A few weeks ago, a patient came to me complaining of joint pain. The arthritis in her knee was getting worse. Her family doctor recommended surgery.
I’m glad she came to me first… In many cases, knee surgery just doesn’t work. In today’s Health Alert, I’ll show you why. I’ll also give you some better – non-surgical – options.
The Truth Behind Knee Surgery
There are two approaches to knee surgery: One is arthroscopic lavage and debridement. The other is tidal irrigation.
The two surgeries focus on the same idea. Knee pain is caused when the cartilage in the joint becomes rough. Fragments of cartilage and calcium irritate the joint causing inflammation and pain. Lavage, debridement, and irrigation surgeries are techniques for cleaning this debris out of the joint.
The concept makes sense. But, the reality – as proven by two well-known studies – is very different.
In one, patients were divided into three groups. One group had arthroscopic lavage, the other, arthroscopic debridement. The third group had “fake” surgery. In this case, the patients went into the operating room, were given an IV tranquilizer and an oxygen mask.
Skin incisions were made to simulate those of the true surgery, but no surgery was actually performed. Neither the patients nor the post-operative staff knew who had real and who had fake surgeries.
Pain and performance levels were measured 7 times over 2 years (walking speed and stair climbing). There was no more improvement in the 2 surgery groups than in the fake surgery group.
The second study examined tidal irrigation surgery. One group had tidal irrigation surgery; the other had “fake” surgery.
In the fake surgery, a needle was passed through soft tissue but not all of the way into the joint capsule. This mimicked real surgery. The patients were unable to tell if they had real surgery or fake surgery.
Function, swelling and pain were assessed at 3, 6 and 12 months after the surgery. Again, there was no difference between those who had surgery and those who didn’t.
The number of people having these worthless surgeries is alarming. Instead of proving the surgery doesn’t work after it has already been performed many times over, doctors must prove that a surgery works before making it a public service.
Here’s a Safer Path to Better Health
So, what do you do if you have osteoarthritis knee pain? First, if you have an acute injury to your knee, you may need an orthopedic surgeon. For chronic, longer-term problems, a surgical approach should be the last alternative. Here are some more natural solutions to try first.
• Non-weight Bearing Exercise: Note: If you have arthritis in your knees, do not go out and walk or jog for exercise. This will only make the problem worse. You need a type of exercise that will allow inflammation to subside and prevent further wear and tear from overuse. Swimming is excellent. Bicycling and controlled strength training are good.
• Weight Loss: Like so many problems in medicine, optimizing your weight may allow your body to heal itself.
• Supplements: Don’t bother with calcium pills. They won’t help. You can reduce inflammation with white willow tea. You can get it at nutrition stores. Try a cup after breakfast and at bedtime.
You can help rebuild the joint with MSM (methylsufonlymethane) and glucosamine. You can find them in combination. You need at least 200 mg of each. You can increase them up to 1000 mg of each. They may take several weeks to have their full effect.
To Your Good Health,
Al Sears, MD