Health encyclopaedia

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Treatment of Cartilage damage

Conditions such as chondromalacia may improve and disappear over time, without treatment.

You can take analgesics (painkillers) such as paracetamol, or anti-inflammatories to reduce any swelling.

Other treatments you can carry out at home include strapping the damaged joint, for example using an elastic knee support. Cold or heat packs may help relieve pain and swelling, and some people find that the natural anti-inflammatory arnica will bring relief, taken as tablets or rubbed into the body as a cream.

It may be necessary for an orthopaedic specialist to use a fibre-optic camera to look at the affected joint. This requires minor surgery. Keyhole surgery can sometimes be used to remove the damaged cartilage. If a loose flap of cartilage is causing pain or stiffness, this may also be removed during surgery.

Physiotherapy is often recommended to treat minor injuries, and to follow up surgery.

Clinical trials are being carried out on a treatment called autologous cartilage transplantation (ACT) for the treatment of cartilage defects of the knee joint. This involves taking a piece of cartilage from elsewhere in your body and putting it in your knee, to replace the damaged cartilage. It is only used when other treatments have not worked, because it is still being tested as a treatment.

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