What is knee arthritis?
Knee arthritis is a group of conditions that damage your knee joint and impede your range of motion and function. There are a few forms of arthritis in the knees, including:
Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis is the most common type of knee arthritis. It's also the most common kind of hip arthritis. Osteoarthritis occurs when your cartilage, the flexible connective tissue that coats your joints, breaks down.
Rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis is an inflammatory disease that develops when your immune system starts destroying your healthy knee joints. Usually, rheumatoid arthritis is symmetrical, which means it affects both of your knees at the same time.
Post-traumatic arthritis
Post-traumatic arthritis starts after knee trauma, such as a fracture, meniscal tear, ACL injury, or some other form of damage. The symptoms of post-traumatic arthritis can develop long after your initial injury heals.
Knees are a very common area for all types of arthritis damage, particularly in adults over 50.
What are the symptoms of knee arthritis?
The symptoms of knee arthritis usually include:
- Pain, especially with weight-bearing activities
- Knee swelling
- Knee tenderness
- Limited range of motion
- Knee instability and weakness
- Grating feeling when you move your knee
With knee arthritis, pain usually flares with periods of heavy activity and abates with short periods of rest. But, prolonged periods of inactivity can worsen your symptoms.
How is knee arthritis treated?
Knee arthritis treatment depends on how severe your disease is and how your symptoms affect you. Dr. Weber always does everything possible to minimize your knee arthritis symptoms without surgery.
Conservative treatment may include medication, activity changes, physical therapy, hyaluronic acid injections, and other injection therapy.
Should nonoperative treatment not work, or if you have very severe disabling knee arthritis, Dr. Weber may recommend partial knee replacement or total knee replacement. This surgery removes the tissue affected by arthritis and restores your knee with plastic and metal parts.
Dr. Weber uses the state-of-the-art ROSA® robotic-assisted system for total knee replacement. With the minimally invasive robotic surgery approach and multimodal pain control, you can get excellent results with minimal pain. Dr. Weber performs most joint replacements with same-day discharge whenever possible.
If knee arthritis prevents you from enjoying a normal and active life, it’s time to see an expert who can get you back to living without pain. Call Ian C. Weber, MD, or click the online appointment request now.
