There was a time when elder adults had to put up with throbbing arthritis-related knee pain without any reprieve. Not just arthritis, even severe knee injury severe damage meant permanent damage that warranted crutches. Fortunately, knee replacement surgery has been a boon for patients who suffer from severe knee pain caused by arthritis or injury.
Replacing the damaged knee joint with an artificial one ensures pain-free life with mobility and movement that was deemed impossible earlier. However, a few patients who were suggested knee replacement were still apprehensive about this procedure, due to a variety of reasons. Despite being a life-changing procedure why does knee replacement surgery face resistance among certain individuals? We asked our joint replacement surgeon in Mumbai, Dr Chirag Patel and he explained to us the reasons and problems for ignoring knee replacement surgery. Read on to know them:
When Is Knee Replacement Suggested?
Knee replacement is suggested by a joint replacement surgeon in Mumbai when all other alternatives fail to provide adequate relief and the knee problem seems to be deteriorating day by day. In every case of knee arthritis and injury, there is a certain sequence of treatment provided for patients and this includes RICE, physical therapy, medication and injections; only when they fail to provide adequate treatment will a joint replacement surgeon suggest a knee replacement surgery to the patient.
Why Do People Delay or Ignore Knee Replacement?
“Two reasons are prominent – fear and doubts about the recovery. The idea of completely replacing the knee joint with an artificial joint may trigger fear in a few patients. And for others there arise plenty of doubts about the recovery process”, says the best joint replacement surgeon in Mumbai Dr Chirag Patel. Some of the patients also actively look out for joint replacement alternatives, which tend to be most optimal or efficient in the longer run.
What Happens If You Ignore Knee Replacement?
Once knee replacement is considered the best possible option for a patient, waiting only increases the severity of the condition. The complexity of the procedure is directly proportional to the severity of the surgery too. So longer one waits the more complex the surgery tends to become.
According to Dr Chirag Patel, some of the common issues that we see in ignored or delayed knee replacement surgery are as follows:
- Deformity of the knee can become severe and this makes it harder to replace.
- Surgical procedure tends to become complex and time taking.
- Addition knee surgery procedures like knee surfacing may be required.
“A patient for whom a partial knee replacement surgery is required delayed the procedure and we had to perform total knee replacement surgery in Mumbai. Though the surgery was successful, the time and complexity of the procedure could have cut down had the patient acted earlier”, says Dr Chirag Patel.
The recovery from the knee replacement surgery is not long too. Patients can quickly return to their regular activities in a short amount of time. The dos and don’ts after joint replacement surgery are made understood to the patients and when they stick to best practices the recovery is fairly quick and easy.
For more information about joint replacement cost, recovery procedure and alternatives, you can contact the joint replacement surgeon in Mumbai, Dr Chirag Patel .