How many of you struggle with “aging knees”? Osteoarthritis of the knees results in swelling and pain in the knees due to the roughening and loss of cartilage in the knee joint. This is usually the result of old injuries causing uneven wear surfaces on the surface cartilage or simple over-use.
Most of us forget, however, that cartilage is living tissue, meaning that cartilage DOES indeed grow and repair itself. The challenge is that it does this at a remarkably slow rate. The scenario of degraded cartilage in the knee is simply a losing race where the degradation or damage of cartilage tissue is FASTER than the repair and rebuilding rate.
Surprisingly, acupuncture has been shown in several studies to SLOW down the degradation rate and IMPROVE cartilage repair. The result is that acupuncture can improve Knee Osteoarthritis and decrease pain and swelling around the knee joint. Several treatments can lead to a healthier joint and allow people to maintain a higher level of performance with less pain.
The other tool we use is low-level laser therapy or cold laser therapy. At the proper color and power, LASER THERAPY has also been proven to SPEED cartilage repair as well as decrease inflammation. Keep in mind this is different than RED LIGHT therapy. Most red-light therapy centers are using LEDs or light-emitting-diodes (Not lasers). While LEDs have shown the ability to improve wrinkles, they have NOT been proven to speed injury repair.
At our clinic, we treat Knee Osteoarthritis with a one-two punch by using both acupuncture AND powerful LOW-LEVEL LASER therapy. Both of these tools are proven to SPEED cartilage repair and decrease arthritis of the knee.
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