![]() ![]() Osteoarthritis of the knee is a serious condition. ![]() Studies show women also report greater activity and work limitations, greater psychological distress and more severe joint pain than their male counterparts. MYTH: Women have more “doctor-diagnosed” arthritis than men. New minimally invasive approaches appear to decrease the recovery time from this operation. In fact there are exercise programs that can alleviate the pain in mild arthritis a variety of medications and injections can be helpful for moderate arthritis and severe arthritis of the knee is very commonly successfully treated with knee replacement surgery (See Fig 6). MYTH: Not much can be done for osteoarthritis of the knee.įalse. It is a condition whose biology x-ray appearance (See Fig 4) and clinical symptoms are defined. MYTH: Osteoarthritis of the knee is just “aches and pains.”įalse. Studies show aging have more "doctor-diagnosed" arthritis. MYTH: Osteoarthritis of the knee is a “normal result of aging.” However people in occupations that require extreme and repeated heavy exertions (such as farmers) experience higher rates of osteoarthritis. There have been studies of long-distance runners that show that they are not more likely to get arthritis than more sedentary individuals. MYTH: Osteoarthritis of the knee is not usually the result of “overuse.” Many patients who experience a sudden flare-up will go to the doctor for care and for many patients this apparently "acute" set of symptoms will result in the diagnosis of this chronic condition. It can however result in disturbing “flare ups ” with increased pain and swelling. Osteoarthritis of the knee is not an emergency. Click to Enlargeįigure 1 - Arthritic Knee Click to Enlargeįigure 2 - Normal Cartilage Click to Enlarge Patients with severe arthritis sometimes can benefit from joint replacement surgery either partial (unicompartmental) knee replacement or total knee replacement (See Fig 6) which now can be done using a minimally-invasive quadriceps-sparing approach that can significantly shorten the recovery and decrease the pain following surgery. However if the arthritis becomes severe (See Fig 4 and Fig 5) the pain may not respond to those kinds of interventions. and for most patients who have only mild arthritis the pain can be managed with simple things such as ice rest activity modifications pills or joint injections. When the bearing wears away the result is a roughed joint surface that causes the pain and stiffness that people associate with osteoarthritis (See Fig 2 and Fig 3). The cartilage normally serves as a “pad” or a bearing in the joint and under normal conditions the cartilage bearing is even slicker than a hockey puck on ice. This occurs when the joint surface cartilage (also called hyaline cartilage or articular cartilage) becomes worn away leaving the raw bone beneath exposed (See Fig 1). Many kinds of arthritis can affect the knee joint but by far the most common is osteoarthritis which some people call "degenerative joint disease." Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine Bulletin.Resident Research - Intake and Travel Award Forms.Orthopaedic Surgery and Sports Medicine Interest Group.Residents Portal and Digital Curriculum. ![]()
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