Knee pain can be the result of injury or overuse, or very commonly, arthritis. Arthritis is inflammation of one or more of your joints. Pain, swelling, and stiffness are the primary symptoms of arthritis. Any joint in the body may be affected by the disease, but it is particularly common in the knee.
Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis in the knee. It is a degenerative,"wear-and-tear" type of arthritis that occurs most often in people 50 years of age and older, but may occur in younger people, too.
In osteoarthritis, the cartilage in the knee joint gradually wears away. As the cartilage wears away, it becomes frayed and rough, and the protective space between the bones decreases. This can result in bone rubbing on bone, and produce painful bone spurs. Osteoarthritis develops slowly and the pain it causes worsens over time.
Non-surgical treatment options include prolotherapy, which is a dextrose-based injection that causes a natural healing response, and viscoelastic hydrogel therapies formulated specifically to treat osteoarthritis of the knee.
