Joint pain affects many people, and its causes can vary greatly. Depending on your age group and demographic, the type of joint pain you may experience is different. Osteoarthritis, gout, injury, septic arthritis, and repeated dislocation are just some of the reasons why you may be experiencing joint pain. If you have been having joint pain for a while and it is affecting your daily activities, do consider seeing a joint pain specialist Singapore to receive treatment. Check out this article as well to find out more about the types of joint pain. [Joint Pain – what causes it and what are some treatments offered?]
TREATMENT
These are some of the procedures that a joint pain specialist Singapore can perform for you.
- Radiofrequency nerve ablation: During radiofrequency nerve ablation, a needle is inserted to the targeted joint where you are experiencing pain, and radiofrequency waves are administered to the nerves of the joint, preventing them from sending out pain signals. As a result, your brain will no longer register any pain from the joint, and you will have pain relief for the next 6 to 12 months. The whole procedure will also only take between half an hour to an hour and a half. Because this is a minimally invasive treatment method, you can undergo radiofrequency ablation as a day procedure and return home after the procedure without an overnight stay.
- Physical and Occupational therapy: These two kinds of therapy aim to help restore as well as maintain your mobility, range of motion and motor-skills. Occupational therapy specifically focuses on ensuring you have the skills needed to live and work independently. Overall, physical and occupational therapy should help to improve your flexibility and slowly provide pain relief by reducing both swelling and inflammation in your joint.[1]
- Arthroscopy: During this procedure, the doctor will insert a narrow tube with a camera at the end of it into the joint where you are experiencing pain. While often used as a method to diagnose the kind of joint pain you have, arthroscopy can also be a surgical method to treat the joint pain. With the guidance of the images captured by the camera, the surgeon can repair the cartilage and remove any small pieces of bone that have chipped off due to wear and tear as your bones rub against each other at the joint. [1] You should feel less pain after the surgery.
- Artery embolisation: This is a minimally invasive procedure where a catheter is inserted into the painful joint. Spherical particles are then injected into certain arteries, obstructing the blood flow to the parts of the joint that are causing you pain, reducing inflammation and therefore providing you with relief from your joint pain.
- Joint injection of Autologous Protein Solution (APS): Blood is extracted from your own body, and this contains the proteins responsible for healing and for anti-inflammation. Your blood is processed and concentrated to form the autologous protein solution. Since inflammatory proteins are a common cause of joint pain, the high concentration of anti-inflammatory cytokines and anabolic proteins in the APS helps to prevent further degeneration of the cartilage at the joint, and may reduce inflammation, giving you pain relief.
- Joint replacement surgery: In this surgery, parts of your bone near the joint is removed and replaced with a plastic or metal bone. This is necessary when all the cartilage between your bones has been worn away, and your joint is no longer lubricated or cushioned. Without joint replacement surgery in this case, the pain will only get worse over time.
Joint replacement surgery has been proven very successful and most patients have much less joint pain after it. [1]
HOME REMEDIES
In addition to receiving professional medical treatment and undergoing procedures for your joint pain, there are ways for you to alleviate the pain at home. These methods are often not permanent cures to the causes of the pain; however they can give you some comfort and mobility. When the cause of your joint pain is osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, you may have no other option but home remedies to treat your condition.
- Take nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) or pain relievers
- Exercise regularly (moderate exercise): This enables you to strengthen the joints and the ligaments supporting the joint without damaging them too much.
- Maintain a healthy weight: Weight is an additional stress that your joints have to bear, so maintaining a healthy weight helps to avoid the degeneration of your joints.
- Take a warm bath: The heat from the warm bath can help to loosen up stiffened joints and encourage circulation that reduces inflammation. [2]
- Place heat packs on your joint: In the same way as a warm bath, heat packs help to relieve joint pain.
If you are looking for a joint pain specialist, Singapore The Orthopaedic & Pain Practice is here for you! Our doctors specialise in interventional, minimally invasive techniques and will be able to offer you treatment for your joint pain. Do feel free to book an appointment with us today! Contact details have been included below:
9898 3595 (WhatsApp)
[email protected] (Email)
REFERENCES
[1] https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/symptoms/17752-joint-pain#care-and-treatment
[2] https://creakyjoints.org/living-with-arthritis/showering-with-arthritis/
Related Articles
