When you have arthritis, your whole world can change. Simply getting up a flight of steps may seem impossible, or pain may keep you awake at night.
However, you don’t have to suffer with this condition in vain. There are a number of cutting-edge treatments available that can help reduce your discomfort and increase the functionality of the affected joints.
At Metairie Orthopedics & Sports Medicine, our providers are experts in joint health and diseases. Leading our team is Robert Douglas Bostick III, MD, who specializes in sports medicine and state-of-the-art treatments for osteoarthritis.
Arthritis is a condition that affects joints in the body. There are more than 100 types of arthritis, but osteoarthritis is the most common one. This type of arthritis is considered degenerative, as it takes place over time.
Your joints are protected by cartilage, which covers the ends of your bones. Cartilage allows the bones in your joints to move smoothly without pain.
When you have osteoarthritis, the protective cartilage wears down over a period of time. This causes damage to the bones and other structures inside your joint. Your body responds to this damage with inflammation, which causes many of the symptoms of this condition.
Osteoarthritis is a degenerative condition, meaning it’s irreversible. Once the damage is done in the joint, there’s no way to reverse it. However, with early diagnosis and treatment, you can slow down the progression of the disease.
This condition can affect just about any joint in the body, but it’s more common in the hips, knees, hands, and spine.
The symptoms of osteoarthritis can vary depending on how far the disease has progressed. In the early stages, you might not have any symptoms at all.
However, as osteoarthritis progresses, you’ll likely begin to experience some symptoms. Common signs of this condition include:
As osteoarthritis gets worse, your symptoms may become more frequent and more severe. As the joint sustains more damage, the ability to move it or use it efficiently can decrease.
If osteoarthritis isn’t treated, you could do major damage to your joint. This may then require a total joint replacement in order for you to regain functionality in the area.
If you’re showing any of the signs and symptoms of osteoarthritis, it’s important to seek help as soon as possible. The sooner you get help, the higher your chances will be of treating the condition before it reaches the point of disability.
Dr. Bostick and our team at Metairie Orthopedics & Sports Medicine can provide cutting-edge treatments to restore movement and decrease pain in your affected joints. Three of the major arthritis treatments we provide include:
This injection contains a substance your body already produces called hyaluronic acid. When you have arthritis, the cushioning in your joints is compromised.
Hyaluronic acid injections help restore lubrication in your joints. Dr. Bostick uses ultrasound guidance for viscosupplementation injections to ensure the medication goes directly into the joint space where it’s needed most.
Stem cell therapy and platelet-rich plasma therapy are two of the state-of-the-art regenerative medicine treatments available for arthritis.
Stem cells have the ability to transform themselves into any type of cell your body needs. By harvesting some of your stem cells and injecting them into injured parts of your body, this can help spur healing and tissue regeneration.
Platelets contain very powerful growth proteins. By harvesting some of your platelets and injecting them into your arthritic joints, the growth proteins can help repair damage and trigger tissue regeneration.
If you have severe osteoarthritis and are in need of a joint replacement, Dr. Bostick can use robot-assisted technology to provide better precision and care during your procedure.
Although Dr. Bostick is in charge of the whole procedure, the robot allows him to make more precise cuts and gives him unparalleled precision when it comes to replacing your joint.
And, by making more precise cuts, this can allow for less pain and a shorter recovery time.
Don’t let arthritis continue to affect your life. To find out if our cutting-edge treatments can help you, call 504-541-5800 or book an appointment online with Metairie Orthopedics & Sports Medicine today.
