Orthopedic Surgery

The best way to manage joint pain is also the least intuitive: Keep active

Your knees ache, your neck cracks or maybe there’s a twinge in your hip. If you’re suffering from painful joints, you’re not alone. Genetics, obesity and prior injury can predispose someone to joint pain, but arthritis is by far the most common cause, and more than 54 million Americans experience some form of it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Osteoarthritis is the most common type, and it happens when the cartilage in the joint breaks down and the surrounding bone develops inflammation. Osteoarthritis becomes more common with age, but you don’t have to just grit your teeth and suffer through it, says Jason McDougall, a professor at Dalhousie University in Canada who specializes in arthritis and pain research.

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Total Joint Replacement and the Impact on Future Falls in Osteoarthritis Patients

Patients who have had a total joint arthroplasty (TJA) demonstrate excellent long-term outcomes with increased mobility and improved ability to complete their activities of daily living. However, there is still an ongoing debate whether patients who have undergone TJA are at an increased risk of falls and fragility fractures. According to a new research article published in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons®, authors compared the fall rates of nearly 500,000 cases of osteoarthritic patients and found those who underwent TJA  experienced a significantly lower number of falls post-op than those who did not have the surgery.

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What Should I Expect from a Double Hip Replacement?

During a hip replacement surgery (also called hip arthroplasty), your surgeon works to remove parts of your hip joint that have been damaged, then replaces them with new, artificial parts.

Most of the time, hip replacement surgery is performed on one side of the hip (unilateral). But sometimes, hip replacements are done on both sides of the hip (bilateral).

Double hip replacements are less common than unilateral hip replacements. And there are different ways that a double hip replacement can be performed.

Read on to learn more about double hip replacements, what the procedure is like, and what to expect afterward.

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Moving away from hip and knee pain

If you have experienced severe pain in your knees while walking, climbing stairs or getting in and out of chairs, or suffer from knee deformities or chronic knee inflammation that fails to respond to anti-inflammatory medications and injections, it might indicate osteoarthritis of the knee.

Besides advanced age, other risk factors for knee osteoarthritis include heredity, gender and history of trauma. Although there is no cure for osteoarthritis of the knee, lifestyle changes can slow disease progression and reduce its severity. Osteoarthritis of knee can largely impair daily abilities and quality of life. However, a number of people live in fear of having a knee operation. Some do not know that total knee replacement surgery is one of the most effective ways to bring patients back to their normal activities in no time.

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Trouble with your knee? What you need to know about knee replacement surgery.

If you have ongoing knee pain, you know it can affect your life. You might struggle to walk a few blocks or climb stairs. The pain can wake you up at night. You avoid activities you used to enjoy, knowing that they’ll cause your pain to flare.

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