Evaluating Joint Replacement
You received a diagnosis of osteoarthritis a few years ago, but recently, one or more joints have been more painful and swollen. If medications and other treatment options no longer provide relief, it might be time for joint replacement.
When you’re first experiencing joint pain and other symptoms, your primary care provider may suggest taking over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medications or trying other basic steps, such as activity modifications, to alleviate pain. Over time, your joints may become more painful or symptomatic as arthritis progresses due to degeneration or new injury.
Other types of arthritis, including rheumatoid arthritis, can also progressively damage the joints, causing increased pain and diminished mobility.
If you’re experiencing more pain in your joints or other joint-related symptoms, it may be time to talk with a Summit Orthopedics arthritis specialist about joint replacement options in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area.
When Joint Replacement Is an Option
When you first developed arthritis, you may have only noticed it at certain times, such as first thing in the morning or after exercising. As the condition progresses, your symptoms may become more disruptive, making it more challenging to complete everyday tasks like walking, gardening or cooking.
If anti-inflammatory medications and activity modifications no longer alleviate your symptoms, your medical provider may recommend working with a physical therapist or trying other nonsurgical measures. Eventually, however, joint replacement may be the most appropriate solution.
Your doctor may recommend joint replacement if you are experiencing symptoms that:
- Are persistent
- Are worsening
- Disrupt your daily activities
- Don’t respond to other treatment options
- Negatively impact your general health
While other treatment options, such as injections, can offer a temporary fix for joint pain, joint replacement offers longer-lasting symptom improvement and function in most cases.
Choosing the Right Procedure
Hundreds of thousands of people in the United States undergo joint replacement in any given year. Knee replacements are most common, but you can also replace other joints.
The type of joint replacement you’ll need will vary depending on the specific joint that’s affected and, in some cases, how much of the joint is damaged.
If you have arthritis-related joint discomfort, orthopedic surgeons draw on their specialty training to help you determine the type of joint replacement that will best meet your needs and relieve your pain. Your surgeon can walk through the options with you and help you make an informed decision about how to move forward.
Partial Versus Total Replacements
When it comes to the knee joint, both total knee replacement and partial knee replacement may be an option. During a total knee replacement, your surgeon removes the cartilage and bone surfaces of the knee joint and replaces them with metal and plastic.
During a partial knee replacement, only part of your knee is affected by arthritis and those bony and cartilage surfaces are replaced with metal and plastic. This type of knee replacement is recommended when only one portion of the knee joint, such as the kneecap, is arthritic.
During a total hip replacement, which is performed for arthritis treatment, both the ball and socket of the hip joint are replaced with metal, plastic and ceramic implants. Partial hip replacement is a treatment reserved for certain type of broken hips.
This is also the case when it comes to treating arthritis affecting the shoulders. During a total shoulder replacement, both the ball and the socket are removed and replaced with artificial components.
As a major surgery, joint replacement is largely safe but does come with some risks, such as blood clotting and infection after surgery. Your surgeon and primary medical team will help make sure you are in the best possible shape before having surgery. If there are ways to reduce your risk of complications—such as quitting smoking or improving your general health before surgery—our surgery and primary medical teams will help you achieve those goals.
What to Expect From Joint Replacement
In the past, surgery, including joint replacement, often required recovering for at least a few days in the hospital. These days, that’s usually not the case. Many patients are able to return home on the same day even after a total joint replacement.
Joint replacement surgery usually takes a few hours, though your experience may vary. Following surgery, you’ll be placed in a recovery room and carefully monitored as your anesthesia wears off.
Within a short time, a rehabilitation specialist will visit you. They will help you get up and moving. You’ll continue having physical therapy sessions in an outpatient setting after you’re discharged home. Participating in these sessions will play an important role in helping you recover and strengthen your joints in the days, weeks and months after surgery.
Before you go home, you’ll receive guidelines about your at-home recovery, including pain management, how to identify the signs of infection, exercises you should do to restore movement and range of motion, and how to care for your incision. You’ll want to carefully follow these instructions as you recover.
From Recovery to Relief
The days after surgery are just the beginning of your recovery. It’s normal to experience some discomfort around the replaced joint in the days following joint replacement. This is related to the surgery itself and the tissues around your joint healing.
The good news is that you will begin to experience relief from pain and other joint-related symptoms within weeks of your surgery. Joint replacement surgery is associated with successful outcomes the majority of the time. Most people who undergo the procedure experience a renewed ability to complete normal activities after surgery, as well as less pain and improved motion and strength.
Ready to take the first steps toward joint replacement? Find an arthritis expert or request an appointment online to schedule a consultation.
Listen to Summit Orthopedics’ experts share insights on how to decide if and when a joint replacement is right for you. Featuring arthritis specialists, Kristoffer Breien, MD, and Jonathan Biebl, MD.
