May 2021 - Texas Pain Physicians

Your knees are the largest, most active joints in your body and the hinge point of your legs.

It’s easy to think most knee pain comes on as a result of injury during strenuous activities. But everyday activities in work and school can cause it, too.

And for many people, chronic knee pain sets in as they age.

Knee Pain You Can Treat At Home

Like other pain symptoms, some knee pain is not severe enough to require medical attention. You can manage the following symptoms at home:

1. Mild to moderate knee pain after a strenuous activity that you don’t normally do, like running or walking a few miles.

2. Mild to moderate knee pain that comes on slowly.

3. Mild to moderate knee pain from minor injuries without significant movement limitation or inability to bear weight, such as mild knee strains.

Knee Pain that Requires Immediate Medical Attention

Seek immediate medical attention when knee pain is severe, especially when accompanied by weakness and limited range of motion.

Intense Pain: Go to urgent care or the emergency room if you have severe knee pain, especially from a forceful impact.

Deformed joint: Go to urgent care or the emergency room when your knee joint is deformed. A dislocation and or break is likely.

Popping Noise: Go to urgent care or the emergency room if there was a popping noise when your knee was injured.

Sudden Knee swelling: Go to urgent care or the emergency room if your knee swells up suddenly.

Knee Pain Symptoms that Require A Visit to the Doctor

Sudden knee swelling: If swelling sets in gradually, schedule a doctor’s appointment. Significant swelling of the knee can cause joint tissue damage, cartilage degradation, and bone softening.

Joint weakness: See a doctor if your knee cannot bear weight and you need support to walk.

Tenderness and warmth: Schedule a doctor’s appointment if your knee feels warm and sensitive to the touch.

What to Expect During Examination

A doctor will examine your knee and, depending on the symptoms, do the following:

Drawing fluid from the knee
Taking an x-ray
Take an MRI

Surgery may be necessary to correct the damage. If not, the doctor will recommend home treatments such as rest, hot and cold therapy, and pain medications.

Knee Pain Treatment in Houston and Dallas

You don’t need to rush to the ER for non-severe knee pain symptoms, but you should schedule a doctor’s appointment. Texas Pain Physicians’ team of board-certified pain specialists are experts at diagnosing, treating, and managing knee pain.

Put your best foot forward by booking an appointment online or calling us today at (972) 636-5727.

1 in 5 people* will have spine surgery that fails to provide long-term pain relief, regardless of the type of procedure. This number includes minimally invasive spine surgeries.

Back surgery that fails to relieve pain is known as Failed Back Surgery Syndrome (FBBS).

Whether you are going through normal post-operative pain or FBBS, a conservative, non-surgical approach is the safest way to manage your pain.

Let’s take a look at some treatment options.

1. Cognitive-Behavior Therapy

Cognitive-behavioral therapy involves meeting with a therapist 10 to 20 times. The therapist helps you focus on changing negative thoughts and feelings when you have back pain.

Positive thinking cannot stop the pain, but it can help to manage it.

2. Relaxation Techniques

Worrying about pain can make it worse. Chronic stress causes elevated stress hormones, muscle tension, and inflammation.

Relaxation techniques can lower the number of stress hormones in your body, relax muscles, calm the mind, and promote a sense of well-being.

Practicing relaxation techniques such as four-square breathing exercises, mindfulness meditation, and hypnosis regularly can have long-term, positive results.

3. Transcutaneous Nerve Stimulation

Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is a therapy that uses a low voltage electrical current to relieve pain.

Doctors have proposed that the therapy relieves pain when nerves block the transmission of pain signals or raise the level of endorphins, the human body’s pain-killing chemical.

4. Pain Medication

Doctors often prescribe pain medication and recommend OTC pain medication to manage post-operative pain and ongoing pain.

As prescription opioid medication can be addictive, it’s necessary to have skilled pain doctors who can devise safe treatment strategies.

5. Steroid Injections

Many patients experience post-surgery pain from the swelling and inflammation at the surgery site. Steroid injections reduce this swelling and inflammation.

A single steroid injection procedure can provide pain relief for months.

6. Topical Therapies

Topical treatments can provide relief for post-operative surgical pain and ongoing back pain.

Applying dry or moist heat to the surgery site can decrease pain and allow temporary mobility.

Studies show moist heat application penetrates deeper and faster than dry heat, providing more temporary relief and functional movement.

Applying a cold compress or pack to the surgery site can relieve pain by reducing blood flow and inflammation during the initial, most intense healing phase.

Back pain relief in Houston, Dallas, and many other locations in Texas.

Perhaps they told you it was because of surgeon error or misdiagnosis.

Whatever the issue was, you are still in pain.

At Texas Pain Physicians, our board-certified pain management doctors are experts in well-established and innovative back pain treatment methods.

*According to a 2020 study by The Journal of Orthopedic Research

Have Knee Pain Symptoms? Know When It’s Time to Seek Medical Attention.