What causes knee pain?
Knee pain often occurs following an acute sports injury. You may take a direct hit to the knee or damage tissues during fast movements such as pivoting, sidestepping, and changing directions.
Overuse injuries are another common cause of knee pain. These injuries develop gradually as repeated movements tear the soft tissues in the knee joint. If the tissues don’t have time to heal, the damage gets progressively worse.
A few examples of painful knee problems include:
- ACL and MCL injuries
- Meniscus tears
- Tendon tears
- Bursitis
- Tendonitis
- Fracture or dislocation
- Patellofemoral pain syndrome
- Osteoarthritis
As you get older, knee pain is more likely to occur due to degenerative conditions like arthritis.
What symptoms occur along with knee pain?
The injuries and conditions responsible for knee pain usually cause additional symptoms, including:
- Swelling
- Bruising
- Stiffness and limited movement
- Clicking or popping
- Locked joint
- Inability to straighten your knee
- Inability to put weight on your knee
If your ligaments are substantially stretched or torn, you may also develop joint instability.
How do PRP injections relieve knee pain?
PRP consists of concentrated platelets mixed with a little plasma. Dr. Penhollow obtains PRP by drawing a sample of your blood and processing it to separate and concentrate the platelets. Then she uses real-time imaging to precisely inject the PRP into your knee joint.
Platelets are rich sources of proteins called growth factors. After Dr. Penhollow injects PRP, the platelets immediately release their growth factors.
Growth factors naturally stimulate healing activities, including reducing inflammation and recruiting the body's circulating stem cells to the area. Healing in your damaged knee speeds up thanks to the influx of your own concentrated platelets, growth factors, and anti-inflammatory mediators.
How does stem cell therapy alleviate knee pain?
Dr. Penhollow offers bone marrow aspirate concentrate (BMAC) cell therapy. She harvests your own (autologous) stem cells called mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from your bone marrow. Then she concentrates the stem cells and injects the BMAC into your knee joint.
The high concentration of MSCs helps your body address the pain and inflammation of acute and chronic knee pain. MSCs can potentially differentiate into the cells of the musculoskeletal system such as ligaments, tendons, muscles, cartilage, collagen, blood vessels, and bones.
How does prolotherapy help knee pain?
During prolotherapy, Dr. Penhollow injects a solution of dextrose and a local anesthetic into the damaged tissues. Dextrose stimulates your body’s natural healing response, which in turn signals the body to deliver your own circulating platelets and stem cells to the area.
If you need help with acute or chronic knee pain, call Precision Regenerative Medicine or book an appointment online today.
