to as osteophytes) to form around the joints.
  • Osteoarthritis occasionally can develop in multiple members of the same family, implying a hereditary (genetic) basis for this condition.
  • Osteoarthritis is therefore felt to be a result of a combination of each of the above factors that ultimately lead to a narrowing of the cartilage in the affected joint.

Secondary osteoarthritis is a form of osteoarthritis that is caused by another disease or condition. Conditions that can lead to secondary osteoarthritis include

  • obesity,
  • repeated trauma or surgery to the joint structures,
  • abnormal joints at birth (congenital abnormalities),
  • gout,
  • diabetes,
  • hemochromatosis, and
  • other hormone disorders.

Symptoms:

Osteoarthritis symptoms often develop slowly and worsen over time. Signs and symptoms of osteoarthritis include:

  • Pain: Affected joints might hurt during or after movement.
  • Stiffness: Joint stiffness might be most noticeable upon awakening or after being inactive.
  • Tenderness: Your joint might feel tender when you apply light pressure to or near it.
  • Loss of flexibility: You might not be able to move your joint through its full range of motion.
  • Grating sensation: You might feel a grating sensation when you use the joint, and you might hear popping or crackling.
  • Bone spurs: These extra bits of bone, which feel like hard lumps, can form around the affected joint.
  • Swelling: This might be caused by soft tissue inflammation around the joint.

Our Solutions

1. Primary Non-surgical care:

Our primary focus is to stop or slow down the degeneration process and then to repair the damaged tissues and stimulate the body to regenerate new tissues through release of growth factors like osteoblast & Fibroblast.

Advanced CRRT is a German Technology that uses a patented pattern of Signal pulses of low intensity/ frequency. These signals mimic the natural bio electric field that is present in the body. These bio-electric fields are responsible to send signals to the brain to repair the wear & tear of the tissues in every part of the body. The tissues worn out only when these bio-electric signals are disturbed due to trauma or aging process overtime. By replicating these disturbed bio-electric field, we can help the body to repair the damaged tissues effectively at cellular level. This results in soft tissue repair, tissue regeneration, stimulation of cartilage regrowth, bone density improvement, reduction in inflation etc., which might eventually result in pain reduction.

CRRT is a safer, more effective way to reduce pain & and has no long-term side effects compared to most painkillers.

ACOWAVE ESWT, on other hand might also help in releasing other essential growth factors that results in tissue repair, bone repair, improved blood circulation, inflammation reduction and pain relief.

Conventional physiotherapy treatments might result in inflammation reduction, pain reduction, muscle relaxation & strengthening and improved rage of motion that eventually leads to improved quality of life. The effective exercise therapy program also focuses on weight reduction to halt cartilage regeneration while not exert excessive stress on the joints.

2.Post-Operative Rehabilitation care:

The Post-Operative rehabilitation is the post-surgical program of re-establishing joint motion, muscle strength around the joint and improved joint function. This is applied through effective manual & electro physio therapy rehabilitation programs.

3.Preventive Care:

Preventive care is for the people who are at high risk of getting affected with degenerative osteo arthritis (example: people above 50 years of age, obesity or over weight population, people with excessive or negligible function of joints, nutritional deficiency etc.). the main focus of this preventive program is to improve & maintain the muscle strength, range of motions & joint health.