The more than 300 joints around your body can wear down over time, becoming damaged, stiff, and painful. You might think you need to replace a knee or elbow joint that’s been acting up. However, with today’s treatment options, you have plenty of pathways to explore before turning to surgical joint replacement.
At South Texas Spinal Clinic, with locations around the San Antonio and South Texas areas, we can diagnose and treat your problem joints. If you end up needing joint replacement surgery, you’re in expert hands with our team. However, depending on the details of your condition, we may also be able to recommend less-invasive treatment options to support and restore painful or non-mobile joints.
When joint pain threatens your full mobility and active quality of life, it’s hard to believe that moving more may actually help. However, it is often the case that improved exercise habits, supported as needed with physical therapy, can help to restore your joint health.
Moving regularly can help your joints and muscles, and you may also be able to take pressure off of a threatened joint with weight loss. Even just a few pounds of lost weight can significantly reduce the load on joints like hips and knees. Try low-impact forms of exercise like walking, swimming, bicycling, or yoga, to avoid stressing worn-down joints.
In joint preservation-focused physical therapy, the team at South Texas Spinal Clinic aims to preserve your cartilage and reduce overall inflammation. We also focus on strengthening surrounding muscles to lessen your chance of injury.
With our support, and an exercise plan based on our expertise, you can increase your strength, flexibility, and range of motion, reclaiming your life from joint pain. You could also potentially benefit from alternative therapies like acupuncture in addition to a custom physical therapy regimen.
Joint pain can make everyday life a challenge. However, if you’re not ready for surgical joint replacement, try minimally invasive injection therapies that may reduce your joint pain and keep you comfortable for years to come.
Some patients with joint pain problems benefit from targeted injections of hyaluronic acid or corticosteroids. Injections can reduce the inflammation in your joint lining and are effective for pain and discomfort relief in many patients.
You might also be interested in exploring injections with biologic agents like platelet-rich plasma (PRP), which can kickstart healing and regeneration in joints beginning to deteriorate from long-term wear-and-tear or some chronic conditions.
To learn more about all of your options for dealing with joint problems, from minimally invasive or noninvasive treatment plans to full joint replacement surgery, get in touch with the team at South Texas Spinal Clinic now. You can schedule your initial consultation appointment by calling one of our multiple locations today, or book with our easy online tool.
