18 Dec 2023Over 21% of U.S. adults were diagnosed by a doctor as having arthritis. It’s more common in women, and the risk of developing arthritis increases with age. More alarming is that of the more than 53 million adults with arthritis, 44% of them find the pain impacts their daily routines. About 25% rate the joint pain they experience as being severe.
While there are more than 100 types of arthritis, osteoarthritis is the most prevalent. It’s a condition caused by wear and tear on the joints. With excessive use, the cartilage in joints experiences wear. In time, it can lead to bone rubbing on bone, which is incredibly painful. Lack of regular exercise and being overweight can increase the risk.
People with arthritis are told the best way to overcome the pain is to stay active, but that pain makes it very hard to do that. While medical research continues to work towards finding a cure, there is no cure for many forms of arthritis. You’re not limited to a life of pain relievers, however. There are innovations in arthritis treatment that can make a big difference by decreasing pain and helping improve your mobility.
Innovative Arthritis Treatments Available in Fresno, CA
Doctors at Premium Sports & Orthopedics in Fresno, CA, offer a range of non-invasive, innovative treatments for arthritis. Explore each of them in more depth.
Cryotherapy
With cryotherapy, you’re placed in an extremely cold environment. The frigid temperatures force your brain to focus on conserving energy for key functions, and in the process, pain signals are blocked. That helps with immediate pain relief. However, the body also has to focus on circulation to ensure the crucial organs get enough blood and oxygen. This improves circulation and blood flow while reducing inflammation throughout the body.
Even if cryotherapy isn’t right for you, one thing can help. A cold pack or bag of frozen peas offers immediate relief from pain and inflammation. It’s a good temporary measure.
EMS Training
EMS stands for electrical muscle stimulation and is also helpful with arthritis pain. It works by targeting specific muscles with an electrical impulse while you’re working with a trainer. This electrical pulse stimulates the muscle to help strengthen muscle fibers. Strong muscles better support the joints, taking some of the pressure off them, which eases joint pain and discomfort.
As you work with a personal trainer, you’ll wear a suit that has small electrodes. You’ll do exercises that don’t require heavy weights at all for the session that typically lasts less than half an hour.
IV Drip Therapy
While IV drip therapy isn’t specifically designed to help with arthritis, it does a few things that can help. An IV drip is a mixture of nutrients, minerals, amino acids, and essential vitamins that can help reduce cellular damage, help the muscles, and help detoxify your body. All of this can help with the inflammation your body experiences with arthritis.
The Arthritis Foundation recommends several vitamins and minerals to help with joint health. It includes things like calcium, magnesium, and vitamin C. When IV therapy includes these nutrients, it can help with joint health.
IV drip therapy sessions take anywhere from about half an hour to a full hour. You relax while the IV enters your direct bloodstream through the IV tube. Once you’re done, you’re back to your normal routine. It’s rare to experience side effects after IV therapy.
The frequency of IV therapy is determined by your doctor, but many patients come in for two per month. That helps keep your immune system and tissue repair and healing from slowing down again.
Medical Weight Loss
Weight loss in general helps take some of the pressure off joints. If you are overweight, don’t fall for the latest fad diet. They may work for a while, but many people gain weight back as soon as they start introducing their favorite foods.
When you work with a doctor to lose weight, you gain expertise on the things you need to do and exercises that will help you shed the pounds and keep them off. Our Fresno arthritis specialists also help you change behaviors that haven’t helped. When you’re learning how to nourish your body, exercise in a way that works best for you, and adjust your behaviors, weight loss is effective and going to last.
PRP Injections
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections take about an hour to complete, and it’s all done in an office and not in a hospital. It works by introducing a concentrated injection of plasma into areas in need of healing, which with arthritis is your joint.
Your blood is drawn and processed to separate the platelets. Those platelets are then injected into the target area to boost the body’s normal healing process. Most patients need two or three injections over a couple of weeks to experience less arthritis pain.
Stem Cell Therapy
Think of stem cells as the blank slate of the cells within a body. There are adult stem cells and embryonic stem cells and both help the body repair damaged tissue and cells. They’re a blank slate because they can develop into different types of cells including muscle, blood, brain, skin, etc. Because of this, they’re just as helpful in regenerating and healing damaged tissue in cartilage and ligaments as they are in muscle and tendons.
Stem cell therapy takes about an hour and a half and starts with the harvesting of healthy stem cells. Once that step’s completed, they’re sent to a sterile lab to be separated, placed into syringes, and injected into the arthritic joint. It’s recommended that patients return for three injections over a few days, though the frequency is determined by your Fresno stem cell therapist.
Where Are Things Headed in the Future?
The Arthritis Foundation is researching another non-invasive arthritis treatment to keep an eye on. It’s called “autologous microfragmented adipose tissue (AMAT). It’s similar to PRP only some belly fat is first removed through liposuction.
That fat is then washed, separated into small particles through a process called microfragmentation, and injected into the problematic joint. The fat contains stem cells and pericytes, both of which promote healing. Research has shown that AMAT is extremely effective at easing pain and improving movement.
Mayo Clinic’s Musculoskeletal Gene Therapy Research Laboratory is working on a form of gene therapy that involves the use of a virus to carry a specific gene into arthritic areas to stop proteins that increase inflammation.
Talk to Premium Sports & Orthopedics About These Innovative Therapies for Arthritis
It’s time to stop hurting and get up and active. The doctors at Premium Sports & Orthopedics in Fresno specialize in effective, less invasive methods for arthritis pain relief and increased mobility. Book an appointment online or call the practice to learn more.
