Knee Replacement Alternatives

Have you been told by your doctor or orthopaedic surgeon that your only option to treat your knee arthritis is joint replacement surgery?

Are you worried about the growing number of research reports showing the negative short and long-term effects of this type of invasive surgery?

Or maybe you’ve been told that you need knee replacement surgery but are too young to be offered one yet? In such cases, it’s essential to explore alternative treatments and management strategies that can alleviate pain and improve mobility while waiting for a possible future procedure. Understanding the knee sprain recovery timeline can also provide valuable insights into rehabilitation and recovery, helping you to set realistic expectations for your journey. Engaging in physical therapy and following a proper exercise regimen can make a significant difference in how your knee functions over time.

Fortunately, there are many safer knee replacement alternatives out there that have been proven to reverse the effects of knee arthritis and significantly reduce your pain.

Unfortunately, many doctors and consultants in the UK aren’t taught about these alternatives during medical school. Part of this reason is also that the NHS is many years behind the medical advances being adopted in private medicine.

This article will help to equip you with knowledge on how best to approach treating your knee arthritis without surgery.

The following information will be covered:

• What is a knee replacement?
• Negative effects of knee replacements
• Why does knee cartilage break down?
• Non-surgical alternatives to knee replacements

Treatments that repair cartilage:

• Prolozone Therapy
• Dextrose Prolotherapy
• Stem cell injection
• PRP injection

Treatments that don’t repair cartilage:

• Hyaluronic acid injections
• Steroid injection
• Physiotherapy
• Medications
• Exercise and Weight loss

Surgical alternatives to knee replacement:

• Knee osteotomy
• Arthroscopy

What is knee replacement surgery?

Knee replacement surgery is a procedure that involves replacing an osteoarthritic knee joint with artificial material. The surgery is also known as a ‘knee arthroplasty.’ There are two types of knee replacements:

1. Full or total knee replacement – this surgical procedure is only recommended for severely degenerated knee joints that have worn down in more than one part of the knee (medial, lateral, kneecap). It is usually carried out on individuals between the age of 55 and 60 years old.
2. Partial knee replacement – this surgical procedure is recommended for knee joints that have only worn down in one compartment of the knee. It is usually carried out on people between the age of 55 and 60 years old.

Negative effects of knee replacements

• A 200-300_ increase in the risk of bleeding stomach ulcers.
• A 3100% increase in heart attack risk for the two weeks after knee replacement surgery.
• Shedding of metal and other wear particles into the surrounding tissue and bloodstream. The long-term effects of these particles are unknown.
• Most patients have pain levels between 2 out of 10 and 5 out of 10 after the surgery.
• Only 50% of patients report significant knee pain relief after surgery.
• It takes between 4 and 6 months to make a full recovery. For some individuals, it can be up to a whole year.
• According to research conducted by Virginia Commonwealth University in America, one-third of knee replacements aren’t necessary. Their research concluded that only 44 percent of procedures are fully justified, after analysing 205 cases of total knee replacements.

These are just a handful of risks associated with knee replacement surgery. One of the other main issues is that material only lasts a decade before needing to be replaced again, a much shorter time than hip replacement surgery. The second knee surgery comes with many more risks than the first. The good news is that there avenues to be explored before having to consider this type of surgery. To be able to fully understand how some of the safer alternatives work, it’s important to first understand how knee arthritis develops and how cartilage breaks down in the first place.

Why does cartilage break down?

Cartilage is a smooth elastic tissue that covers the ends of the bones in the knee.

The primary reason is due to its lack of blood flow. Cartilage is one of the only structures in the body that doesn’t have a direct blood supply. It is the oxygen and nutrients in our blood that help to repair and regenerate damaged tissue in other parts of the body. To maintain it’s health, cartilage relies on the nutrients within the fluid in the knee, commonly known as ‘synovial fluid.’ The problem is, the levels of this fluid start to reduce with age which causes the cartilage to become brittle. As you can imagine, a brittle structure struggles to absorb force as efficiently as a soft structure. This means over time, the cartilage starts to wear down to the point an individual is diagnosed with knee osteoarthritis.

There is another form of arthritis called Rheumatoid arthritis, which is classed as an auto-immune condition. It involves the immune system attacking cartilage to the point of it breaking down.

Non-surgical treatments for knee arthritis

There are two types of non-surgical treatments for knee arthritis, ones that repair cartilage and ones that don’t repair cartilage. The treatments that repair cartilage tend to produce more significant, longer last results, as they are helping to address the root cause of the condition. The treatments that don’t repair cartilage, only help an individual to manage their symptoms.

Treatment options that repair cartilage

Prolozone Therapy

Prolozone therapy is a natural treatment that involves the injection of an activated form of oxygen combined with nutrients. As described earlier in this article, cartilage lacks oxygen and nutrients due to the fact that it doesn’t have a blood supply. The activated form of oxygen in Prolozone is called ‘medical ozone,’ which has been shown in studies to stimulate the production of chondrocytes. Chondrocytes are the building blocks of cartilage that help it to repair and regenerate. Alongside enhancing the health of cartilage, Prolozone Therapy also helps to strengthen the ligaments and menisci within the knee joint. Best results are achieved when combined with physical therapy. The treatment is also effective for meniscus tears.

The below video is of a patient of ours who came to the clinic suffering from knee arthritis. They talk about how Prolozone injections prevented them from having to get a knee replacement.