Are you waking up in the morning with joint pain that makes everyday tasks like getting dressed, walking through a store, or driving a challenge? You’re not alone—many people struggle with joint pain that disrupts life and makes you miserable.
Fortunately, you don’t have to live with the frustration of joint pain any longer. Board-certified provider Daljit S. Buttar, MD, and our care team at Raleigh Spine and Pain Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, specialize in recommending the best joint pain therapy for your needs.
If you’re ready to put joint pain behind you, keep reading to learn about four effective treatment options, from the most conservative to advanced surgical treatments, and how they can help ease your discomfort.
Before moving to more aggressive treatments, beginning physical therapy and making key lifestyle changes may be all that’s needed to improve joint pain.
This is especially true if your day-to-day activities are becoming a challenge due to mild-to-moderate pain, but you’re not experiencing constant or severe joint pain. Dr. Buttar evaluates your affected joint to provide personalized guidance.
Adjusting your activities to avoid movements that make joint pain worse can significantly improve your mobility and reduce discomfort. You may also find heat and cold therapy can help, wearing supportive braces, improving sleep and diet, and losing weight are enough to improve symptoms.
Physical therapy provides exercises to strengthen the muscles around the affected joint and stretches to enhance flexibility, decreasing your pain. This treatment also lowers your risk of injury in the future.
Found naturally in your blood, platelets stimulate healing and work to regenerate tissues by releasing growth factors that promote recovery. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections involve injecting a concentration of your platelets into the affected joint.
PRP therapy is especially promising if you haven’t had success managing your joint discomfort with physical therapy, over-the-counter pain medications, and other treatments. Dr. Buttar evaluates your condition and lets you know if this regenerative medicine therapy is a good option for you.
Different injections might be a good choice for easing your joint pain when symptoms become more persistent and start to interfere with your quality of life.
Corticosteroid injections help reduce inflammation, easing discomfort and making it easier to move. The effects are temporary, lasting anywhere from a few weeks to a few months, and this type of injection comes with possible side effects, such as cartilage damage, so you cannot continue steroid injections indefinitely.
Hyaluronic acid offers a lubricating effect, mimicking the fluid naturally found in our joints. As such, hyaluronic acid injections offer a cushioning effect that can ease joint pain, giving you temporary relief from discomfort and improving your mobility.
Dr. Buttar determines which type of injection is right for you based on your symptoms and condition.
When your daily life is severely affected by joint pain and less invasive therapies haven’t helped, surgical interventions might be the next step. The precise surgery needed depends on the affected joint and the degree of joint damage as evidenced by an exam and imaging studies.
For example, arthroscopy is a minimally invasive surgery your surgeon can use to “clean out” the inside of your joint or repair any damaged tissues. This treatment offers faster recovery compared to open surgery and is usually considered when you have significant pain and loss of function.
Joint replacement surgery, on the other hand, may be recommended in severe cases of arthritis or when the joint is significantly damaged. This surgery involves replacing the damaged parts of your joint with artificial components.
To learn more about treatment options for your joint pain, schedule a consultation online or over the phone with Dr. Buttar at Raleigh Spine and Pain Center.
