The knee is an excellent example of how different forces act to cause pain. The bones of the knee include the femur and the tibia. They approximate one another and are attached on the inside by ligaments called the anterior and inferior cruciate ligaments. They stabilize the knee from moving too far forward or backward. Along the medial and lateral aspects of the knee and crossing the joint from top to bottom are the collateral ligaments. These help the femur and tibia from moving too much to the inside or outside. Over the ligaments a connective tissue capsule surrounds the knee joint. Another layer called the menisci, inside the knee, serve as a non-liquid cushion keeping the bones from rubbing on one another. In addition, our body creates and maintains fluid as found inside the joint.
Pain then arises when one of the following occur. First a tear in one or both of the cruciate ligaments, or menisci, strain or sprain of the lateral or medial collaterals, loss of fluid within the capsule joint, and development of trigger points as a result of unstable joints. Even when pain is difficult to isolate, joint and muscular pain are intimately connected by the joints they serve and thus are nearly always associated with one another.
The best treatment for the knee appears to be the injection of PRP into and around the joint capsule. It appears, maybe to the lack of humidity and probably general weight bearing activity, that the fluid within the capsule of the knee can diminish over time. At this point the menisci will begin to make contact, increasing inflammation and irritation, resulting in chronic knee pain and weakness.
The addition of PRP into the capsule regenerates the joint cartilage and fluid, returning the knee to a non-painful state. That means a patient can walk, ruin, and even jump without pain.
Of course the application of acupuncture also helps the knee and is considered the standard of care for our office whenever we do a PRP injection.
