# What may help before joint replacement? *What can you try before surgery? — non-surgical joint treatment Scottsdale* > What is the new injection instead of knee replacement? This non-surgical joint treatment Scottsdale page gives a short, honest answer. A sore knee can throb after a short walk. Reaching into a cupboard or pulling on a shirt may make a shoulder ache. It's fair to ask whether a shot may help before surgery. I'd want to know what it can do, whether relief is likely to last and where the doubts begin. ## What can a cortisone shot do? A cortisone shot may bring brief relief, often when a flare blocks sleep or movement. It doesn't repair worn parts inside the joint. Another cortisone shot can't be decided from the calendar alone. The last relief you felt, your health and the joint's condition all affect whether repeating it makes sense. ## What should you know about gel? Gel is meant to add cushion inside a knee. Some people feel better afterward, but careful large studies showed little gain on average. Those doubts need to be said out loud. You may still consider gel, yet cost and likely relief need to be discussed together. ## How is the blood-based shot made? PRP means platelet-rich plasma. A small blood sample is spun, and the portion with more platelets is used as a shot in the sore joint. Platelets are the tiny parts of blood that help stop bleeding. Concentrated PRP starts the same way but puts more platelets in the prepared liquid. Clinics don't all make the same mix, so results from one may not fit another. Some tests found more relief with PRP, while one careful test found no clear gain over salt water. At QC Kinetix, medical providers examine the joint before discussing regenerative choices, including blood-based PRP and concentrated PRP shots. The clinic can't tell in advance how much relief you'll get. ## Does a shot take surgery off the table? No shot simply replaces a worn hip or knee. An operation can still be reasonable once the ache takes over much of the day and other care was tried well but gave too little relief. What matters now is having a choice. You can ask what relief is realistic and when it would be wise to discuss an operation. ## Sources 1. In a 2-year double-blind randomised trial in 140 patients with symptomatic knee OA (Kellgren-Lawrence grade 2 or 3) and ultrasonic synovitis, intra-articular triamcinolone 40mg every 12 weeks produced significantly greater cartilage volume loss than saline (index-compartment cartilage thickness change -0.21mm vs -0.10mm; between-group difference -0.11mm, 95% CI -0.20 to -0.03) with no significant difference in pain. McAlindon TE, LaValley MP, Harvey WF, et al. — [Effect of Intra-articular Triamcinolone vs Saline on Knee Cartilage Volume and Pain in Patients With Knee Osteoarthritis: A Randomized Clinical Trial.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28510679/). *JAMA*, 2017. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2017.5283. 2. A systematic review and meta-analysis of 169 randomised trials (21,163 participants) of viscosupplementation for knee OA found clear evidence of small-study effects and publication bias. The prespecified main analysis, restricted to 24 large placebo-controlled trials with at least 100 participants per group (8,997 randomised), found a pain reduction of SMD -0.08 (95% CI -0.15 to -0.02) - the confidence interval excluding the prespecified minimal clinically important difference of -0.37. Pereira TV, Jüni P, Saadat P, et al. — [Viscosupplementation for knee osteoarthritis: systematic review and meta-analysis.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36333100/). *BMJ*, 2022. DOI: 10.1136/bmj-2022-069722. 3. The RESTORE trial randomised 288 community-based participants aged 50+ with symptomatic medial knee OA (Kellgren-Lawrence grade 2 or 3) to three weekly intra-articular injections of leukocyte-poor PRP or saline placebo, with participants, injectors and assessors all blinded. 93% completed the 12-month follow-up. PRP did not produce a clinically meaningful improvement in knee pain over placebo, and did not slow medial tibial cartilage volume loss on MRI. Bennell KL, Paterson KL, Metcalf BR, et al. — [Effect of Intra-articular Platelet-Rich Plasma vs Placebo Injection on Pain and Medial Tibial Cartilage Volume in Patients With Knee Osteoarthritis: The RESTORE Randomized Clinical Trial.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34812863/). *JAMA*, 2021. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2021.19415. 4. A meta-analysis of 16 randomised trials (807 participants) of intra-articular mesenchymal stem cells for chronic knee pain from osteoarthritis found that at 3-6 months MSC therapy probably produces little to no difference in pain (WMD -0.74cm on a 10cm VAS, 95% CI -1.16 to -0.33, against a minimally important difference of 1.5cm) or physical function, both moderate certainty; at 12 months, probably little to no difference in pain. MSC therapy may increase the risk of any adverse event (RR 2.67, 95% CI 1.19 to 5.99) and of knee pain and swelling (RR 1.58, 95% CI 1.04 to 2.38). Sadeghirad B, Rehman Y, Khosravirad A, et al. — [Mesenchymal stem cells for chronic knee pain secondary to osteoarthritis: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38777213/). *Osteoarthritis and Cartilage*, 2024. DOI: 10.1016/j.joca.2024.04.021. 5. FDA states directly that regenerative medicine therapies - including stem cells, stromal vascular fraction, umbilical cord blood, amniotic fluid, Wharton's jelly, ortho-biologics and exosomes - have NOT been approved for the treatment of any orthopedic condition, naming osteoarthritis, tendonitis, disc disease, tennis elbow, back pain, hip pain, knee pain, neck pain and shoulder pain. FDA further states that being charged for these products, or being offered them outside an FDA-overseen clinical trial, means a patient is likely being deceived and offered a product illegally, and that a product's presence on clinicaltrials.gov or a firm's FDA registration does not mean the product is legally marketed. Reported harms include blindness, tumor formation, neurological events and life-threatening bacterial infections. US Food and Drug Administration, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research — [Important Patient and Consumer Information About Regenerative Medicine Therapies](https://www.fda.gov/vaccines-blood-biologics/consumers-biologics/important-patient-and-consumer-information-about-regenerative-medicine-therapies). *FDA.gov*, 2021. 6. A Bayesian network meta-analysis of 137 randomised trials (33,243 participants) comparing acetaminophen, diclofenac, ibuprofen, naproxen, celecoxib, intra-articular corticosteroids, intra-articular hyaluronic acid and oral and intra-articular placebo for knee OA found all interventions significantly better than oral placebo for pain, with effect sizes ranging from 0.63 (95% CrI 0.39 to 0.88) for hyaluronic acid down to 0.18 (0.04 to 0.33) for acetaminophen at 3-month follow-up. For function, all interventions except intra-articular corticosteroids beat oral placebo. Bannuru RR, Schmid CH, Kent DM, et al. — [Comparative effectiveness of pharmacologic interventions for knee osteoarthritis: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25560713/). *Annals of Internal Medicine*, 2015. DOI: 10.7326/M14-1231. ## What would help at the first visit? Bring the name of the motion that hurts and an old X-ray, if one was taken. The visit can cover your exam, earlier care and which next choice may fit. Book a free consultation: --- Straight answers for the joint that hurts. This Scottsdale guide covers help at home, urgent signs, care options and where to be seen locally. Scottsdale answers on sore joints, home care and clinic visits. This site is operated by the owners of the QC Kinetix Phoenix-area clinics, including the Scottsdale location, and those owners benefit when a reader books a consultation. © 2026 Scottsdale Joint Field Notes. General education only, not medical advice, diagnosis or a recommendation for any individual treatment.