​The pros and cons of knee replacement

In order to better adapt to daily activities and improve their self-care ability, many friends choose to replace their knee joints, that is, choose to undergo knee replacement surgery. After a knee replacement, you still need to take care of your body and avoid overexerting yourself to prevent your knee joint from being damaged again. So what are the advantages and disadvantages of knee replacement? Let’s take a look at it together.

1. Advantages and disadvantages of knee replacement surgery:

1. The advantages are:

(1) Surgery can also be performed on patients with worsening knee osteoarthritis and severe deformity, with good postoperative results;

(2) The surgical treatment period is short, and patients can basically resume walking in about a month;

(3) Chronic joint pain can be basically completely eliminated.

2. The disadvantages are as follows:

(1) It should have an impact on and limit sports such as running and bench climbing;

(2) The degree of knee flexion after surgery is usually slightly greater than a right angle, about 120°;

(3) Ten to fifteen years after surgery, there is a high rate of loosening between the bone and the artificial joint, which requires replacement;

(4) Postoperative osteomyelitis of the femur and tibia is common, and the treatment of infection is very difficult;

(5) Wear and loosening of artificial joints are also causes of postoperative pain and surgical failure;

(6) The price is too high and most people are unwilling to afford it.

2. Recommendations for patients with knee arthritis

1. Patients with knee osteoarthritis should try to avoid going up and down stairs, hiking, mountain climbing, standing for long periods of time, holding children, and lifting heavy objects in their daily lives to avoid excessive load on the knee joints and aggravating the condition.

2. Maintain a proper weight to prevent obesity and increase the burden on the lower limb joints. Once you are overweight, you should actively lose weight, pay attention to adjusting your diet, and control your weight.

3. Try to avoid walking long distances in high heels, as high heels will change the force line of the lower limbs. In daily activities, the elderly should choose thick-soled, elastic, soft-soled shoes to reduce the impact force on the knee joint and avoid impact and wear of the knee cartilage.

4. Before participating in outdoor sports (such as dancing yangge, practicing Tai Chi, etc.), you should do warm-up exercises, gently stretch the knee joints, increase the flexibility and agility of the lower limbs, and allow the knee joints to move before participating in sports. When practicing leg stretching, do not lift your legs too high suddenly to prevent excessive stretching of the knee ligaments and muscle tissue; when practicing Tai Chi, the range of motion should not be too large and the squatting position should not be too high.