Come wi those with arthritis in the knee, which leads to severe pain, swelling, and stiffness in your joints, have the worst time. Also known as osteoarthritis, this debilitating knee condition is slowly progressing where the wear and tear of the joint lining (cartilage) gradually increases over a period of several years. The wear and tear process may have started well before you would experience the actual pain.

According to experts, when identified at the right time, the progress of arthritis can be slowed down or halted in the majority of patients. “Treatment focuses on reducing pain, improving joint function, and slowing the disease progression. The most important deciding factor remains the stage at which you are seeking treatment for arthritis,” Dr. Naveen Kumar L.V., Senior Consultant—Orthopaedics Sports Injury Specialist—Arthroscopy and Robotic Joint Replacement Surgery, Manipal Hospital, told Times Now.

According to Dr. Kumar, arthritis is divided into four stages:

• Stage 1 - Softening of the cartilage
• Stage 2 - 25 to 50 per cent cartilage loss
• Stage 3 - 51 to 75 per cent cartilage loss
• Stage 4 – 100 per cent loss of cartilage

“If the arthritis has reached stage 4, then the raw bone ends will be rubbing against each other, causing more severe pain. “If you have reached stage 4 arthritis, the chances of non-surgical options helping you would be very minuscule. And even if the non-surgical treatments help you, that would be temporary and not going to be a long-term relief,” Dr. Kumar added.

Experts say the only way to treat stage 4 arthritis is joint replacement surgery, which is likely to give you a lasting good result.

However, if your knee arthritis is in stages one to three, with some cartilage lining still left, then non-surgical options are likely to help to either slow down or halt the progress of arthritis. Here are some non-surgical options, which include changing your lifestyle, that may help:

Reducing excess weight can significantly reduce the stress on knee joints. Hence, it can alleviate the pain. “It is easier said than done! However, low-impact exercises such as cycling along with diet control may still help you to lose weight,” said Dr. Kumar.

Regular low-impact exercises like swimming, cycling, and walking help strengthen the muscles around the knee, providing better joint support and reducing stiffness. You can also try doing high-strength training exercises that can reduce the load on your knee.

A physical therapist can guide exercises to strengthen the muscles around the knee and improve flexibility, which can reduce pain and improve mobility. In addition, pain relief modalities such as interferential therapy, ultrasound therapy, or transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) may be of some help.

A few over-the-counter nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or NSAIDs like ibuprofen can help manage pain and inflammation but not cure anything. Apart from that, topical treatments like “creams or ointments containing ingredients like menthol or capsaicin may provide temporary relief,” the doctor added.

Also, Dr. Kumar recommends corticosteroids which are directly injected into the knee joint to reduce inflammation and offer temporary relief. “Although this is better and safer than taking pain medicines daily, one needs to understand that the steroid injection works as pain relief but does not change the condition of the joint,” he said.

Hyaluronic acid injections are also successful in helping lubricate the knee joint, improving movement, and reducing pain.

Using alternative therapies like acupuncture, many people find relief from knee arthritissymptoms;, however, the effect of this modality of treatment is likely to last for a few months.

While it is a common misconception that stem cell therapy can cure arthritis, doctors believe that it is useful for cartilage regeneration for young patients with cartilage injuries. “Arthritis is wear and tear of the cartilage and you can expect changes in the underlying bone as well. These cannot be reversed by stem cell therapy. However, just like PRP injection, stem cell therapy may give some temporary relief for a period of 6 months to 1 year,” said Dr. Kumar.

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