If moving your knees and hips, causes a sharp pain in joints, you might have been suffering from the symptom of osteoarthritis. However, if you have a bone fracture or damaged joint, your doctor may recommend knee replacement surgery.
The swollen joints or broken bones can cause insufferable pain. If you have been relying on medicines and pain relievers to treat post-surgery or osteoarthritis pain your condition, might become addictive.
While opioid pain medications are effective to reduce post-surgery pain, they can turn into a dangerous habit for patients. If you’re on pain medications after joint replacement surgery, it may be the right time to reconsider your options.
Here are some ways that can help you switch from the medication and improve your health after knee replacement surgery.
Switch to Physical Therapies to Reduce Dependency on Pain Medication
You can manage pain and symptoms with the help of some effective therapeutic remedies.
Physical Therapy
Arthritis or knee replacement patients often avoid activities that include movements as it may increase their pain.
However, lack of mobility tends to increase stiffness in the joints and exacerbates pain. Physical therapy like light stretching can reduce pain significantly. Moreover, physicians commonly recommend physical therapy treatments to strengthen damaged joints. It helps in manipulating the weak joints and reduces inflammation.
Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) Therapy
TENS therapy is It is typically for arthritis patients. It treats pain with the help of electric pulses. The electrodes are positioned on the skin targeting the painful joint to allow a low voltage current to pass through the joints. The therapy is considered a quick, but temporary pain reliever.
Occasional Therapy
The therapy has a pedagogical aspect to it as it aims to teach patients how to survive chronic pain by working around it to gain moderate joint mobility. The focus of the therapists is to train patients so that they can protect themselves from any joint damage and strain that can deteriorate their condition.
Massage
Massage is an instant reliever and can help you manage pain by rubbing and massaging. Like TENS, it is also effective for people with osteoarthritis as massaging after knee replacement may increase the pain. However, if you approach professional massager, it is an excellent remedy to increase blood circulation in painful areas.
Yoga or Mindfulness Techniques
Patients can also use mindfulness techniques to manage psychological and physical pain aspects. They are very effective in closing pain gates transmitting pain signals to the brain.
Summing Up
The best way to reduce the use or dependence pain medication is to discuss with your orthopedic surgeon and find the alternatives that can work the best for you. Contact experienced orthopedic surgeon Dr.Hill to find out more about joint replacement procedures and alternatives you can use to reduce dependence on opioids.
Link
https://healthcare.utah.edu/healthfeed/postings/2022/02/reduce-pain-medication-knee-replacement-surgery.php