Knee Arthritis Specialist

What causes knee arthritis?

Osteoarthritis develops when the cartilage that covers the ends of bones inside the joint breaks down. This cartilage, called articular cartilage, normally reduces friction and supports smooth movement.

When you have osteoarthritis, the cartilage gradually degenerates over years of daily wear and tear on the joint. However, knee injuries such as meniscus injuries, ligament tears, and fractures accelerate cartilage degeneration, causing osteoarthritis to progress faster than normal.

Your chances of developing knee osteoarthritis increase if you have a family history of degenerative arthritis; being overweight also significantly increases your risk. Overweight people are 4-5 times more likely to develop knee osteoarthritis compared to people who maintain a healthy weight.

What symptoms develop due to knee arthritis?

The bone becomes exposed as the protective cartilage wears away. As a result, bone rubs against bone when you move your knee, and bone spurs develop.

Knee arthritis causes pain, swelling, and stiffness that make it increasingly difficult to use the joint. In the early stages of osteoarthritis, your symptoms feel worse in the morning or when you sit down and relax after walking.

Since osteoarthritis is a progressive disease for which there’s currently no cure, your symptoms gradually get worse. When osteoarthritis reaches an advanced stage, you have significant joint damage, continuous pain, and difficulty walking and sleeping.

How is knee arthritis diagnosed?

In most cases, Dr. Codjoe diagnoses osteoarthritis based on your medical history and a physical examination. He may perform X-rays or an MRI to rule out other problems that could cause the same symptoms.

If Dr. Codjoe needs to verify your diagnosis, he may recommend arthroscopy. During this minimally invasive procedure, he makes a small incision and inserts a scope containing a fiber-optic camera into the joint. The camera produces magnified images that allow him to examine the tissues and see the extent of the damage and inflammation.

How is knee arthritis treated?

Dr. Codjoe focuses on relieving your symptoms and slowing down progressive joint degeneration. The first line of treatment may include:

• Changing or modifying activities
• Medication to relieve pain
• Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
• Supplemental glucosamine and chondroitin
• Cortisone injections
• Hyaluronic acid injections
• Unloading knee brace
• Shock-absorbing orthotics (shoe inserts)
• Physical therapy

Physical therapy is an essential treatment for knee osteoarthritis. Exercises that are carefully designed for your knee and stage of arthritis help to reduce inflammation, improve joint mobility, strengthen the joint's supporting muscles, and slow down progressive joint damage.

During physical therapy, you also learn techniques to calm the pain and protect your knee by choosing activities that minimize the stress placed on the joint.

Does surgery help knee arthritis?

In the early stages of knee osteoarthritis, arthroscopy to clean the joint, remove bone spurs, and eliminate frayed cartilage often improves your symptoms.

If you have arthritis on the inside of your knee and you're bow-legged, Dr. Codjoe may recommend a proximal tibial osteotomy. That procedure realigns your leg to take pressure off the knee joint.

Once your osteoarthritis reaches an advanced stage, the only treatment is a partial or total knee replacement. 

If you have knee pain and stiffness due to osteoarthritis, call Paul Codjoe, MD, or book an appointment online today.