Knee pain can really take a toll on your quality of life, disrupting daily activities and limiting your mobility. Whether you’re dealing with discomfort due to injury, arthritis or other orthopedic conditions, DISC offers a wide array of treatments for those dealing with knee pain. Our world-renowned surgeons and expert care team specialize in a wide range of interventions, from minimally invasive arthroscopy procedures to comprehensive total joint replacements and conservative care approaches. Learn more below about how our personalized treatment plans can help you regain mobility and get back to enjoying life pain free.
Video: Coco Zurita's Knee Arthroscopy at DISC
Conservative Care
In the realm of conservative care, non-invasive treatment options are often attempted before considering a partial or total knee replacement. These approaches focus on alleviating pain through strengthening muscles, improving flexibility, lifestyle changes like weight management and more.
Common non-surgical treatments for knee pain include:
- Physical Therapy: Exercises to strengthen the muscles around the knee and improve joint flexibility may be helpful in managing pain.
- Exercise and Stretching: Regular low-impact exercises such as swimming, walking or cycling, can help maintain joint flexibility and reduce stiffness, while stretching can improve muscle flexibility and alleviate tension around the knee.
- Weight management: Weight management can help minimize stress on the knees and slow down the progression of certain conditions. Maintaining a healthy weight reduces the load on the knee joints, especially for individuals with arthritis.
- Using assistive devices: Incorporating assistive devices, such as knee braces or supports, canes, crutches or walkers may be used to alleviate pain by reducing strain and weight-bearing on the affected knee while providing additional support.
- Medications and injections: Using pain relievers, anti-inflammatories, and injections can help manage pain and reduce inflammation. Intra-articular hip injections with either corticosteroid or platelet-rich plasma (PRP) are popular options offered at DISC to patients attempting conservative treatment prior to a total hip replacement.
- Lifestyle Modifications: Simple changes in daily activities, such as avoiding prolonged periods of standing or kneeling, using proper footwear, and modifying activities to reduce impact on the knees, can help alleviate pain.
Knee Arthroscopy
What is a knee arthroscopy?
Knee arthroscopy is a minimally invasive surgical procedure used to diagnose and treat problems within the knee joint. During a knee arthroscopy, a small camera, called an arthroscope, is inserted through small incisions around the knee. The camera allows the surgeon to see inside the knee joint and diagnose issues such as torn cartilage, damaged ligaments, or inflammation.
During the procedure, the surgeon may also use small surgical instruments to repair or remove damaged tissue. Knee arthroscopy is commonly used to treat conditions such as meniscus tears, ligament tears (such as ACL tears), cartilage damage, and inflammation of the joint lining, which is called synovitis.
Symptoms Knee Arthroscopy Procedures May Treat
Symptoms that may warrant a knee arthroscopy include:
- Persistent knee pain, especially with activity.
- Swelling or inflammation in the knee joint.
- Locking or catching sensation in the knee.
- Difficulty fully extending or flexing the knee.
- Instability or feeling of the knee giving way.
It's important to note that knee arthroscopy is not always necessary for these symptoms, and conservative treatments such as those mentioned above may be tried first. However, if symptoms persist or if there is suspicion of significant damage to the knee joint, a knee arthroscopy may be recommended by an orthopedic surgeon.
Knee Arthroscopy Recovery
Recovery from knee arthroscopy can vary depending on the extent of the procedure and other factors. In general, most people can expect to resume light activities within a few days to a week after surgery. Full recovery may take several weeks to a few months, during which time physical therapy exercises are typically prescribed to help regain strength, flexibility, and range of motion in the knee.
Knee Arthroplasty
What is a knee arthroplasty?
When conservative care isn’t enough to relieve the pain, it may be time to consider surgery. A knee arthroplasty is a procedure that replaces some or all of damaged, worn or diseased knee joint surfaces with artificial materials. If you’re grappling with severe knee pain or limited mobility due to conditions such as osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, or post-traumatic arthritis, you may be a good candidate for knee replacement surgery. The procedure aims to alleviate pain, improve function, and enhance overall quality of life by replacing damaged portions of the knee joint.
A knee arthroplasty involves removing damaged portions of the knee joint and replacing them with artificial implants made of metal alloys, high-grade plastics, or polymers. There are a few different types of knee replacement procedures, including total knee replacement and partial knee replacement.
Our expert orthopedic surgeons use minimally-invasive techniques that require less down-time for recovery. Many patients are referred to DISC after failed knee replacements, and our experts can provide valuable insights to break down how the failure happened and how to treat it and prevent it from happening again.
DISC surgeons also perform robotic-assisted knee replacements, which allows the surgeons to perform an accurate and precise surgery personalized to each individual patient. With the use of robotics, DISC’s expert surgeons can map out a patient’s knee, measure the tension of their ligaments, and fine-tune their adjustments for a precise plan with the chosen implants.
Knee Arthroplasty Recovery
Thanks to the minimally-invasive techniques used at DISC, knee arthroplasty patients are up and moving shortly after surgery. Immediately after surgery, the DISC care team will have the patient get up, bend the knee, and keep the range of motion fluid.
After surgery, patients are supported at every step of the way through recovering from a knee replacement at DISC, which usually involves a progressive protocol where activity is slowly built back into your routine over time. Recovery from knee replacement surgery varies, and there may be physical therapy rehabilitation and long-term management to maintain the benefits of the surgery. Ongoing exercises and lifestyle adjustments to regain strength, mobility and range of motion after surgery is crucial to ensuring a successful recovery.
Tackling knee pain — whether through conservative care options or a minimally-invasive knee arthroscopy —will help get you back to the activities you enjoy. If you’re discouraged by knee pain and are trying to figure out the root cause, schedule a consultation with one of DISC’s leading orthopedic experts so you can get back to enjoying life pain-free.
