The first thing is first. Improvement of surgery is the most important thing to understand about the surgery of knee replacement, which is a life, therefore, knee replacement is a selective surgery. Referred to as osteoarthritis, degenerative arthritis affects a large population from around the world. It can cause deformities of the knee and extreme pain. The most common deformities caused by osteoarthritis are arch legs or appearance of coup knead. The technical names for these deformities are genu varum and genu valgus respectively. These deformities caused much pain to a general malaise. Many people think of going for a knee replacement to restore its normal functions, but there are some alternative treatments for knee replacement, which can be tried before a surgery of total knee replacement.

Alternative total knee replacement therapy

Not all patients that it suffers from osteoarthritis, it is a good candidate for knee replacement. The factors that can make a non-eligible patients to knee replacement are age, decline in health, together with, if a patient does not want to go through the long process of knee replacement. Such patients often start looking for alternatives for knee replacement surgery. He was surprised to learn about available alternatives. Let’s see what can be the alternative treatment of total knee replacement.

Exercise: Exercise helps to maintain the movement in the joints, at the same time that also helps to retain the support of muscle. Due to arthritic knee pain, you may not engage in strenuous exercise regime, however, the option of walking every day is not discarded. It is best to walk in the water, which will take the pressure of the knee, at the same time will help in the reduction of the effects of the degeneration. If you’re not a big fan of walking, you can choose any exercise of low impact such as yoga, riding a bicycle, etc.. It is the advantage of the exercise, it will also help in weight loss. Obesity is often the cause of arthritis in many people. There are also many knee specific exercises, that can bring relief to their status.

Transplantation of cartilage: with the advancement in medical science, cartilage healthy part of the knee, that do not support the weight, can be transplanted to the area, where the weight bearing cartilage is damaged. This is a good alternative, when the area of damage is small. In cases, where the majority of the joint surface is damaged, that is, cannot be an alternative.

Osteotomy: If the problem in the knee joint is due to the imperfect alignment of the knee joint, osteotomy may be an alternative to knee replacement. In this sense, it is cutting through bone above or below the knee to realign the knee. To do this, the patient will have to spend a couple of days in the hospital and can take about 6 to 8 weeks to heal.

Arthroscopy: This is a minimal invasive surgical procedure, and only a small incision is made in the knee. A small instrument is inserted into the cartilage of the knee, and the damaged cartilage is trimmed and softens, which helps to reduce inflammation. If necessary, the lining of the knee is also cut, more helps to reduce inflammation. In this procedure, there is no required hospitalization and the patient can go home the same day.

Specialized keys: this is an alternative to the replacement of the knee in patients who have not damaged cartilage. These specialized keys are so designed that they transfer pressure from the knee to the area that has healthy cartilage. The displacement of the pressure produces less pain.

Knee Fusion: If all the above given methods have failed and knee replacement seems inevitable, it should not lose hope, because there is still an option that can be considered. This option is the fusion of knee or Arthrodesis. In this process, the ends of the bone of the tibia and the femur bone be cut planes, and then the ends are pressed together so that the leg is slightly inclined. The bones are held together with the help of pins, plates or screws. After a period of time these bones grow and combine together and therefore, the fusion of knee of name. The only drawback of this process is that the knees straight and they can not be bent. The patient can walk without pain, but with a limp.

Drugs: Inflammation in the knee joint can also be reduced with the help of anti-inflammatory drugs. There are a number of drugs are available now, which are specifically to treat swelling in the knee joint. These drugs are known better than regular anti-inflammatory drugs effects. Injections located to the knee joint also occur in the event of problem of degenerative knee. These injections are effective for several weeks.

For more information, you can read about:

Complications from knee replacement

Recovery time from knee replacement surgery

We have seen that they there are alternatives in knee replacement, which means that it must not lose hope. The most important point is that they must not suffer pain. You must speak to his Orthopedic and choose the treatment appropriate to his condition, as soon as possible, instead of ignoring and distorting the treatment.