Knee Replacement Surgery For Older Adults

If you're over the age of 50, you might be feeling knee pain that limits your daily activities.

Perhaps you are having trouble climbing stairs, walking, or getting out of chairs. These symptoms might be indicative of more than just “old age.” You might be experiencing osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis can occur in people 50 or older, or in people who have arthritis in their family histories. In osteoarthritis, the cartilage that cushions the bones of the knee softens and wears away. The bones then rub against each other which causes pain and stiffness. If your pain is severe, you might want to think about medications, injections, or physical therapy.

Should these options not offer relief, perhaps you might be a candidate for knee replacement. Candidates tend to have severe knee pain that limits those daily activities mentioned earlier. You might also suffer from chronic knee inflammation, deformity, and stiffness that does not allow you to straighten your knee. Total knee replacement can give you a dramatic reduction of knee pain and increased ability to handle those daily activities that are giving you trouble. Normal activities after surgery recovery include walking, biking, swimming, golf, driving, ballroom dancing and stair climbing.

What does total knee replacement entail? This two-hour procedure involves the removal of damages cartilage and bone that are replaced by new metal and plastic joint surfaces to restore the alignment and function of your knee. Patients are often in the hospital for three to seven days, depending on how well they heal after surgery.

If you have the surgery, you will be able to walk on crutches or a walker soon after surgery. You will need help for several weeks with such tasks as cooking, shopping, bathing, and doing laundry.

Your recovery experience will include a great deal of physical therapy to build up the quadricep, abductor and adductor muscles that help you with balance, bending and pushing off when you walk.

If your left knee was replaced and you have an automatic transmission, you may be able to begin driving in a week or so, provided you are no longer taking narcotic pain medication. If your right knee was replaced, avoid driving for 6 to 8 weeks. If you are recovering at home, make yourself more comfortable by rearranging furniture so you can maneuver with a walker or crutches. Remove throw rugs that could cause you to slip. You should also install a shower chair and a bar grip in the shower, if possible.

You should give total knee replacement serious thought because of the commitment to recovery after surgery. Make sure it is a decision with which you are comfortable. Some older adults avoid having the surgery because they are fearful of complications and dread the long recovery time; however, the rewards can greatly outweigh the risks. Surgery won't make you a super-athlete or allow you to do more than you could before you developed arthritis, but it can give you a better quality of life.

Reference: American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons