Advanced osteoarthritis causes joints to degenerate and lose their cartilage resulting in instability and reduced space. In the knee joints, this causes extreme pain, weakness and eventually may end in joint replacement if the space gets thin enough. A common treatment for this is an injection of hyaluronic acid and is an effort to temporarily improve space and lubricate the joint. This is called viscosupplementation and helps many patients with pain relief and can even delay surgery, but often involves 3-5 injections.
In severe osteoarthritis, the smooth cartilage that cover the ends of the bones in the knee joint break down and the joint space becomes so thin, the bones begin to rub together. The natural fluid inside the joint also deteriorates and loses its lubrication ability. For knees (and hips), this results in stiffness, swelling and pain and can make walking extremely difficult. Fortunately a new product called Hymovis is offering patients with this problem more options. Hymovis is a next generation hyaluronic acid product that promises up to 6 months of relief from osteoarthritis knee pain.
Hymovis is better than all previous viscosupplementation products because it has a higher molecular weight and lowest friction coefficient. The lower the friction coefficient, the better the lubricant. It is also very safe and has no known drug interactions or significant side effects (other than slight temporary redness or swelling you might get from any injection). Besides better results, patients also like the fact that Hymovis requires only 2 weekly injections as opposed to the 3-5 from other viscosupplementary products (SynVisc, GenVisc, or HA).
Another plus of Hymovis is insurance coverage from Medicare. At Solutions, we are always looking for the best, most effective products to help our patients. We will be the first in the area to offer this and expect its arrival in the next 2 weeks. If you suffer with chronic knee pain, contact us for more information or to schedule an appointment to try it.
