Osteoarthritis of the knee happens when the cartilage begins to break down. Cartilage is essential the cushion within the joint space of the knee itself. As the cushion becomes thin, the bones will grind on one another creating inflammation and pain. The knee can also begin to swell and become stiff making walking and movement difficult. Knee osteoarthritis is very common and affects around 45% of the population.
There are four grades of osteoarthritis that can be visualized on a diagnostic x-ray image. Grade 0 is a healthy and perfect knee. You can see how the joint space narrowing and bone spur formation progress throughout the stages of osteoarthritis. We have treated all grades of osteoarthritis–and all grades have responded well to treatment!
The x-ray therapy will not magically add a new cushion into the joint space, but we can target the build up of inflammation and relieve some pain. Some benefits we have seen in our knee treatments include– increase in mobility, reduction in swelling, no longer a need for multiple steroid injections, and discontinued use of anti-inflammatory medications.
We have also treated several patients who had a total or partial knee replacement, and they have also had a positive response. We do not harm any hardware in the knee, and on the flip side, we do not have any contraindications of treatment that would prevent you from having a replacement in the future.
Over the last two years, we have treated about 657 knees with a 78% response rate!