Suggest Treatment For Knee Osteoarthritis

Posted on Tue, 8 Apr 2014

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Tue, 8 Apr 2014 Answered on

Thu, 24 Apr 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : I am a 59 year old very active woman. Yesterday, I was diagnosed with osteoarthritis in multiple areas of my body. I already had been diagnosed with it in my back. After the last flare up, I went to rehab, and I've had no major problems since. I take Tramadol whenever it begins to flare up, and I use a small Tens Unit. Now my knee is very swollen (I can see it bulge in my jeans). It is also very warm to touch. I am taking Motrin as directed, and I take a Tramadol with the Motrin. I also use a heat pad. This is not helping to control my pain. It has been between a 6 and 7 all night. I also got a shot yesterday in my hip (Decradron sic) and I will begin a 6 day course of steroids today. Would a muscle relaxer or a pain reliever like Tylenol 3 help me through the flare up until the steroids and shot have time to work? The Motrin is fairly tolerated, but I do eat a lot of tums. I just need something short term. Can you help me with this?

Answered by Dr. Mukesh Chugh (55 minutes later)

Brief Answer: Life style modification and safe Pain killer help's Detailed Answer: Hi, Thanks for posting your query. After going through your description, my advice would to find out the cause of multiple joint arthritis (poly arthritis) you may get following blood test for better control of pain- serum RA factor, ANA test,Anti CCP antibody test and serum uric acid. As far as your knee pain with swelling and warm to touch, one need to rule out the infection as a cause by complete blood count and aspiration of knee fluid to find out the cause. To deal with acute pain of knee my advice would be in spite of heat use Ice fomentation along with tab.Tramalor/Tylenol 3 at bed time for better pain control. You should not use this medicine if you have recently used alcohol, sedatives, tranquilizers, or other narcotic medications. For osteoarthritis, weight reduction is the main treatment. Life style modifications like avoiding sitting cross legged; squatting will decrease the rate of progression of osteoarthritis. Exercises like quadriceps strengthening, swimming; straight leg rising will help in improving the muscle strength around the knee and will help in decreasing pain. My advice would be take glucosamine for your knee osteoarthritis, the recommended dose of glucosamine sulphate is 1500mg and chondroitin sulphate is 800-1200mg daily in divides doses. Glucosamine by nutralite is a good brand and with balanced composition. This is usually given for 3 months and then 6 months off after there is symptomatic improvement. This is not a pain killer so additional medicines are required for pain control and optimum joint activity. In case you have additional questions or doubts, you can forward them to me, and I shall be glad to help you out. Wishing you good health. Regards. Take care Dr.chugh http://bit.ly/drmchugh

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj