Observations and Critical Warning Signs for Knee Pain

If you use Presto Acupressure to treat knee pain when you first feel it you may only need a few treatments to resolve the problem.  If the pain has been around for a week or two and you feel some relief after using the recommended points keep using them 3 or 4 times a day until the pain is eliminated. Even knee pain that has been around for years may respond to frequent daily acupressure and slowly reduce the pain.  Presto Acupressure may also be useful to alleviate chronic pain that suddenly flares up leaving you limping around and looking for crutches.  If your knee pain keeps returning after weeks of Presto treatments or if it does not respond to acupressure I recommend that you contact an acupuncturist to diagnose and treat your condition.

Acupuncture Better Than Physical Therapy, Standard Care, and Other Treatment Options for Knee Pain

Acupuncture and other physical treatments for the relief of pain due to osteoarthritis of the knee: network meta-analysis http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3769860/?report=printable#sec2.4

This 2013 Meta-analysis study compared the effectiveness of acupuncture to other physical treatment options by analyzing the data from 144 trials with 9,709 patients who reported knee pain.  Acupuncture (represented by 25 separate studies) performed significantly better than (in order of decreasing effectiveness): Sham Acupuncture, Physical Therapy Exercises, Tai Chi, Weight loss, Standard Care, Aerobic Exercise, and No Intervention.  As summarized by the researchers:  “Acupuncture was statistically significantly better at a 95% level of credibility than sham acupuncture, muscle-strengthening exercise, weight loss, aerobic exercise, and no intervention when the analysis of better-quality studies was presented as a comparison with acupuncture.”

Knee Pain may be associated with osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, Lymes disease, and obesity. 

Acupuncture is the safest and most effective treatment for arthritis.  Osteoarthritis is easier to treat than rheumatoid arthritis, but we have successfully treated both types in our clinic (testimonials).  The risks of long term use of anti-inflammatory medications is discussed below and surgery can only be recommended when there is clear evidence (MRI) of torn ligaments or degeneration which requires knee replacement. 

Very few studies have compared the outcomes of surgery to placebo surgery, but this type of study has been done with arthroscopic surgery for osteoarthritis of the knee. In a 2001 study of 180 patients with osteoarthritis of the knee, Houston surgeons found that those who received "sham" arthroscopic surgery reported as much pain relief and improved mobility as patients who actually underwent the procedure. After 2 weeks, patients assigned to sham surgery were doing better than the true surgery patients because they had been spared the trauma of surgery. After 2 years, the groups had made similar gains in walking and stair climbing, and their pain had eased to comparable degrees.

Treating rheumatoid arthritis with drugs can involve some seriously risky medications which interfere with  the workings of the immune system and require regular liver testing to assess damage. Worse yet these medications are taken for the long term to relieve symptoms with no expected end in sight.  Although it may take a long series of treatments Acupuncture and Chinese Herbs can resolve rheumatoid arthritis completely.

Lymes Disease may develop into a complex and chronic variety of symptoms which may mimic arthritis or joint pain.  If you suspect that you have been bitten by a carrier tic species it is best to take immediate action (antibiotics).  If you are suffering from lingering symptoms you may find that working with an acupuncturist will help resolve or manage this problem.

Risks of Using Over the Counter Drugs or Prescription Medications

Treating knee pain or any pain with prescription or over the counter medications can lead to numerous long term side effects including chronic headaches which have their own medical acronym: MOH (medication overuse headache).

Regular use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or NSAIDs, which include: aspirin, ibuprofen (as found in Advil®), naproxen (Aleve®), and a long list of prescription NSAIDS (see below) often lead to life threatening gastrointestinal ulcers and/or bleeding. NSAIDs can increase the risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, and cancer.  Studies have also shown that they interfere with bone healing and may increase the rate of arthritic joint deterioration. NSAIDs may also damage the kidneys of elderly patients and are linked to an increased risk of renal (kidney) cell cancer.  A recent study found that regular NSAID users were 38% more likely to have erectile dysfunction. The news is even worse for pregnant women because using NSAIDs during pregnancy can more than double (2.4 times) the risk of having a miscarriage.
 
Commonly prescribed NSAIDS include: celecoxib (Celebrex®), diclofenac (Voltaren®), etodolac (Lodine®), fenoprefen (Nalfon®), indomethacin (Indocin®), ketoprofen (Orudis®, Oruvail®), ketoralac (Toradol®), oxaprozin (Daypro®), nabumetone (Relafen®), sulindac (Clinoril®), tolmetin (Tolectin®), and rofecoxib (Vioxx®).
 
Quotes, references, and links to articles which give further details about the risks of NSAIDs are listed below.
 
“Conservative calculations estimate that approximately 107,000 patients are hospitalized annually for nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID)-related gastrointestinal (GI) complications and at least 16,500 NSAID-related deaths occur each year among arthritis patients alone.”  July 1998 issue of The American Journal of Medicine http://americannutritionassociation.org/newsletter/deadly-nsaids
 
Several clinical studies have shown that the use of NSAID’s accelerates the rate of osteoarthritis and increases joint destruction.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/29449930/Fooling-Mother-Nature-Is-Usually-a-Bad-Idea-by-Joe-Pizzorno-ND
 
Congestive Heart Failure:
Page J. MBBS(Hons) and Henry D. MBchB, “Consumption of NSAIDs and the Development of Congestive Heart Failure in Elderly Patients”, Archives of Internal Medicine, March 27, 2000, Vol. 160, pp. 777-784
http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/160/6/777
 
NSAIDs may damage kidneys.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/01/02/nsaids-may-harm-elderly-kidneys.aspx
 
“Long-term daily use of ibuprofen was also associated with an increased risk of breast cancer [51% increased risk with a range between 17% to 95% increased risk], particularly of nonlocalized tumors (92% increased risk with a range between 24% to 297% increased risk).” 
Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug Use and Breast Cancer Risk by Stage and Hormone Receptor Status
Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Vol. 97, No. 11, 805-812, June 1, 2005  (PDF file)
http://www.kedu.us/Ask%20the%20Doctor/cancer%20and%20nsaids2.pdf      
 
“Use of NSAIDs and use of acetaminophen were significantly associated with increased risk of hypertension, but aspirin use was not. A substantial proportion of hypertension in the United States, and the associated morbidity and mortality, may be due to the use of these medications.”
Archives of Internal Medicine. October 28, 2002;162:2204-2208
http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/162/19/2204