Vibration therapy that relieves painful knees
WITH almost 3 million sufferers in the UK every year, knee pain is a common problem that can really slow you down. It is often caused by osteoarthritis, which affects as many as half of all people over 50. And there are very few treatment options.
NICE (The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) recommends conservative management for osteoarthritic knee pain. Usually that involves painkillers, rest, losing weight and exercise.
But it also recommends using medical devices for the treatment of pain. A medical device, such as a TENS machine, allows the patient to take less of their medication, such as codeine or ibuprofen.
Suitable medical devices include a new type that works along a similar pathway to a TENS machine, but is much easier to use — and evidence shows it is more effective. A nozzle is placed on the painful part of the knee and strapped into place The battery-driven device has a button on the end which you press to activate it. It generates high-frequency vibration to pass shockwaves through the skin to the tendon.
The shockwave effectively ‘scrambles’ the sensory impulses to the extent that they cannot be interpreted as pain signals by the brain. Treatment lasts ten to 30 minutes and should be given one to three times a day, depending on need.
Vibration therapy has long been considered a home remedy for pain relief. A recent article in medical journal The Lancet states: ‘Vibration is simple, safe, and highly effective and has the added advantage of being cheap to establish and maintain.’