Knee Osteoarthritis: What Works Before You Consider Surgery
Knee pain in Indian adults often starts a decade earlier than in Western populations. Most patients can delay or avoid replacement — but not by resting the knee.
Read articleOsteoarthritis of the knee is wear and thinning of the smooth cartilage inside the joint, so that bone rubs against bone. It is the commonest reason older adults in this district stop walking to the market, the fields or the temple.
Symptoms
Not everyone gets every symptom, and the pattern can differ in older people, in people with diabetes and in children. These are the ones most often reported.
- Knee pain on walking, climbing stairs and squatting
- Stiffness after sitting or on first getting up in the morning
- Grinding or creaking sensation inside the joint
- Swelling of the knee after activity
- Bow-leg deformity developing over years
- Difficulty rising from the floor or from a low chair
When to see a doctor
Do not wait these out
If any of the following applies, arrange to be seen the same day. For anything sudden or severe, call 9281862028 or come straight to the emergency department at SIMS — it is open 24 hours and does not need an appointment.
- Knee pain limiting your daily walking distance or work
- A hot, red, very swollen knee with fever — this may be infection and needs urgent care
- The knee locking, giving way or unable to bear weight
- Night pain that disturbs sleep despite simple measures
Tests that may be advised
Your consultant will order only the investigations that change the plan. Most of the following are available on the SIMS campus, so results usually come back the same visit.
- Weight-bearing X-ray of both knees
- Clinical assessment of alignment, range of movement and ligament stability
- Blood tests to distinguish inflammatory arthritis where the pattern is unusual
- Uric acid where sudden severe attacks occur
- MRI only when a ligament or meniscus injury is suspected
How it is treated
Treatment is decided case by case — by how advanced the problem is, what else you are being treated for, and what you can realistically sustain. Broadly, it involves the following.
- Weight reduction — every kilogram lost removes several kilograms of load from the knee
- Quadriceps strengthening and physiotherapy, which works better than most patients expect
- Avoiding squatting, cross-legged sitting and Indian-style toilets where possible
- Pain medication for defined periods, and intra-articular injection in selected cases
- Total knee replacement when pain and disability persist despite full conservative treatment
This page is general information, not a diagnosis
Knee Osteoarthritis can look like several other conditions, and the reverse is equally true. Nothing here can replace an examination, your test results and the judgement of the doctor treating you — and no medicine mentioned by name to a friend or relative should be started on the strength of this page. If you recognise yourself in it, book a consultation with the Orthopaedics department. If a symptom is sudden or severe, call 9281862028.