4 Pain Relief Tips for People with Knee Pain

January 23, 2017/0 Comments/in Knee Injury /by Matthew Thorson

Knee pain can be a tricky symptom to treat because it can be caused by so many different factors. Understanding its causes and available treatment options is essential to successful treatment. To help patients suffering from knee pain better understand how to approach their pain, this article offers up four tips for effectively identifying and treating your knee pain.

Get an Accurate Diagnosis

The most important first step is to get an accurate diagnosis of what’s causing your knee pain. Treating a torn ACL is a lot different than treating Osteoarthritis of the knee. You need to have an accurate picture of what’s wrong before you start down a treatment path.

Second Opinions Are OK

If you are unsatisfied with your initial diagnosis or recommended treatment strategy, don’t be afraid to seek a second opinion. Medicine is not black and white, and different doctors have different approaches. Some work better than others.

Stick to Your Treatment Plan

Once you’ve visited a pain management doctor and you have a treatment plan in place, it’s essential that you stick to it, even if it doesn’t provide immediate pain relief. Many patients get frustrated when their treatment doesn’t work right away and stop their treatment plan. This is the worst thing you can do. Stick with your doctor-recommended strategy, and then revisit its success after you’ve completed the treatment course. At that point you can make changes to the treatment strategy if need be.

Consider a Regenerative Medicine Approach

A lot of patients are hesitant to even try regenerative medicine treatments like PRP (Platelet-Rich Plasma) and prolotherapy injections. But these methods have been widely used for a long time now. Many professional athletes use PRP to recover from sports injuries. Best of all they are completely natural and provide a relatively painless alternative to surgery. So keep an open mind and ask your doctor if regenerative medicine is a good option for your situation.

Minneapolis Knee Pain Doctor

Advanced Spine & Pain Clinics of MN offers premier pain management care to patients throughout the Twin Cities. Our physicians are board-certified in pain management, and trained in the most up to date treatment methods – from nerve block injections to regenerative medicine. We treat each patient according to their unique, individual needs. Reach out to us today at our Twin Cities pain clinic to make your appointment with one of our board-certified pain doctors.

Prolotherapy for Knee Pain

July 5, 2016/0 Comments/in Knee Injury /by Matthew Thorson

Prolotherapy is a regenerative medicine treatment method that can be an effective option for many different conditions and injuries throughout the body. This article will discuss how prolotherapy can help resolve knee pain caused by various conditions and injuries.

Acute Injury

The knee is a complex structure, with many ligaments, bones, and muscles that can be damaged in an acute accident. Athletes are especially prone to ACL, MCL, and meniscus tears. These injuries can cause immense pain and decreased mobility. Many patients assume that surgery is the only way to effectively treat these injuries, but non-surgical options can be just as effective and much less invasive. Prolotherapy injections are quick, painless, and help spur your body’s natural healing process to regrow damaged or lost tissue and ligaments in the knee.

Osteoarthritis & other Degenerative Conditions

Osteoarthritis of the knee and other degenerative conditions like bursitis and arthritis are common in elderly patients. Many of these conditions develop over time as the body ages and breaks down. There is no way to completely prevent bodily wear-and-tear, but you can utilize treatments like prolotherapy to decrease symptoms. Prolotherapy injections can help naturally regenerate these degenerated tendons and other areas of the knee.

At Advanced Spine & Pain Clinics of MN, we pride ourselves on being experts in regenerative medicine treatments like prolotherapy. Our Edina pain management specialists have been treating patients in the Twin Cities and greater Minnesota for over two decades. If you have sustained a knee injury, or have a pre-existing knee condition, consider prolotherapy as a non-surgical treatment alternative. Prolotherapy is completely natural and minimally invasive. The procedure is quick and painless. Give our Edina clinic a call today to set up your appointment with a MN pain doctor and see if prolotherapy is a good treatment option for your knee pain.

5 Ways to Beat Knee Pain

October 19, 2015/0 Comments/in Knee Injury /by Matthew Thorson

Knee pain comes in many shapes and sizes – from ACL & MCL injuries in the sports arena, to degenerative osteoarthritis. Similarly, there are many types of treatment methods for combating knee pain. Here we are going to offer five concrete ways to beat knee pain.

Over-the-Counter Pain Meds and Home Therapies

One of the most common methods for relieving pain of any sort is over-the-counter pain killers. Tylenol, Advil, ibuprofen, and other drugs are easily accessible and can be helpful in delaying pain. RICE (rest, ice, compression and elevation) is a first line of defense for knee pain and new injury. This is a good place to start, but more serious conditions and injuries will typically require additional treatments down the line.

Pain Injections

Injections (such as corticosteroid injections) are a popular treatment option for pain relief. These injections reduce inflammation in the knee and decrease pain in the process. Injections can be used to treat knee ligament tears, knee arthritis, and other conditions.

Physical Therapy

Physical and occupation therapies are most helpful following a knee injury that restricts mobility. A structured physical therapy course can help get your knee back to its fully functional state. Make sure you only do this with the help of a qualified physical therapist.

Bracing

While not a great long-term treatment plan on its own, wearing a knee brace can help keep a stabilize the knee during exercise. Bracing can also aid in preventing a person from re-injuring their knee after they have recovered from a torn ACL or other injury.

Regenerative Medicine & PRP Therapy

Regenerative therapies are relatively new compared with these other treatment methods, but they have shown great results in the treatment of knee injuries and degenerative conditions. PRP therapy involves taking a sample of the patient’s blood, separating out the various elements of the blood, and then re-injecting the platelet-rich plasma into the knee area. This process encourages tissue regrowth, reduces knee pain, and boosts mobility, and PRP requires no recovery time!

As you can see, there are many options for treating knee pain. If you have tried home remedies with no luck, make an appointment with a pain management doctor to discuss your options. The Minnesota pain physicians at Advanced Spine & Pain Clinics of Minnesota have decades of experience treating patients with knee pain throughout the Minneapolis / St. Paul metro area. Give us a call to set up an appointment today!

Common Knee Injuries Sustained by Football Players

September 16, 2015/0 Comments/in Knee Injury /by Matthew Thorson

American football is one of, if not the, most popular sports in the country. While it’s a fantastic game, injuries are unfortunately common in football. Considering the high intensity and full impact nature of the sport, this is not surprising. Football injuries range from concussions and traumatic brain injuries, to ankle sprains and fractures. In this article, we are going to discuss the common types of knee injuries that a football player can sustain on the field. We will also talk about some treatment options for these injuries, including PRP injections and regenerative medicine.

Knee Injuries & Football

Football is a full contact sport. Even with all the padding and protective gear that players wear during play, injuries are quite common. Here are some of the most common knee injuries that people sustain playing football:

ACL & MCL tears
Meniscus tear
Knee Fracture
Tendon Tears

These injuries can happen to any player – amateurs and professionals alike. To diagnose an injury, a physician will perform a physical exam and will likely order imaging tests (x-ray, MRI, CT scan) to confirm a diagnosis before recommending treatment approaches.

Regenerative Medicine for Minnesota Football Players

Effectively treating football knee injuries requires a multi-faceted approach. First, an accurate diagnosis of the specific knee injury must be made. Only then can you move forward to treating the injury. After a diagnosis has been made, the physician will discuss your options for treatment and offer a recommendation based on your unique set of circumstances. Treatment options may include physical therapy, pain injections, or surgery to repair the knee injury. These methods all have varying levels of success. PRP injections offer an alternative to surgery that provides long-term results. Compared to steroid injections that wear off over time, PRP injections help rebuild damaged tissue in the knee and reduce pain.

If you or your child has sustained a knee injury while playing football, contact Dr. Thorson to make an appointment and see how PRP therapy can help you.