Knee Pain In Elderly

Hello friends,

I am Dr Akhilesh Rathi I am a joint replacement, orthoscopic and orthopedic surgeon practicing in Dwarka.

Today I will be talking about the knee pain in elderly, knee pain in elderly is very common issue and you must have seen people around you elderly people having a lot of knee issues. So the first and foremost issue, we get manage is simply by some lifestyle modification, exercises, some weight control all these things help a lot in making knee pain better. So quadriceps exercise are the key to any kind of knee pain, plus there are some sessions which we can take at with the physiotherapist which help in making the knee pain better, also a lot of supplements are available like glucosamine and many other are available which your doctor can prescribe you so that it can improve the cartilage damage and also prevent further damage. Apart from that you can also take about some injections which are available which are the hydraulic acid and other viscosupplements which are available for improving the knee pain and the cartilage quality. So most of the patients almost believe me 90 to 95% of the pateints can be managed with this simple measures. In those patient in home despite all the measures have mentioned patient is still having pain, he is still having difficulty walking, he is still having difficulty in doing his routine course we should think about other options. Usually if the age is around 66, 55, 60 we can think about knee replacement surgery and if the patient is of younger age we can think about other osteotomy surgeries like the white osteotomy. So knee replacement is a good option in these patients in home other measures like the conservative measures I have already discussed are not working. So the timing of knee replacement is very important considering the fact that we only change the joint and not the muscle. So if you are not walking for a significant period of time maybe a year or two because of the knee pain your muscles will go down and despite the knee replacement your surgery may not be a successful. So usually my indications for knee replacement, includes if you are walking distance going down you are not able to walk for 20 to 30 minutes and the stretch, your knees are bending and your xray is showing significant osteoarthritis grade 3 or grade 4 osteoarthritis, you should think about knee replacement. So to conclude I will like to say that knee problem have solution and most of the time you can manage it with simple measures like your weight control, exercises and lifestyle modification like avoiding squatting, sitting cross legs, avoiding for long standing and avoiding stairs. Also kindly note and never said not to walk, so even in severe pain maybe a day or two you can avoid walking but otherwise walking is good for your knees so don't cut it out and a timely done knee replacement can save you from lot of medical issues apart from saving your new problems.

Thank you so much.