Knee Replacement Surgery is a Big Step

It's March and with a long hard winter behind us millions of Americans are looking forward to Spring and getting out on the golf course, working in the garden, and getting back together with those social and neighborhood groups that come out of hibernation about this time of year. For as many as 27 million sufferers of osteoarthritis, however, springtime may not be as full of sunshine.

Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis. This is the condition that wears down your joint cartilage making your knees and other joints painful and difficult to move through the normal motions of walking, and sometimes even just standing. It is estimated at 50% of all people over 65 years of age have some form of arthritis, but that means that the other 50% of people afflicted with arthritis are younger, and for many, in the prime of their lives.

Sometimes just losing a little weight can help reduce the bad effects of arthritis. For others, treatment options such as medication and therapy are the best route to go. When these options stop working and you have to face every day with pain and discomfort it may be the time to start considering knee replacement surgery.

If you have severe arthritis, and have not been able to get any relief from any of the other noninvasive treatments, then you may be a good candidate for knee surgery or joint replacement. For knee replacement surgery the operating surgeon removes the damaged areas and resurfaces the remaining bone and cartilage of the knee joint and inserts an implant or prosthesis. The surrounding muscles and ligaments integrate the new implant into your body and provide the same support and functionality that you had before the debilitating pain slowed you down.

Knee replacement is one of the most successful surgical procedures with more than 581,000 operations done annually in the United States. New knee joint replacement techniques are much less invasive than they used to be which results in less tissue trauma and faster healing times. Less scar tissue also means decreased recovery time and more fluid motion down the road. After replacement knee surgery you could be standing on your new knee the next day after surgery and be back on the golf course in as little as six weeks. And feeling much the better for it.

Knee replacement surgery is a big step so you want to get all the information that you can. Your goal of course is to get the best possible long-term results so that you can get back to doing those activities that you enjoy so much and that make life worthwhile to you. Your age, lifestyle, height and weight are important considerations that your doctor will factor in and consult with you about.