Are you really struggling to enjoy everyday life activities just because of your constant and severe knee pain? Have you really had to slow down your everyday life just to maintain some sense of basic comfort? You DO NOT need to put your entire life on pause because you’re hurting. Therapy can be very effective for the treatment for your hip pain, but knee replacement surgery is more often than not going to need to be the route that you take. Let’s talk about when you might want to consider.
Knee Pain: When to Look for Help
If you have severe and long-lasting knee pain then you need to talk to an expert as soon as possible, you could be looking at a far worse issue than you may think!
- The knee pain is so intense that it keeps you from being able to even move as you normally would let alone be particularly active.
- The knee pain exists even if the body is resting day or night. (The intensity of the knee pain in the resting phase can help determine the damage done to the knee.)
- An injured knee (through sports or a fall) is not getting better, even after following doctors’ orders on healing. Chronic, long-lasting pain is a good indication that you’ve got a more serious underlying issue going on that needs to be treated should you want to be pain-free.
- Even strong medication offers no relief in the pain of the knee.
- Even small daily tasks like moving from one place to another in the home have become uncomfortable or even impossible – this is an issue that needs taking care of.
- Legs are starting to bow outwards and you can barely stand up straight any longer.
Non-Surgical Knee-Pain Therapy
You should always consider non-surgery options for any and all ailments you may be having initially. Therapy can at the very least often lessen the amount of pain you are feeling overall and push back when you will NEED surgery. The majority of surgeons out there aren’t even going to consider therapy before you’ve attempted to implement a number of different things.
- Medication
- Exercise & Diet
- Therapy
- Change in lifestyle
Knee pain is always different. Some of it will go away in a few weeks, other knee pain just needs some therapy, while some of it yet will need surgery before you can see any kind of true relief.
Knee Replacement Operations
You’ve got knee pain and none of the treatments are making a difference, now you’ve come to the point that you need to begin to consider surgery as your next best option. Knee replacement can truly give you a new lease on life and do fantastic things to improve your well-being. Though it’s your last option, surgery is a quality option. Today’s orthopedic surgeons are incredibly adept at knee replacements – and doing them so that they last comfortably for the long term.
Knee replacement surgery consists of removing damaged parts of the knee joint and replacing them with an artificial knee joint. The artificial joint is constructed of a combination of ceramic and metal. Although this surgery is common these days, recovery can take some time. Plan the surgery when you have at least six months for a full recovery. Your age, weight, and fitness before the surgery will determine the recovery period. Consulting with an orthopedic surgeon will give you a better understanding of the procedure and recovery.
Daniel J Albright MD is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon, who completed two fellowships in total hip and knee replacements.
Daniel Albright joined Raleigh Orthopaedic Clinic in 1994.
Medical Education
Daniel Albright completed his undergraduate degree at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, and attended Louisiana State School of Medicine in New Orleans. He completed his residency in orthopedic surgery at Yale-New Haven Hospital. Following residency, Dr. Albright obtained additional training in Spine Surgery at St. Luke’s Medical in Cleveland, Ohio, and Knee & Hip Replacement and Revision Surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital.
