As we see more patients looking for alternatives to knee surgery who are being pain managed along with anti-inflammatory medications or NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications), and painkillers, one question they all seem to have is: “What are these medications doing to my knees.” The simple answer is, they are destroying your knees, and the research to support this goes back a long way. In fact it was in 1993 that Dr. MJ Shield wrote in the European journal of rheumatology and inflammation (1) that “Growing evidence suggests that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), while able to alleviate inflammation, may damage articular cartilage.” How? By preventing the growth of new cartilage.
Nothing has changed in 27 years. These medications are continually shown to accelerate knee damage.
But, NSAIDS can make knees feel better in the short-term, and in the long-term in greater doses. In the over 20 years that we have treated patients with knee problems, there has always been the instance when a patient will ask us if they can continue with their anti-inflammatory medications. The answer is typically no. When the patient asks why? We remind them that regenerative medicine techniques like the ones we use, count on the beneficial aspects of inflammation. Inflammation is the way Nature heals. If we stop the inflammation, we stop the healing.
This simple statement, that inflammation is Nature’s way of healing has been the subject of decades long debate in the medical community. Many doctors argue that you have to shut down inflammation to prevent more damage. For decades, cortisone became the weapon of choice. Cortisone as doctors would later find out, would destroy joints and contributed to the great surge in joint replacement surgeries.
But don’t you need to shut down inflammation to heal? A group of medical researchers in Australia looked at inflamed knees. The researchers wanted to see what came first, knee inflammation or knee degenerative changes. In other words, did the inflammation cause the degenerative knee disease or did the degenerative knee disease cause the inflammation?
Knowing which came first would make a big difference for patients with knee pain and degenerative arthritis, and, towards helping doctors and patients understand a path of treatment. This treatment path would would move away from the use of anti-inflammatories as a primary step in “conservative care” of knee pain. The research team published their findings in The Journal of Rheumatology.(2)
Surgery is dangerous. Anti-inflammatories are more dangerous.
Before we look at the study on the inflamed knees, to see which came first, let’s first listen to what a recent study says about anti-inflammatory medications: This is from the Journal of orthopaedic surgery,(3) and university hospitals in the United Kingdom, The doctors in this study compared the long-term safety of taking anti-inflammatory medications with the long-term safety of knee and hip replacements. They are measuring side effects including mortality.
- Mortality was the highest for naproxen (Aleve, Moltrin) and lowest for total hip replacement.
- Highest gastrointestinal complications were reported for diclofenac (Voltaren) and lowest for total knee replacement
- Ibuprofen had the highest renal complications.
- Celecoxib (Celebrex) had the highest cardiovascular risk
The researchers said: “results of this study show that medical management of hip and knee osteoarthritis, particularly with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, may carry higher mortality compared to surgery.”
I have written an extensive article Dependency on painkillers may lead to unsuccessful knee replacement that will help shed more light on this subject.
Understanding the healing and destructive roles of knee inflammation
In the research I mentioned at the top of this article, doctors looked at the inflamed synovial membrane in the knees of 413 patients with painful osteoarthritis. The patients were almost equally divided into similar groups of women and men, and the average age was 63 years old.
The synovial membrane is a tissue that surrounds the knee and protects the joint capsule. In addition, to acting as a protective lining, the membrane secretes synovial fluid. Synovial fluid is a lubricant that helps the cartilage of the knee glide through normal range of motion.
When the synovial membrane becomes inflamed, it secrets inflamed synovial fluid.
Inflamed synovial fluid makes more inflammation.
While rheumatoid arthritis or immune disorder can cause synovitis, this study focuses on the development of synovitis as being caused by degenerative wear and tear arthritis..
Back to the the Australian research team. In the subject patients the doctors measured:
- The inflamed fluid of the knee synovitis, cartilage defects, cartilage volume, and bone marrow lesions via magnetic resonance imaging.
- Joint space narrowing and osteophytes (bone spurs) were assessed using radiograph.
- Knee symptoms were assessed by using the popular Western Ontario and McMaster University (WOMAC) osteoarthritis index scoring system.
Here is the research conclusion:
Knee cartilage and subchondral bone abnormalities predicted change in effusion-synovitis (more inflammation), but effusion-synovitis (more inflammation) did not predict knee structural changes. These findings suggest that synovial inflammation is likely the result of joint structural abnormalities in established osteoarthritis. This means that that anti-inflammatory treatments are only suppressing inflammation, the degenerative damage to the knees continues.
Moving away from anti-inflammatory treatments and moving towards pro-inflammatory treatments.
This is why treatments such as cortisone injections, Regenokine injections, NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatories) do more damage than good. The inflammation is trying to heal damage, shutting off the inflammation makes MORE damage. This is why medicine is moving away from anti-inflammatory treatments and moving towards pro-inflammatory treatments.
In our clinic not only do we use Stem Cell Therapy and Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy. We have published research on the effectiveness of the treatments
You can read our published research in this article Stem cell therapy for knee osteoarthritis. In this article I will present research to support the use of stem cell treatments for knee osteoarthritis.
Do you have questions? Ask Dr. Darrow
A leading provider of stem cell therapy, platelet rich plasma and prolotherapy
11645 WILSHIRE BOULEVARD SUITE 120, LOS ANGELES, CA 90025
PHONE: (800) 300-9300 or 310-231-7000
Stem cell and PRP injections for musculoskeletal conditions are not FDA approved. We do not treat disease. We do not offer IV treatments. There are no guarantees that this treatment will help you. Prior to our treatment, seek advice from your medical physician. Neither Dr. Darrow, nor any associate, offer medical advice from this transmission. This information is offered for educational purposes only. The transmission of this information does not create a physician-patient relationship between you and Dr. Darrow or any associate. We do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, usefulness or adequacy of any resource, information, product, or process available from this transmission. We cannot be responsible for the receipt of your email since spam filters and servers often block their receipt. If you have a medical issue, please call our office. If you have a medical emergency, please call 911.
References:
1 Shield MJ. Anti-inflammatory drugs and their effects on cartilage synthesis and renal function. European journal of rheumatology and inflammation. 1993;13(1):7-16.
2 Wang X, Jin X, Blizzard L, Antony B, Han W, Zhu Z, Cicuttini F, Wluka AE, Winzenberg T, Jones G, Ding C. Associations Between Knee Effusion-synovitis and Joint Structural Changes in Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis. The Journal of Rheumatology. 2017 Sep 1:jrheum-161596.
3 Aweid O, Haider Z, Saed A, Kalairajah Y. Treatment modalities for hip and knee osteoarthritis: A systematic review of safety. Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery. 2018 Nov 8;26(3):2309499018808669.