What is Knee Arthritis?

Arthritis means inflammation (swelling / soreness) of the Knee joint

What are the symptoms of Knee Arthritis?

Usually, it starts with stiffness in day today activities especially more prominent in the morning, gradually it increases along with pain in the knee while bending the knee & walking. There may have difficulty in sitting cross legged. There might be swelling on the knee.

 What is the cause of Knee Arthritis?

Most common cause of Knee Arthritis is age related wear & tear of the joint (Primary Osteoarthritis). In some people it starts earlier than the average expected age. Apart from this other causes of arthritis are (Secondary Osteoarthritis) previous injury to the knee causing damage to the knee cartilage, long standing ligament injury of the knee, Any systemic arthritis leading to repeated pain & inflammation of the joint

What are the stages of Knee arthritis?

Arthritis starts with cartilage softening mostly on the inner side of the knee, later this softening progress to localised cartilage fraying & damage, eventually a localised full thickness cartilage loss occurs. This small area increases in size over time & eventually the whole surface becomes bare of the cartilage leading to persistent pain & in some cases deformity

Is Knee Arthritis Genetic?

This depends on the cause of arthritis only under lying systemic arthritis like Rheumatoid Arthritis) which is genetically transferable can fall under this category. Most other causes are preventable unless there is some inherent deformity of the knee

What is the treatment of Knee Arthritis?

Treatment depends upon age of the person, activity level, stage of the arthritis & most importantly area of the knee involved. Early stages can well be managed with lifestyle modification, exercises for the knee, weight reduction if needed & initially some medications to control the pain & inflammation.

Isolated single compartment advanced arthritis can be managed with various joint preserving procedures like the High Tibial Osteotomy (HTO) which avoids Knee Replacement especially in younger subset of patients. Older patients & tri-compartmental advanced Osteoarthritis usually needs a Total Knee Replacement

How can one Prevent Knee Arthritis?

Identifying the underlying problem early & trying to rectify it be it exercises, lifestyle modification, weight reduction, corrective surgery, medical management of rheumatoid arthritis goes a long way to prevent further worsening of the joint & preventing Knee replacement. If you are looking for Knee Pain Treatment do visit a Knee Specialist at the earliest to avoid it from worsening. We also have best medical facilities for knee ligament surgery being done by our best knee surgeon.