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Conservative therapies

An important part of the conservative therapy is to relieve the affected joints and to protect

them from incorrect loading and overload. This alone helps enough to reduce the pain. Thus, it is recommended to reduce overweight of the body in case of a knee arthrosis. 

Orthopaedic medical devices like a walking stick, crutches, knee orthoses are supposed to relieve the affected location. Buffer heels and an elevation of the inner shoe edges are further possibilities of relieve.

It is also helpful to move without load as the joint cartilage is fed better this way and as the progression of the arthrosis slows down. Thus, swimming and bicycling in low gears are recommended.

Additionally, physiotherapy and physical therapy (for example massage, thermal or cold treatment, laser therapy, magnetic field therapy) as well as electro- and ergotherapy are important parts of the conservative therapy and provide relieve for many arthrosis patients. They strenghten the musculature and improve the mobility and thus stabilize the joints.

Concerning drug treatment analgesic and anti-inflammatory pharmaceuticals are the most important options. Apart from analgesics without cortisone medicaments containing cortisone are used in specific, seldom cases. As with any other medicaments it is obligatory to note the side effects.

For several years the ACP-therapy – a form of the PRP-therapy – is offered in order to prevent arthrosis. Since 2008 I have performed this procedure with good results now on more than 7000 patients and as one of the first doctors in Germany.

This procedure concentrates and seperates the blood platelets from other parts of the blood via a special centrifugation procedure and sets the existing growth factors in the blood platelets free. After the injection into the knee joint this leads to a metabolism improvement of the cartilage cells.

 

ACP-centrifuge

 

The Hyaluron therapy though is another kind of approach. Hyaluron acid is an endogenous substance. Healthy cartilage serves as a puffer in the joint. Wear and cartilage wear down deteriorate this function and often they lead to pains in the joint.

The Hyaluron therapy can restore this function and an improved sliding facility of the joint, too. This way the pains of arthrosis can be alleviated significantly. The effect of Hyaluron acid is achieved by its characteristic of high water binding properties. 

I only use Hyaluron preparations, that fulfill the high demands of the American FDA and which do not contain any animal proteins that show the well-known allergic reactions.

Concerning food supplements in case of knee arthrosis do not hesitate to ask us. In 2006 the Glucosamine/Chondroitin Arthritis Intervention Trial (GAIT) of the US-national Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) failed. It had tested the therapy with Glucosamine/Chondroitin or a combination of both on 1500 patients and compared it with placebos or the non-steroidal Antiphlogisticum Celecoxib.

After this GAIT-study there are many missunderstandings and myths existing about food supplements in case of cartilage damages and arthrosis.

Gladly I would explain my favorites to you here, which have proven sustainable and effective throughout 20 years of experience.