Osteoarthritis is a growing health concern all across the world. It has surfaced as the most common cause of disability in the United States. Initially, doctors try to treat this disease through non-pharmacological modalities and conservative pharmacological therapies, but when all of this fails to work, there is only one option left – an invasive surgery. But the recent advancement in science has provided patients with a joint lubrication injection which is nothing short of a boon to treat this painful condition. Before we talk about the injection, let us talk about osteoarthritis first.

 

What is osteoarthritis?

 

Some people tend to have a constant pain in their knees and this condition is commonly known as osteoarthritis. It is not like other conditions that cause temporary pain and inflammation in a joint, osteoarthritis is actually a degenerative joint disease.

 

It mostly affects the cartilage of your joint. Cartilage is the tissue that protects the ends of bone in a joint. In its healthy form, it allows the bone to glide over one another and provides a shock absorbing effect. The knee joint also consists of a small amount of a fluid called synovial fluid, which is a thick gel-like substance that cushions the joint and provides lubrication to reduce friction. But when the joint gets affected by osteoarthritis, the cartilage gets disintegrated causing extreme pain to the patient. Furthermore, in this condition, the synovial fluid loses its ability to lubricate the joint which adds to the pain.

 

What are the risk factors for osteoarthritis?

 

Osteoarthritis risk factors include injury, joint inflammation, abnormalities of joint shape, and obesity. It can cause extreme pain and disability in older adults. It can adversely affect their day to day life, as the joint ache makes it nearly impossible to walk normally.

 

How can a joint lubrication injection help?

 

A joint lubrication injection consists of an important element called hyaluronic acid which is essential for joint lubrication. In this procedure a small amount of this substance often as little as 2ml is injected directly into the joint capsule. A healthy knee joint has up to 4 ml of joint fluid within its joint capsule. Hyaluronic acid is a key component of the joint fluid. It gives the joint fluid its viscous, slippery quality which enables the bone's cartilage-covered surfaces to glide over each other, as a result of which joint friction is reduced. Moreover, it adds cushion to protect joints when required.

 

Joints that are affected by this disease typically have a lower concentration of hyaluronic acid in their joint fluid than healthy joints, which results in less protection against joint friction and impact.

 

As the name itself suggests, a joint lubrication injection serves the purpose of lubricating the knee joint. This will help in improving function and it might even slow down the degeneration process. Thus, we can conclude that this injection is indeed a boon for those suffering from osteoarthritis.