What is Knee Osteoarthritis?

What is Knee Osteoarthritis?

Knee Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease where the protective cartilage in your knee gradually wears down, leading to bone-on-bone contact, inflammation, and joint damage.

The most common causes for knee osteoarthritis are age, obesity, previous knee injuries, repetitive stress from certain occupations or sports, and genetics. Most cases develop gradually over time.

Symptoms of knee osteoarthritis include pain that worsens with activity, morning stiffness lasting under 30 minutes, swelling, decreased range of motion, and a grinding sensation when moving the knee.

The diagnosis process involves a physical exam, medical history, and X-rays or an MRI to assess the knee joint and cartilage. We may also do blood tests to rule out other types of arthritis.

Conservative treatment options include weight loss, physical therapy, low-impact exercise, over the counter pain relievers, bracing, walking aids, and activity modification.

Interventional treatment options are corticosteroid injections, viscosupplementation, platelet-rich plasma therapy, orthobiologics, or in severe cases, joint replacement surgery.

The goal of treatment is to reduce pain, improve function and mobility, slow disease progression, and maintain quality of life while avoiding or delaying the need for knee replacement when possible.

Thanks for watching. Please take a look at another video, so you and I can have the most productive conversation about your health.