The Conservative Alternatives To Total Knee Replacement

• October 19, 2021

For someone with moderate to severe arthritis- what can they do to avoid surgery?
Typically, there is a spectrum of treatment and at the end of that spectrum is surgery. It can be as simple as simple as taking over the counter or prescription strength anti inflammatory, like ibuprofen and Tylenol. It’s very important to remain active and maintain a healthy joint motion to sustain joint health. Exercises that help with range of motion are recommended, like physical therapy. It can even be as simple as going to the gym and doing low impact exercising like swimming and bicycling.
If a patient has arthritis that is isolated to one compartment of the knee (versus many compartments of the knee), bracing can also be very effective. The unloader brace is highly recommended by orthopedic doctors because you can unload the weight bearing through that one compartment. After that, patients often turn to injections. Ultimately, docotrs are looking to minimize the amount of inflammation a patient has, which is what’s causing the pain. Typically, patients begin with a steroid injection, like cortisone. There are also anti-inflammatory injections (hyaluronic acid) that are specifically designed to decrease the friction in the knee. Essentially, it’s like a shot of lubrication to the joint. Then there is regenerative medicine, which often includes platelet rich plasma shots. (PRP injections).