Does Your Knee Injury Need Surgery?
Maybe it was a high school sports injury that you never got around to treating. Or maybe it was that spill you took skiing last winter that still gives you problems today.
Whatever its cause and however long ago it happened, a knee injury can affect how well you move. Fortunately, you can usually treat it with physical therapy or, if it’s more serious, with surgery.
But how do you know when an operation is your best choice?
The Telltale Signs
A three-part checklist can often tell whether your knee needs surgery, says orthopedic surgeon Charles Bush-Joseph, MD, a professor at Rush University Medical Center and team doctor for the Chicago White Sox.
“If you have a persistent loss of motion so that you can’t bend or fully extend the knee, that’s one sign,” Bush-Joseph says.
“If you can’t squat or bear your weight on your knee, that’s another sign.”
“And if you turn or twist a certain way and you hear a pop or it makes some kind of sound, that’s the third one.”
If you have only one of those three conditions, start with the basics: rest; physical therapy or some consistent, low-stress exercise; and maybe anti-inflammatory drugs. That may be all you need.
“If it’s two out of three, conservative treatment may be enough, but it may not,” he says. “If it’s three out of three, we think surgery is probably the best approach.”
Of course, the nature of your injury will drive the treatment that you need.
from WebMD Health http://ift.tt/1PeHD1G
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