The Ideal Solution
December 4, 2009
The week doesn’t go by that I don’t get someone who writes me a tale of woe about their knee. Often, the email is one gigantic, dense paragraph of a confusion of clinical history, x-ray and scan results, their interpretation of what their doctor said was wrong, what their neighbor said was wrong, what medication they have been on, and then a litany of their fears and apprehensions. This often goes on and on and on for a full page.
Let me tell you something: it is very, very hard to read an interminable email that is one solid block of type. Especially if your story is a long one, for my sake, break it up! Throw a few paragraphs in there, one every time you change to a new idea, or new topic. I’m happy to help if I can, but just seeing a solid block of writing makes me want to ignore it. So, a word to the wise….
A common topic, repeated over and over, is the painful knee, often with recurrent swelling and fluid (water on the knee), with limited motion and most often, the diagnosis of arthritis. And it’s often a knee that has been evaluated by an orthopaedist and the patient has been told that a total knee replacement will be needed.
Invariably, the very next thing the patient says to me is, “But I don’t want any surgery!”
Well, sure. Who does? But somehow, they think that I can tell them something different, despite my never having examined them, having no idea of their medical history, or other factors about them that would impact on that decision. It IS true that my newest healing program, HOW TO AVOID KNEE SURGERY, which you can get here at:
http://www.drbillsclinic.com/avoid_knee_surgery.html
CAN reduce or relieve pain, even in cases of advanced osteoarthritis of the knee. Using the conservative, non-operative treatments from across the entire medical spectrum, including alternative, as well as mainstream conventional methods, symptoms can be diminished and surgery delayed or entirely avoided, until a truly mechanical issue, like a locked knee, or a collapsed joint surface, or intractable pain makes it inevitable.
The ideal solution is to use the techniques revealed EARLY in the course of the disease, when they’re far more likely to be effective. For example, it should be no surprise that losing 10% of your weight can make a HUGE difference in knee pain, sometimes eliminating it. Likewise, taking some POWERHOUSE OMEGA FORMULA http://www.favoriteformula.com an ultra pure, highly concentrated, enteric coated, pharmaceutical grade fish oil, is an excellent long term way to reduce inflammation, that may result in more severe knee pain. And of course, besides reducing body weight and reducing inflammation, knee pain exercises, like those I teach in my PAIN-FREE PROGRAM http://www.drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html are another great way to reduce or eliminate knee pain, restore function, currently limited by swelling and pain, and delay or avoid surgical treatment.
Remember, no one can MAKE you have surgery. When it’s indicated and nothing else will do, surgery can be life-altering and restore your comfort and function. I spent nearly a quarter century doing just that, for thousands of patients. And very successfully, too.
But, you want to be sure it’s a NECESSARY surgery, that nothing else, no lesser, non-operative treatment will do and that there are very good reasons that you can’t put it off any longer. And the best way to do that is to try these conservative methods and see if they work for you, preferably BEFORE you reach the end stage of the disease.
The best thing about them is that they burn no bridges. If and when they no longer help, and it’s otherwise indicated, you can still have knee surgery, without penalty. So remember, the take home message is “early intervention.” The sooner you start, the sooner you’ll feel better.
Til next time, my friend, be well. Get your Christmas Shopping done early. And have a great weekend.
Yours for a pain-free tomorrow,
Dr. Bill
P.S. For DR. BILL’S LITTLE GREEN BOOK ON ELIMINATING KNEE PAIN, a concise, but complete handbook on the root causes and the various options for treating knee pain, go to http://drbillsclinic.com/eliminate_knee_pain.html
P.P.S. For DR. BILL’S PAIN-FREE PROGRAM: EXERCISES TO PREVENT OR ELIMINATE KNEE PAIN, please go to
http://drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html
P.P.P.S. For conventional and alternative treatments and exercises to relieve knee pain without surgery click on http://drbillsclinic.com/avoid_knee_surgery.html
P.P.P.P.S. For the giant, comprehensive ADVANCED MASTERS’ COURSE: HOW TO ELIMINATE KNEE PAIN–ONCE & FOR ALL!, everything you need to know on causes and solutions for knee pain and the complete exercise program, too, go to
http://drbillsclinic.com/advanced_masters.html
FREE BONUS CD with any order: THE HEALING POWER OF POSITIVE PAIN PERCEPTION
Copyright, 2009 by William Thomas Stillwell, MD, FACS
All rights reserved
Tags: arthritis, arthritis pain, avoid knee surgery, eliminate knee pain, knee pain, knee pain exercises, total knee replacement, water on the knee