Knee Osteoarthritis: When Surgery is Needed

In our previous post Osteoarthritis Causes and Treatment we read the common causes of osteoarthritis, but what are the treatment options available to prevent osteoarthritis? and if you already have this problem, do you know which surgeries can help you?

Of course your personal doctor will need to examine you in order to do a proper diagnosis and before surgery is you only option, your doctor will offer you a few options to prevent this joint/cartilage problem. 

The knee is the largest joint in the human body and this is hinge type synovial joint, able to move in a pivotal rotation. Thanks to its structure movement is possible, making our knee one of the most important joint in our body. Can you imagine the problems one could face if your knee suffer damage?

Preventing Knee Osteoarthritis

Some might consider osteoarthritis as a disease for elderly, however this disease can be avoided and is not an inevitable part of aging. Now that we know the causes and whom is likely to get osteoarthritis, now let’s see how this problem can be avoided. Here are 4 ways you can prevent osteoarthritis or its progression:

Avoid the Extra Pounds

As mention before, being overweight brings numerous of problems, one of them is putting strains to the joints. Being overweight, adds weight to the knees, hips and the joints of the feet; all this extra weight will cause your cartilage to wear away and can lead to osteoarthritis.

Fact: For every pound you gain, you put an extra 3 pounds of pressure on your knees

Do Exercise

Even small increases in exercise can make a huge difference; if the muscles that surround your knee and thigh are weak, you are at a higher risk of developing osteoarthritis. Exercise will help your muscle strengthen, reduce the pain and risk of developing joint problems.

Have a Healthy Diet

At the moment there is no specific diet that has proven to prevent osteoarthritis, however adding certain nutrients and vitamins in our diet; in a previous post, We are what we Eat, So Let's Have a Healthy Diet, we learned the numerous benefits certain vitamins and minerals offer.
In the case of osteoarthritis, studies have shown that Omega-3, Vitamin C and Vitamin D; can help reduce risk and its severity.

Protect the Joints

If you suffer an injury in your joints at a young age and don’t treat it, you put yourself at risk of developing osteoarthritis in the joint. If this is in your knee, you could predispose yourself to need arthroscopy knee surgery. If the injury occurred when in adolescence you are three times more likely to developed osteoarthritis and if the injury occurs when you are an adult your risk increases by five times.

Knee Osteoarthritis: When the is Surgery is Needed

Arthroscopic Surgery

In this surgery a surgeon makes a small opening in your knee and inserts a thin tube with a camera, this tube will allow him to view the inside of your knee. After examining the area the surgeon will remove damage cartilage; once your knee is cleaned, the pain you felt in your knee should be completely gone.
Most people will fully recover in a few days and this recovery usually isn’t painful; an arthroscopic surgery offers many benefits, these include:

• Relief from pain (Knee joints)
• Prevent the need of Knee Replacement Surgery

Knee Replacement Surgery

This surgery option is usually consider a last resort, after all other have not been able to remove knee pain. Knee replacement surgery, is a surgery that involves removing all or part of your damage knee joint and replacing them with artificial joint.

To fully recover from this surgery it may take months, but the benefits are that the relief can last years or even a lifetime.

This surgery is often consider a last resort as it involves more recovery time and not everyone is candidate for this surgery.

Knee arthroscopy surgery can be prevented protect your loves and share this information, save them from osteoarthritis. Hopefully in this post and the previous one you were able to find useful information that can change your life and reduce joint pain. Remember for Sani Dental Group both your oral health and your body health is important to us.

Even though we specialize in dental treatments our dental clinic understands the similarities between both Arthroscopic and Knee Replacement Surgery, these could be compare to oral surgeries like Deep Cleaning Surgery or a Full Mouth Reconstruction Surgery; if you are experiencing an oral problem, we invite you to visit us in Los Algodones.

In 2015 Sani Dental Group will offer our patients new facilities that can treat osteoarthritis. We invite you to subscribe to our Newsletter. In it you will see special promotions and know all the new technologies available to treat both oral problems and health issues.