Chronic Arthritis In Knee
Chronic arthritis in knee patients is generally called osteoarthritis. This is degenerative and that means that the cartilage within the knee will continue to break down and get smaller. This causes the bones in the knee to rub together and it causes the knee arthritis symptoms that are often experienced. While, this may be very painful, there are treatment options available that can decrease your pain.
There are a few common symptoms related to knee osteoarthritis. You will have pain in your knees and your knees will seem to be very stiff. You may also walk with a limp because of the pain and swelling that you are experiencing. These symptoms can be managed and it is possible to decrease the pain without surgery. You simply need to learn the different techniques that can be implemented to help with your condition.
Knee osteoarthritis is usually seen in individuals that are over the age of 50. It may also be experienced by individuals that have weight issues because the knees are trying to support extra weight. This adds stress to the joints and can increase knee arthritis symptoms. Because of this, it may be very helpful to work on dieting and exercising in order to decrease weight. This will lessen the stress on the knees and may make you feel better. This is the simplest treatment that there is and it may actually work if weight is lost.
Another option for treatment may be physical therapy. While patients are not going to be able to replace the damaged cartilage, they may be able to learn to use their knee with less pain. Some physical therapists will also help the patient learn how to use assistive devices and braces that may take some of the pressure off of the knees and help you feel better. Patients may want to try this before knee arthritis surgery. It may be very helpful and what you learn may help you function better.
Knee arthritis surgery is not generally done unless everything else has been tried and the pain is not decreasing. There may be times when surgery may be a good idea very early on but this is usually seen with younger patients that may have injured themselves playing a sport or something similar to that. With a total knee replacement, everything is removed from the knee. Then metal and plastic is placed where the knee once was. Another option for knee surgery would be a partial replacement. During this procedure only part of the knee is removed and replaced.
Please see http://orthopedics.about.com/cs/generalinfo1/a/kneearthritis.htm for more information about chronic arthritis in knee treatments.