Whether your joint pain and stiffness is chronic or from an injury, we have options for joint pain treatment.
First Steps: Ease Joint Pain at Home
You can take steps now to protect your joints. Staying healthy with food and exercise helps. But to slow cartilage breakdown and protect your joints:
- Stop or reduce activities that hurt, like climbing stairs.
- Try swimming or cycling instead of running. It’s less stressful on your knees and hips.
- Lose weight. Extra pounds make joints work harder and break down faster.
You might also try:
- Pain medications
- Applying heat or ice
- Ointments or creams
Interested in home remedies? Use caution. Some products can do more harm than good. At best, they just don't work. Popular supplements like glucosamine and chondroitin supplements help some but lack scientific backing. Do some research and talk to your provider.
Joint Pain Treatment
Joint Pain Treatment Without Surgery
If you need help staying active, see your provider. They can help you decide on next steps. We want to keep you up and moving.
Our joint pain specialists can provide, recommend, or connect you to services, like:
- Physical therapy
- Anti-inflammatory medications
- Steroid injections or lubricants
- Braces, canes, and other devices
- Nutritional and weight loss specialists
- Acupuncture
- Pain management
Non-Surgical Treatment Options
Before considering surgery, there may be steps you can take to relieve joint pain. Orthopedic surgeon James Browne, MD, walks us through the options. View joint treatment transcript.
Sports Medicine Care & Procedures
Joint pain doesn't always mean osteoarthritis. Ligament tears and other injuries can make your joints hurt. We offer procedures that use tiny tools to treat early arthritis and small amounts of damage. They involve very little cutting, less pain, and faster recovery.
Younger patients without advanced arthritis may look for procedures that:
- Realign bones to relieve pressure
- Repair or trim meniscus tears
- Restore cartilage
See joint care procedures from our sports medicine experts.
Joint Replacement Surgery
When all else fails, and your arthritis is severe, joint replacement surgery may be an option. If your joint pain, swelling, and stiffness gets in the way of daily life, surgery may make sense.
Learn about joint replacement surgery at UVA.
Fixing or Redoing Your Implant: Joint Replacement Revision
At UVA, we give joint replacements a second chance. You may have had a joint replacement that wasn't done correctly. Or an injury damages the joint implant. It could be that you've had your artificial joint for over 20 years, and it needs replacing.
Whatever the reason, our orthopedic surgeons are experts at fixing and redoing joint replacements. It may involve replacing some or all of your implants. Our modern cutting edge techniques can resolve these situations.
