Home logo

Orthovisc Offers Knee Pain Relief

Jul 22, 2020
Orthovisc Offers Knee Pain Relief
If you have knee pain, you’re not alone. It’s one of the most common complaints heard at Integrated Pain Consultants, where you’ll find a team of experts including many double board-certified doctors in both pain management and anesthesiology.

If you have knee pain, you’re not alone. It’s one of the most common complaints heard at Integrated Pain Consultants, where you’ll find a team of experts including many double board-certified doctors in both pain management and anesthesiology. The knees put up with a lot (literally). Many people aged 50+ report some degree of knee pain, but those who are avid runners, carry excess weight, or who strength-train with very heavy loads can experience knee pain as young as their twenties. If you’ve found yourself avoiding certain activities, icing your knee after favorite activities like golfing, or being cautious going up or down stairs to avoid that dreaded twinge in the knee, you might not necessarily need surgery. Viscosupplementation, also known as Orthovisc, might help.

In many cases, that pain is actually caused by osteoarthritis (OA). OA is a degenerative type of arthritis caused by wear and tear. When the cartilage protecting joints gets worn down from age, general use (or overuse), or excess weight, you’ll start to notice pain. Over the counter pain pills can help temporarily alleviate the pain, but you’re not buying yourself much more time. Maybe you’ve tried steroid injections for the pain caused by inflammation—that helps sometimes. What if you want a better solution, but want to avoid surgery?

Learn More About Viscosupplementation

Orthvisc uses hyaluronic acid injections placed into the synovial fluid. If you’ve heard of hyaluronic acid before it’s probably because it’s the most common ingredient in cosmetic treatments like lip fillers. However, this acid already occurs naturally in the body, making it safe for the vast majority of patients. Viscosupplementation is somewhat new for treating knee pain, but the treatment’s makeup is well-established. You aren’t injecting anything into your body that doesn’t already occur naturally.

When you have OA in your knee, you already have lower levels of hyaluronic acid in the area’s synovial fluid. Orthovisc supplements what should be there. As we get older, we simply produce less synovial fluid, and what remains isn’t as thick or effective as what’s required in healthy joints. Orthovisc can help alleviate knee pain caused by OA in the long-term, and may even help you avoid surgery entirely. Call Integrated Pain Consultants today at (480) 626-2552 to discover more about Orthovisc and other pain treatments.