“My knees are on fire” my wife said to me the other month when we were on a shopping marathon. I used to think she was a bit dramatic, but now I totally respect her very keen perception of what was happening in her knee. Researchers from Cambridge University found that thin, diseased joint fluid from arthritic knees causes activation of the same nerve fibers found in your mouth when you eat hot peppers.[1] Researchers took the thinned and damaged synovial fluid from human volunteers with known arthritis and compared it to synovial fluid from normal cadaver knees without arthritis. First they found that the fluid from the arthritic knee had lost its normal properties to cushion and lubricate the joint. However, when they placed it with some nerves taken from mice, they found that the damaged joint fluid from arthritic knees stimulated the same nerve we have in our mouths when eating hot peppers. This nerve is called the TRPV1 receptor sometimes known as the capsaicin receptor because it senses the heat of spicy food and gives us the feeling that something is hot or scalding. As much as I hate to admit it, my wife was totally right. Her knee did feel like it was on fire!
This study helps us understand why arthritic knees feel the way that they do and also helps us build theories of how we can change the natural history of arthritis and prevent this burning pain. We can change the normal viscosity (thickness) of joint fluid with soothing treatments such as hyaluronic acid (ie Orthovisc™ or Monovisc™) could potentially relieve this pain. The combined use of Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) has the benefits of reducing the hyperactivity of an injured nerve such what was found when PRP was used to treat carpal tunnel syndrome. [2] Thus, this leads some researchers to believe that combining the cushioning and soothing effects of hyaluronic acid along with the burst of natural growth factors found in PRP would lead to improved clinical results.[3] Cellular Healing offers “Enhanced PRP” which is felt to be one of the best value treatments in orthopedics today. This is a simple series of soothing, cooling and cushioning hyaluronic acid combined with the healing growth factors found in platelet rich plasma. Hyaluronic acid is a covered benefit of medicare and platelet rich plasma injections are very reasonably priced at $500. If you have a health spending account, this could be a totally covered benefit. Other studies have shown that this combination is superior to giving these alone. [4] In addition, even if patients failed hyaluronic injections in the past, 94% of the patients had improvement and 79% were able to avoid any surgery for over 4 years. [5]
So, if you are looking for the best value natural cell based treatment for arthritis, check out what enhanced PRP has to offer. Schedule an appointment by calling 810-299-8552 or register on-line. Remember.. “these are your cells for your own healing.”
[1] Chakrabarti, S et al. Human osteoarthritic synovial fluid increases excitability of mouse dorsal root ganglion sensory neurons: an in-vitro translational model to study arthritic pain. Rheumatology, 2019 DOI: 10.1093/rheumatology/kez331[2] Malahias MA1, Nikolaou VS1, Johnson EO2, Kaseta MK1, Kazas ST1, Babis GC1. Platelet-rich plasma ultrasound-guided injection in the treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome: A placebo-controlled clinical study. J Tissue Eng Regen Med. 2018 Mar;12(3):e1480-e1488. doi: 10.1002/term.2566. Epub 2017 Dec 17.[3] Chen WH, Lo WC, Hsu WC, Wei HJ, Liu HY, Lee CH, Tina Chen SY, Shieh YH, Williams DF, Deng WP., Synergistic anabolic actions of hyaluronic acid and platelet-rich plasma on cartilage regeneration in osteoarthritis therapy. Biomaterials. 2014 Dec;35(36):9599-607. doi: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2014.07.058. Epub 2014 Aug 28. PubMed [citation] PMID: 2517605 [4] Yu W, Xu P, Huang G, Liu L. Clinical therapy of hyaluronic acid combined with platelet-rich plasma for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis. Exp Ther Med. 2018;16(3):2119-2125.
[5] Jean-Luc Renevier1*, Jean- François Marc2, Philippe Adam3, Nicolas Sans4, Jacques Le Coz5 & Ivan Prothoy6“Cellular matrix™ PRP-HA”: A new treatment option with platelet-rich plasma and hyaluronic acid for patients with osteoarthritis having had an unsatisfactory clinical response to hyaluronic acid alone: Results of a pilot, multicenter French study with long-term follow-up. International Journal of Clinical Rheumatology (2018) Volume 13, Issue 4