This Common Knee Surgery is No Better Than a “Sham” Operation, New Study Says (For Torn Meniscus)

Surgery is a big industry in America, and it is especially useful in case of emergencies and other life-threatening situations.

We enjoy some of the best emergency medicine in the world, but are the many thousands of surgeries performed each year for preventive measures really worth it?

According to a recent study published in the New England Journal of medicine, one particular and common knee surgery might not be nearly as useful as first thought.

Is Arthroscopic Knee Surgery Needed? Study Might Surprise You

The study, which was published recently and reported on by CBS news, included a total of 146 patients between the ages of 35 and 65 who had knee pain for at least three months, and was conducted by a team of researchers led by D. Teppo Jarvinen, a surgeon at the University of Helsinki in Finland.

The team’s goal was to study the effectiveness of a procedure known as a partial meniscectomy, which is performed to relieve symptoms of a torn meniscus as well as pain.

The 146 patients were randomized so that an actual procedure was done in one group and a “sham” procedure was performed in the order group that mimicked the actual surgery. Time in recovery rooms was the same and all patients received the same post-surgery advice.

At the end of the study, it was found that there were no significant differences between the group that was given the actual surgery and the group that underwent the fake surgery.

Will Anything Change After “Fake Surgery” Study? 

Considering that over 700,000 of these surgeries are done each year in the U.S. and over $4 billion is made on them according to this CNBC article, it seems as though it may be time to rethink the prescribed treatment for such injuries.

There are many natural healing mechanisms our bodies can invoke in order to deal with problems like these, but they often are not given the opportunity to run their course.

Since the vast majority of Americans are likely to be extremely mineral and nutrient deficient and their circulation may be poor as well, it’s no wonder that these injuries are taking so long to heal and many people don’t have the patience to deal with them.

While every situation is different, it really seems as though waiting it out and using high-quality mineral supplements, nutritional support, rehab and much more could be a better answer to meniscus issues. Hopefully more research is done on alternatives to expensive surgeries soon due to this study’s results.

 

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About Nick Meyer

Nick Meyer is a journalist who's been published in the Detroit Free Press, Dallas Morning News and several other outlets. He founded AltHealthWORKS in 2012 to showcase extraordinary stories of healing and the power of organic living, stories the mainstream media always seemed to miss. Check out Nick's Amazon best-seller 'Dirt Cheap Organic: 101 Tips For Going Organic on a Budget' by clicking here, as well as its sequel Dirt Cheap Weight Loss.