Waiting for a knee replacement? Well, the wait may be worthwhile!
According to Harvard Special Health Report Knees and Hips (www.health.harvard.edu/KH) Knee osteoarthritis affects about half of us in older age.
The cartilage that acts as a cushion between our leg bones wears away. It hurts when the bones grind against each other. Arthritis can become severe enough that many consider a knee replacement. Surgery is an expensive and complicated option. We may wonder what else we can do not only to reduce knee pain. but to plan for medical advances!
Avoids:
Stay away from shock absorber implants. Avoid them,” says Dr. Scott Martin, an associate professor of orthopedic surgery at Harvard Medical School.
Similarly prolotherapy. Injection of an irritant such as glucose into the knee, which supposedly stimulates the body to start the healing process. “There is nothing in scientific literature to support it. It’s just sugar water,” Dr. Martin says.
Some clinics offer injections of ozone (the same gas that surrounds the earth) or add ozone to prolotherapy injections. Claiming that it repairs cartilage and bone. But ozone is toxic and extremely dangerous to humans, banned by the FDA in medical treatments.
Also still debatable:
Stem cells
Injections of stem cells into the knee. Stem cells have the ability to transform into other types of cells, and it’s thought that stem cells might regenerate damaged joints.
Personally believe there is real hope in this arena. Usually, the stem cells used are from the patient and from fatty tissue or bone marrow.
The key is that the area to be repaired is not too widespread. In which case the stem cells that are expensive to harvest and multiply just get washed away.
I personally believe that if the area is large say the size of a quarter. Then there is hope from the development of a matrix type material that impinges on the surrounding area and is porous to allow stem cell interaction with bone and surrounding cartilage.
This is an exciting area…but it requires waiting…
My personal belief is that discarding belly fat and optimizing one’s weight makes a huge difference as to both hip and knee joint stress.
Frequently in the gym when I am pushing two twenty pound weights above my head, I think of some people carrying forty pounds and more around all day long! Just look at the leaness of the Kalahari hunters….see the YouTube below!
Another major issue is that if you are impacting the ground by running, or a sport such as skiing or snowboarding, the pressure on the joint is about four times more than mere walking!
Consequently, sometimes this is the advantage of a well-equipped gym. One can select a low impact machine on which to complete an HIIT workout. In my case, it only takes some 12 minutes! This is far better than all those who seem to just sit on so-called cardio machines reading books or papers!
So in summary whilst waiting for medical advance and to avoid discomfort:
Lose weight steadily and with the right ingestion of foods.
A plant-based vegetarian or vegan type diet with some pescatarian protein is I think ideal. Over time the weight comes off and is optimized.
You cannot lose weight by exercising! It comes down to what you put in your mouth!
Use Photomodulation on the joint to reduce inflammation. Every day I train infrared on my right knee. I really believe it helps and is anti-inflammatory.
Try to use strength exercises that really build up the surrounding muscles to the joint. This has an incredible benefit and helps to reduce any pain or discomfort.
Keep ahead on the literature and research and become really informed! Know more about the subject than your doctor or specialist!
Delay surgery as long as possible!
This way Agonizing Wait For Knee Replacement? Stem Cells! may become tolerable!
