In 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) found that 528 million people were living with osteoarthritis (OA) — a condition that affects the joints and can cause severe pain. Although many people falsely believe that this type of joint pain is a natural part of aging, OA is a serious medical condition that can and should be treated by a medical professional.
Unfortunately, joint pain has more consequences than just mild inconveniences. Chronic joint pain can interfere with a patient’s ability to perform routine daily activities such as walking, climbing stairs, or exercising. The impacts of these limitations can be severe for patients, as a sedentary lifestyle caused by chronic joint pain can have broader effects on their physical health, and the isolationism of not being able to do the activities they once enjoyed can be taxing on their mental health.
Why traditional treatments for joint pain aren’t a long-term solution
To alleviate their pain, patients often start with over-the-counter medicines, physical therapy, orthotics, braces, or simple home remedies, which may provide temporary relief but don’t address the underlying cause. As pain persists or worsens, they may turn to more prescription meds, including opioids, which can be highly addictive, leading to even more serious problems. Painkillers are also well known to have various adverse events that make them unsuitable for every patient, especially when it comes to treating their long-term pain.
After trying these paths, patients may feel the need to turn to more invasive options like injections or surgery to relieve their pain. Doctors can prescribe different types of injections, such as cortisol, PRP, and hyaluronic acid. However, the efficacy of injections varies, and there is conflicting evidence supporting their ability to treat long-term pain. Not everyone dreams of getting a needle every couple of weeks to their knee or back, and patients often fear the recovery time, risks, adverse events, and mixed outcomes of these injections.
Doctors may recommend joint or lower back surgery if nothing else works, but this is hardly the right option for everyone. Surgery is costly, not just in terms of the procedure itself but also in the lengthy recovery time and the weeks or months of physical therapy it takes to restore one’s movement to a suitable range. There is also the risk of complications from surgery, such as infection, blood clots, nerve damage, and more.
Unfortunately, some patients, even after trying many different solutions, remain in pain, limited function, and dissatisfied.
How Apos is changing the game in joint pain management
However, a non-surgical option is available to patients that helps them address one of the most common causes of joint pain. It’s called Apos, an FDA-approved device for knee OA that is also FDA-registered for hip, ankle, and lower back pain.
Apos is an evidence-backed, foot-worn medical device used to retrain one’s gait — or how they walk. Apos is fighting father time with innovative science in a unique but simple way. Because joint pain can lead to bad gait, leading to more joint pain. Apos helps overcome this vicious cycle with complex science that is made as simple to the patient as putting on a pair of glasses.
Apos works because the convex pods on the bottom of the device create microinstability that, although patients cannot feel, sends a signal to their brains to shift weight in a way that changes their gait just enough to avoid putting extra strain on their hips, back, knees, and neck. This way, Apos helps patients redistribute weight and retrain them to walk without causing joint pain — even when they aren’t wearing the device.
Since Apos shifts the patient’s weight away from the painful areas, patients feel less pain as they walk. This is what AposHealth means when it says that Apos addresses the pain at its source rather than simply covering up the symptoms.
Best yet, Apos can be used in as little as an hour a day. Patients can wear the device at home while they go about their daily routine, eliminating the inconvenience of more traditional physical therapy options.
Apos is backed by over 15 years of research and development, with over 70 clinical studies, guidelines, and proven results that speak for themselves. Studies show that Apos can reduce knee pain by as much as 70%, while 89% of knee surgery candidates delayed or avoided knee surgery even after 6 years. This shows the life-changing impact that Apos can have on patients by allowing them to live their lives less hindered by the limitations caused to them by chronic pain.
Joint pain is a very real problem that affects millions of people around the world. Typical treatments like injections, surgeries, and prescription painkillers may help patients manage their pain symptoms, but carry their own risks and challenges. Apos seeks to revolutionize how people address their chronic pain by giving patients a way to address their chronic pain at the source, rather than simply managing their symptoms.
