Knee Specialist in Hyderabad talks about knee pain and knee replacement surgery
When you have joint pain, never ignore it. In the beginning of any joint problem, you may feel stiffness and pain in the joint. The pain can be mild to moderate. As the inflammation of the joint increases, joint pain increases gradually and becomes severe. The joint pain becomes increasingly problematic to the extent that getting dressed up, walking upstairs and downstairs, and getting in and out of the bed becomes difficult. You may prefer getting yourself confined to your bed and tend to limit your limbs. Even if you walk and move the risk of falls and injuries increases.
Treatment options before surgery for a joint pain
Pain-relieving medicines: Your doctor may suggest prescription or over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medicines or supplements alleviate pain. They offer only temporary relief but are not a permanent solution. They do come with undue side effects such as constipation, heartburn, other gastric problems, and liver issues.
Physical therapy –Your Orthopedic doctor may recommend physical therapy that helps improve your joint’s flexibility, movement, and strength. It also helps in improving the strength of your knee muscles.
Use topical creams, lotions, and anti-inflammatory gels. Your physician will prescribe you or they are available over the counter. The application of creams can help ease joint pain and discomfort.
Steroid Injections
Corticosteroid injections help in decreasing swelling and pain. This approach serves only temporarily. Extensive use of steroids gives only temporary relief but can cause damage. Another approach for treating knee osteoarthritis pain is to inject hyaluronic acid into the joint.
When Is It the Time to Consider Surgery?
Mild pain, in the beginning, may become moderate to severe over a period of time. With every passing day, the pain may get worse. Osteoarthritis of the joint is often a painful and debilitating condition wherein self-care measures and alternative options usually don’t work.
Degenerative and progressive arthritis may lead to the formation of bone spurs. Small pieces of bones and cartilage break and cause inflammation in the knee joint. This condition further leads to the deterioration of cartilage and augments knee joint pain.
If your X-ray shows a bone-on-bone condition (bones rub against each other) with substantial tissue damage, your joint replacement surgeon may recommend knee replacement surgery.
An experienced and expert Orthopedic surgeon who specializes in knee replacement keeps the following questions in the account prior to considering a knee replacement surgery:
- Is the knee pain progressively debilitating?
- Is the knee pain unbearable?
- Is the pain getting worse day by day?
- Is the pain making it difficult to move, walk or bend the knees?
- Is the person unable to sleep or having disturbed sleep owing to knee pain?
- Are there any difficulties in performing the job or doing work?
- Has your knee become unstable?
Surgery for joint pain: Another factor your doctor may consider before recommending joint replacement surgery is your age. Middle-aged and Elderly people must know their expectations regarding the outcome of knee replacement surgery. If they were active before and want to remain active after surgery, they should talk to their doctor. For people who are in their late forties and fifties, it is better to talk about their expectations and the outcome of the procedure.
Recovery
You must pay keen attention to what your doctor is saying. In addition, follow all the instructions diligently. Don’t even try to return to work even before the stipulated recovery time period. If you do so, you may get issues. The rule of the thumb is this – don’t return to work unless you are 100% fit. Furthermore, do the recommended exercises and take plenty of rest as suggested. The best surgical outcome and complete recovery period may take around 10 to 12 weeks. Discuss with your knee specialist in Hyderabad regarding post-operative care and recovery period. You can expect a shorter recovery period if you have undergone robotic joint replacement surgery.
Is Knee Replacement Surgery in Hyderabad Safe?
When knee joint pain becomes severe, your knee specialist in Hyderabad may recommend knee replacement surgery. As with any other type of surgery, the following question may pop up in your mind – “Is knee replacement surgery a safer option for me?”
Yes, of course – it is, in fact, the safest option to consider. Millions of people in India and around the world undergo knee replacement surgery. In almost 90% of successful cases, people feel much better than before. The success rate of knee replacement surgery is around 99%.
What factors determine the recovery time?
There are several factors that determine the recovery time after knee replacement surgery. They include your age, health status, the strength of your knee before surgery; post-surgical care, the type of procedure underwent; your individual case, and the instructions that you followed. In general, the recovery period may range anywhere between 3 to 4 months.
Knee Replacement Surgery Time
The surgery may last for around two to three hours