About 20% of American adults 45 and older have arthritis of the knee, the joint most commonly affected by osteoarthritis.
If you’re among this group, hyaluronic acid (HA) injections may offer the relief you need. These FDA-approved treatments lubricate the joint, reducing friction and inflammation and improving mobility.
Savitri Gopaul, FNP-BC of Commonwealth Pain Management and Wellness in Richmond, Virginia, is a board-certified family nurse practitioner specializing in knee osteoarthritis. She offers HA injections and other advanced treatments tailored to your symptoms and lifestyle.
In this blog, Ms. Gopaul explains how HA arthritis injections work to help you feel better.
Your knee joint forms where the upper leg bone meets the lower leg bones. A thick layer of slippery cartilage covers these bones, reducing friction within the joint to help your knee move smoothly without pain or stiffness.
In addition to the cartilage layer, your knee joint contains a special fluid that prevents friction and supports normal, smooth movement. This joint-cushioning fluid contains a high concentration of hyaluronic acid (or hyaluronate).
With knee arthritis, the cartilage layer breaks down, typically due to years of wear-and-tear on the joint.
Being overweight can accelerate cartilage breakdown because your knees must support more and more weight. But years of use, especially if you play sports that take a toll on your knees, or trauma or injury to the joint can also cause cartilage to break down.
Cartilage breakdown isn’t the only cause of knee arthritis as you age. Your body also tends to produce less HA, causing increased friction in the joint. With these changes, the knee joint develops inflammation, causing pain, stiffness, and other arthritis symptoms.
HA injections for arthritis deliver purified hyaluronic acid directly to the joint. The injected fluid supplements the fluid that naturally occurs in the joint. That’s why HA knee injections are sometimes referred to as viscosupplementation.
Adding HA fluid to your knee joint via HA injections may also promote a natural healing response inside the joint, helping to reduce inflammation that worsens arthritis over time.
At Commonwealth Pain Management and Wellness, we tailor each HA injection treatment to the patient’s needs. Most of our patients benefit from five injections spaced a few weeks apart; a few may find the relief they seek after three treatments.
HA injections can effectively ease knee pain due to arthritis, but that’s just one cause of knee pain. At Commonwealth Pain Management and Wellness, we offer an array of treatments for various causes of knee pain so you can find the relief you’re looking for.
To learn more about available treatments for knee pain, book a consultation today. Call the office at 804-977-3721 or request an appointment online.
