Knee Arthritis - Know More About It!

Hi,

I am Dr. Shekhar Srivastav, Orthopedist. Today I will talk about arthritis of the knee joint. You must have seen your parent or family member having knee arthritis. Joint is covered with cartilage. It is a cushion like structure which helps in weight transmission and smooth motion of the joint. So, what happens as it ages, slowly cartilage gets destroyed. Cartilage gets destroyed because of wear and tear. So, this problem starts from one side of the knee. As the arthritis progresses, the whole knee joint gets destroyed. It gives the deformity in the joint and the bone. The knee becomes bent. Patient starts having pain and difficulty in walking. Then gradually as the arthritis progresses, they have pain even at rest. That is the condition when they start coming to us for the treatment.

This can be prevented if we take care of the same. Many factors which are responsible for it. First and foremost is ageing, genetics, lack of exercises because it makes your muscles weak, obesity, weak bones, injury, infection, rheumatoid arthritis. So, take proper take care of your knee joint. You should not allow your weight to become more. Avoid obesity. Take care of muscles and for that do exercises. Maintain proper strength of your bone. Take calcium and vitamin-D supplements. If arthritis is settled, we give medications to prevent further loss of the cartilage. If arthritis is advance, in that case surgery is needed. Keyhole surgery can also be done which is known as arthroscopy. We remove the loose cartilage and meniscus. We can also go for knee replacement. So, in nutshell, Arthritis is not totally preventable but proper care of knee joint can control your symptoms and you can carry on with your activities.

Thank You.