Okay, maybe my brain is slow today........someone explain what the hell they're talking about here??
http://www.arthritis.org/lacking-evidence-for-OA-treatments. php
What I mean by that, is that I can't figure out what THEY mean by "just because the study says its ineffective doesn't mean it doesn't work"
I'm just not porcessing today. hi, I take them. I've taken them for years, but never known for sure if they work or not. They aren't expensive, so I say , "what the heck', maybe they do help? Lyndathey are essentially saying that there is no clear evidence either way towards effectiveness or non effectiveness of these treatments. More, better prepared larger studies are needed.Katie, the article is basically stating that they can't find any real scientific evidence that these things actually help the patient's. Although they don't find any real reason for them to help your joint's or pain; it also states they can't find any scientific proof these treatment's don't work either. They kind of leave it hanging in the way the article reads: Maybe it does work, Maybe it doesn't.... Until they find something scientific proving one way or the other, they aren't going to change a thing.
What worries me about these kinds of articles are that I'm afraid it will make it more difficult for us to get these treatments approved by our insurance companies when we need them. Notice who sponsored the test? BCBS. Now, I'll bet they're going to require more information from the Dr.'s and more evidence that a cheaper treatment won't work just as well, and because of this article, or possibly work even better. I just hate it when they try to play Dr.!!!
Love and God Bless,
Vicki
It was a meta analysis, right? And they did notice that some people do benefit from the 3 treatments.
Pip
I guess what I dont get, is if they didnt' find anything bad, or good......why are they talking about it? It just seems like there's a lot of that, and not a lot of "hey, this WORKS!" going on. Couldn't they just skip the "well....we're not really sure...." and keep testing and trying???? Am I asking too much??
Alright, I can add some practical sides to this, because I have had two of these things.
I have had two orthoscopic surgeries on my Left knee and one on my right. Now the left knee(up until recently) has been doing well. Although it did not start doing well until the second surgery and recovery(done one year apart, surgeon dx my arthritis, because of damage accum. in one year). Now...the right knee has had the surgery and I have had the injection of the fluid. The right knee probably needs to be redone again. I am only four months out from surgery. I know that we did not get the results I would need for recovery, and I did rush the recovery of this one, partly because it worked so well the second time around.
Katie, I think your question is valid. Now...I had to have a stress test done, and an MRI each time I have had the surgery done. I had to meet certain criteria...but having the arthritis dx this time I got in a lot faster for surgery. I don't know where they have justified the article from, and I always wonder about these polls, cause I was not asked.
I will probably have the next surgery on my right knee...partly because the second was the ticket on the first one, but I also had a whole lot more damage on the right knee. I will not have the injections again...they did not work for me at all, in fact I think it made the right knee worse(had them only on the right side). I will have the steriod shot at three months though, because that seems to help the most.
I hope this helps, but it does sound like the insurance co. is trying to determine how this adds up. Also, I have been told that I cannot have my knees replaced until I am fifty. I have nine years of this...yippee, and my mother's doc told her she was too young and she is 57...I hope I am not "put off" until I am sixty....I may have to take someone out at the insurance co.
shoot I'm glad no one told my surgeon I had to be 50 beofre her could replace my knees. I plan to be dancing on my 13 year old knees when I hit that milestone.
Find another ortho. If the knees are gone they are gone
Regarding the knee injections, I've had three different sets of injections and will be having my rt. knee injected for the fourth time. These injections are only meant to lubricate the joint and in doing that there is less pain when using the knee. I knew that there would be no physical change and that OA wouldn't improve. Once the knee cartle. is gone, it's gone. My doctor explained the injection's function. I read the literature and it never said that it would improve OA. The wording in this article implys that patients think that OA would improve. That's not what my orthpod and RD told me and that's not what the literature says.
Oh by the way, the injections help with the pain for about 6 months and then I have to have them repeated, but it's buying me some time till my rt. knee replacement next year.
My mom had a couple 'knee injections' (sorry, don't know what it was, I was a self-absorbed teenager at the time) and it really helped her.
But I agree with Katie - soooo, you studied this and you came up with ????
Pip