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radiation oncologist. If the patient chooses to proceed, a CT scan of the affected area is used to create an individualized treatment plan.
Dr. Matter said the treatment is carefully targeted to the affected joint rather than exposing a large area to radiation.“ We design it to be very specific, very targeted, very conformal to the area that we need to treat,” he said.
Patients typically receive six treatments spread over three weeks, with two treatments each week. Each session takes around 10 to 15 minutes, requires no anesthesia and is painless.
For one of Dr. Matter’ s patients, Sharon Hinkle, the treatment came at a time when knee pain had begun interfering
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with everyday life. Hinkle first saw information about the treatment on social media. She had been experiencing significant knee problems and brought the treatment up with her provider, who confirmed that Baptist Health Corbin was offering it.
“ I’ ll be interested in anything at this point,‘ cause I mean, it was so bad,” Hinkle said. Before treatment, her knee pain had affected even simple activities around her home. She said she sometimes avoided the stairs and would walk outside and around the house to reach her basement.
She underwent two treatments a week for three weeks. By approximately her third treatment, she began noticing a difference.
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“ I can get up my stairs now,” Hinkle said.“ I’ m not having to go outside to walk around the house to get into my basement, instead of going up and down the stairs.”
“ It’ s such a blessing.” Today, she describes the difference as substantial.
“ It’ s such a blessing,” Hinkle said.“ I have very limited— I don’ t even want to call it pain— I might have some aches every not and then, but nothing.”
Hinkle said she experienced no side effects from the
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treatment, and wishes she had known about the option sooner.
Dr. Matter emphasized that LDRT isn’ t appropriate for everyone. Baptist Health Corbin recommends considering it for patients with persistent pain of three to six months or longer who have not received adequate relief from at least two conservative treatments, such as medication, physical therapy or joint injections. It may also be considered for people who want to delay surgery or who aren’ t surgical candidates.
The treatment is not recommended for people who are pregnant or those under 40.
For Hinkle, however, having another option made a meaningful difference. Her
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