Tips to avoid Joint Replacement Surgery

4 Tips to avoid Joint Replacement Surgery

Joint replacement surgeries are on the rise, we need to remind patients to stay active to keep their joints in healthy condition.

Pain is the main reason for joint replacement surgery, if we can eliminate pain, we may eliminate the need for some patients to have joint replacement surgery.

1. Regular Exercise

Regular exercise helps to stimulate the release of synovial fluid and provides the cartilage with nutrients to lubricate and loosen the joint.

Aerobic exercises and low impact movements such as recumbent bike, elliptical, walking and swimming at least three times weekly to achieve optimal joint health.

Click on below Video: Knee Exercises – After your Joint Replacement Surgery

2. Maintaining Proper Weight

Additional body weight leads to excess stress on joints and can cause the cartilage to break down quickly.

Therefore, emphasizing the importance of managing a healthy weight can help to avoid surgery.

Losing just 5% of the body weight can relieve excess joint pressure.

While losing weight won't replace cartilage, it helps to reduce the stress on their joints.

3. Supplements

The use of supplements like chondroitin and glucosamine can have beneficial effects on osteoarthritis.

Opioid analgesics can be only given for severe pain if there is no response to other treatments.

The non-surgical options depend on the patient’s level of commitment to make behavioral modifications through exercise and weight loss.

Click on below Video: Preparing Your Home for Return from Joint Replacement Surgery

4. Joint Injections

Injections with hyaluronic or cortisone acid are non-operative treatment options that help you to reduce knee pain.

Knee pain also treated with regenerative medicine treatments such as platelet-rich plasma therapy that help patients to produce more cartilage. Cortisone injections are also effective for hip pain.