Common treatment options include:

​

- Rest / unloading

​

   > Complete rest: Apart from the major acute traumas, complete rest is rarely required. The injured body area is protected, whereas other parts of the body still should be active to improve blood circulation that will aid recovery and also improve overall health. 

​

- Relative rest / optimal loading

​

  > Partial loading or loading as tolerated: Instead of the well-known RICE or PRICE regime, the emphasis is now on optimal loading rather than resting. This helped to develop the recommendation acronym POLICE (Protection, Optimal Loading, and Ice, Compress, Elevate). Learn how you can protect your injured body part but at the same time load it safely. Evidence shows that this type of loading significantly reduced the time to heal and return function. 

​

- Simple pain medications 

​

 > Most over-the-counter pain medications are safe for short-term use, but some types are not recommended in the initial days of your injury. The recommendations also depend on the severity of your acute injury. For chronic or long-standing injuries, increased dependency on pain medications needs a thorough assessment as to why healing is not taking place instead of trying to find the best medicine. 

​

- Tailored exercise program for your needs

​

 > Undoubtedly, this is the best way of managing musculoskeletal conditions but with some caveats. You need to comprehend what type of exercise is required at which stage of your recovery, as well as which exercises or equipment you should avoid. You may be surprised that simple exercises can provide a rapid pain-relief effect that is usually neglected. Also, it should be noted that exercise programs need to be revised or modified according to the difficulty, compliance, effect on the injured body area, or once they become very easy to perform. This is why we cooperate with Exercise Physiologists and Physiotherapists that are experts in this area. 

​

- Protective taping/bracing

​

 > Used for hundreds and thousands of years, injured body parts can be externally supported utilizing braces or semi-elastic bandages. More recently, these materials have become very comfortable to use, and there is a wide range of materials to choose from. Learn which one to choose and which to avoid to help your recovery. 

​

- Injection therapies

​

   - Local anesthetic injections: Simple local anesthetics can be delivered around your painful body region with a special technique that can help to reduce perceived pain. This is especially effective when there is an ongoing peripheral sensitization (pain out of proportion to the extent of the injury), or the injured tissue is considered to produce pain signals constantly even though the injury itself has healed. 

​

   - Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections: This type of injection therapy might be preferred, especially if you have arthritis or a ligament injury. For big joints like the knee, a series of injections (3 injections 2-3 weeks apart) is preferred, whereas, for small joints and ligaments, only one injection might be adequate. PRP injections are delivered under ultrasound guidance by Dr Gozubuyuk.

​

   - Cortisone injections: Sometimes, the initial inflammation of the joint is significant enough for us to consider cortisone over other types of injections. This injection is usually very well tolerated and there is immediate pain relief from the local anesthetics combined and an ongoing anti-inflammatory effect from the cortisone. The number of injections per body region is limited due to long-term side effects. Discuss whether this injection is suitable for you or not. Cortisone is delivered under ultrasound guidance by Dr Gozubuyuk.

​

- Referral to a surgeon

 

 > If your condition is considered best addressed by surgery, a referral will be arranged to provide you with the specialist care. 

​