Posted on 15th May, 2023 at 8:10:37 AM
Living with Knee pain is slowly becoming a way of life for most of the people in Mumbai. Most of us are too busy in the daily grind to even consider knee pain as a problem that validates our attention.
Why painkillers will not Cure knee pain:
In most cases, when knee pain become extremely painful people generally pop a painkiller; with the hope that this will stop their knee pain from reoccurring. But what people forget is that painkiller pills will only numb the pain sensation. It will not cure the root cause of the knee pain. This is the reason why patients who rely solely on painkillers witness a gradual increase in pain over a span of a year. Unfortunately, most would rather take more painkillers and buy more time than visit a knee specialist for professional treatment. Take the case of our patients Meher Jahan Qazi, Chaya Udamle, and many more who took painkillers for years together, and yet their knee pain only increased until one day they had trouble walking.
Why Physiotherapy may not Cure Knee Pain:
The select few patients who have had a bout of extreme knee pain would eventually visit a physiotherapist. In early-stage knee pain, where the knee pain is due to the weakening of leg muscles (seen mostly in younger patients) or early onset of osteoarthritis (seen in elders and nowadays in people of 35+ years) physiotherapy can play a critical role in preventing knee pain in the future. However, In later cases where osteoarthritis has severely damaged one of the components of the knee joint, physiotherapy can only help with muscle manipulation to support the damaged structure. In certain cases, physio can to an extent curb the progress of osteoarthritis to other knee components. [image anatomy of knee joint]
Why allied medication or Ayurveda may not prevent your Knee Pain:
Osteoarthritis causes inflammation of knee joints which consequently triggers knee pain. Allied medication like Ayurveda, and oil massage. etc work to reduce inflammation of the knee joints. We are no experts in Ayurveda but we can assume that these allied medicines work on muscle and ligaments to reduce the inflammation caused by osteoarthritis. One can assume that they might help reduce the progression of osteoarthritis and eventually knee pain. However, if the pain is still reoccurring it might be an indication that one of the joint structures is severely damaged. Unfortunately, there is no medication in Ayurveda or allopathy which can regrow bone (at least as of today). Take the case of patient Neela Pusalkar who took ayurvedic medicines for over 6 years yet her knee pain only increased.
Bottom line, Painkillers, Physiotherapy, or Ayurveda May NOT prevent knee pain in very early stage knee pain due to osteoarthritis. However, the combination of partial knee replacement to only replace the damaged component of the knee along with physiotherapy or other allied medication can help patients live a much better life one that is not hampered by knee pain
