Joint preservation is a treatment that focuses on delaying or avoiding joint replacement surgery by preventing joint deterioration. This treatment aims to reduce and relieve pain and restore your joints’ normal motion and function. Your doctor can use non-surgical or minimally-invasive techniques for joint preservation. Your age, overall health, injury location, and damage severity will determine your doctor’s treatment method. Joint preservation Cumming reduces the risks of complications from joint replacement. Your specialist may have to do a diagnostic test like an X-ray, CT scan, or MRI to determine the proper treatment for your joint damage.
Medications
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs can help reduce joint pain and inflammation. Your doctor can recommend topical gels or ointments to rub into the skin over your affected joint area to relieve pain.
Corticosteroid injections
Corticosteroid injection is a combination of a numbing agent and cortisone. These injections are administered directly into the joints. They relieve pain resulting from arthritis, injury, or mechanical stress. The numbing medicine relieves pain temporarily, so it can help your doctor confirm or deny whether the injected joint is the source of your pain. Cortisone reduces inflammation in the affected joint, providing long-term pain relief.
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP)
Platelet-rich plasma involves your healthcare provider drawing your blood sample and centrifuging it to extract platelets. The provider then injects the platelet-rich portion into the damaged joint. Platelets contribute significantly to blood clotting and contain particular proteins called growth factors that help your body in the healing process. PRP can treat arthritis, fractures, and muscle, ligament, and tendon injuries. PRP helps reduce pain, promote healing and delay joint replacement surgery.
Surgery
Surgical techniques are mostly done on hip and knee joints. Surgical joint preservation procedures aim to repair bone damage, reconnect broken bones, or repair torn ligaments that disrupt the proper functioning of your joint. The surgical methods used for joint preservation include:
Internal fixation
Internal fixation uses metal plates, screws, or pins to stabilize displaced bones. In most cases, doctors do not remove rods and plates surgically after you heal.
Arthroscopy
Arthroscopy involves your surgeon inserting a specific scope through a small incision to see the injured area. The surgeon also clears or repairs damaged tissue, allowing your joint to heal correctly.
Osteotomy
Osteotomy is where your doctor realigns the bones by unloading the damaged or arthritic portion of your joint. The doctor then places the weight-bearing force on the normal joint cartilage. The joint will endure less stress, therefore reducing dysplasia or osteoarthritis symptoms.
Resurfacing
Resurfacing is where your doctor uses metal caps to resurface the joints in your ball and socket areas. Doctors commonly use this technique in hip joints. Resurfacing reduces stress and friction on your joint muscles, minimizing painful joint disease symptoms.
Partial replacement
Partial replacement is similar to resurfacing but requires implants of part of your joint area. Partial replacement reduces pain and preserves the undamaged portion of your joint. Your joint will resume normal functioning without a complete joint replacement.
Joint preservation focuses on treating injured joints and slowing down joint degeneration to prevent or avoid joint surgery replacement. The treatments used help to restore motion and the working of your joints. Schedule an appointment at Stephen Fisher, M.D. for joint preservation to avoid joint degeneration.
