Are you suffering from chronic knee pain for several months? Even after taking several medications, doing exercises and physical therapies, you did not find any relief? You may be frustrated and wondering about what to do next? Well, this is the time where you must meet the knee replacement specialist.
Meeting the knee replacement specialist doesn’t mean you will have to replace your knees. They are the specialists who know when to suggest you for knee joint replacement surgery. Your surgeon can also opt for other types of knee joint surgeries or treatments that are effective. If it is necessary then, your surgeon will suggest or advice you to do total knee joint replacement surgery.
In this article, we will tell you when your doctor can suggest you or when a knee replacement is needed.
Knee replacement surgery is normally needed when the knee is torn or damaged to the extent that your mobility is reduced. When a person is feeling extreme pain even while resting then, it means he needs to have knee joint replacement surgery.
Osteoarthritis is the most common reason for knee replacement surgery. Apart from this there are other conditions also that can cause knee damage like:
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Hemophilia
- Gout
- Knee injury
- Bone dysplasia
- Avascular necrosis
These are the conditions that can cause knee damage and due to this you may have to do knee replacement surgery. Knee replacement surgery is actually the surgery done to change the damaged knee with an artificial joint.
Types of Knee Joint Replacement Surgery
There are mainly two types of knee joint replacement surgery but this depends on the condition of your knee that which type of replacement surgery you need. Here are the two types of knee joint replacement surgery:-
- Total knee replacement (TKR): In this surgery both sides of your knee joint are replaced.
- Partial or Half Knee Replacement (PKR): This means your only one side of your knee joint is replaced. This is a smaller operation that requires shorter hospital stay and recovery period.
When to Have Knee Joint Replacement Surgery?
Here are the signs that are the right time for knee replacement surgery:
- Medication:- When the stronger anti-inflammatory drugs are helpless in easing your pain or don’t help.
- Other treatments don’t help:- There are many alternatives of knee joint replacement surgery – these may include cortisone, lubricating injections, rest and physical therapy. But, even if these options are not giving effective results to reduce your pain and inflammation then, it means you should have knee joint replacement surgery.
- Face lots of difficulties:- When you face lots of difficulties to do or perform your daily work. You can’t do even small tasks such as dressing, bathing, getting out of bed or chair or climbing stairs.
- Feel pain even while resting:- Your pain is severe day and night and you now started feeling pain even while resting. You need the support of cane or walker to get around.
- Injury or arthritis:- When your knee become deformed from injury or arthritis.
- Old age: Most of the people have knee joint replacement surgery at the age of 50 – 80. People who get knees replaced are in the age range, however, age is not necessarily a deciding factor.
These are the situations when it is necessary to have knee joint replacement surgery. But, before you can reach to a decision you should talk or have a conversation with your doctor.
Talk to Your Doctor
Choose a knee joint replacement specialist, who performs surgery regularly. You can contact the surgeon and let them discuss about their success stories with you. Then, you can share your problems with your doctor. Before you make up your mind for the surgery it is good to have a conversation with your doctor.
While talking to your doctor you can ask the important questions like how quickly you will recover from the surgery. Whether it will take week or months to feel back to normal after a knee replacement. You will also require physical exercises and therapies to recover which your doctors will tell you. All these are important to know from your doctors thus, you must have conversation with your surgeon or doctor.
Conclusion
We have discussed all the major points about total knee joint replacement surgery that every person needs to know if they or their relatives are suffering from chronic knee pain. Also we have discussed when a person should have knee joint replacement surgery but, a doctor or the specialist can tell you about the requirement much better. So, consult a knee joint replacement surgeon, who can prescribe you the best treatment to reduce knee pain or repair damaged knee. Get in touch with the best knee joint replacement by contacting at +91-9811173577.