Degenerative knee pain, otherwise known as osteoarthritis, is the most common type of arthritis. This is a disease that affects the cartilage of the knee. Normal and healthy knee cartilage allows the bones to glide over one another while absorbing the energy and shock of physical movement. Patients with osteoarthritis lose the surface layer of their cartilage over time, which causes their bones to rub together producing pain, swelling and often limits movement.
Osteoarthritis typically starts off slowly with joint stiffness or pain after physical activity, over time the pain may become more severe and persistent. Patients may experience pain, swelling, stiffness, a crunching feeling or noise with movement and difficulty walking or moving. While osteoarthritis typically affects older people, it can also develop in young people as well, usually as a result of a joint injury, defect or malformation.
While most people with this degenerative disease still live normal and productive lives, for some patients, osteoarthritis can be very debilitating greatly affecting their everyday activities. Dealing with the chronic pain can affect their ability to perform their job effectively and to participate in normal activities and responsibilities, greatly decreases. The first step to effectively managing a degenerative disease is to find the right practitioner to work with.
There are many options for managing chronic knee pain and working with a provider who understands that every patient is unique and the best way to determine the right course of action for care is to find the root cause of the problem. Many patients are achieving success in managing their osteoarthritis by working with a functional medicine practitioner.
Functional medicine practitionersstart with a comprehensive examination and laboratory testing. This gives them the complete picture of how your body is operating as an entire system. Did you know that imbalances in your body systems could actually contribute to your degenerative disease? Your functional wellness provider will determine where imbalances are occurring, and this will allow them to recommend the proper therapies and lifestyle changes that will correct them.
There are many things that can be done for chronic knee pain that are not as invasive as surgery or as unpredictable as medication. Functional medicine practitioners focus on natural therapies that will help your body heal itself in a natural, safe and effective way. Before you settle for treatment that may be invasive or cause unwanted side effects, you owe it to yourself to learn how a functional medicine practitioner can help you.