Joint Replacement

If you suffer from chronic joint pain due to disease, arthritis (wearing away of cartilage) or trauma, there are pain relief options available. Joint Replacements help you understand the source of your joint pain when joints deteriorate to the bone and rub against bone causing discomfort and swelling and stiffness.  Understanding the source of your joint pain is important when researching your treatment options. The gauge below will help you identify if your joint pain is mild, moderate or severe and what treatment options are available to you at each of these stages of joint pain.

Gauge your level of Pain? 

MILD                                                             MODERATE                                                                   SEVERE 

Walking tolerable, but may be           Walking tolerable, but may need the                             Walking not tolerable;

associated with discomfort              assistance of a cane, walker or crutches                need to use wheelchair walker,

Mild Joint Pain

The pain and discomfort of mild joint pain can become something you learn to deal with everyday.  In this section learn more about the possible causes of your joint pain and some of the treatment options available for joint pain sufferers by talking to one of our OCI Orthopaedic Physicians.

Moderate Joint Pain

When non-surgical treatment options no longer address your joint pain, it may be time to consider other pain relief alternatives, such as joint replacement; only your OCI Physician knows best.

Severe Joint Pain

If the decision has been made by you and your surgeon to have joint replacement surgery, there is a lot you can do to prepare for your surgery and recovery.  Your OCI Physicians and nursing staff will guide you step-by-step through the process. 

If the pain makes it difficult or impossible to sleep at night, you have trouble with basics such as getting out of a chair or off the toilet, using the stairs or taking a bath, pain rules out everyday activities such as visiting friends, taking a trip and shopping, or medication does not alleviate the pain or has produced unacceptable side effects, it’s time to discuss your options with your orthopaedic physician.

A total joint replacement is really a cartilage replacement with an artificial surface.  The joint itself is not replaced, as commonly thought, but rather an artificial substitute for the cartilage is inserted on the end of bones.  This is done with the latest implant design and materials as your doctor deems best suited for your individual situation.  This creates a new smooth cushion and functioning joint that does not hurt.  Your orthopaedic surgeon can best determine if you are a candidate for Hip, Knee, Shoulder, or Ankle Replacement surgery.

Don’t wait too long.  The conventional medical advice has been to delay joint replacement as long a possible to avoid a second operation when the original artificial joint wears out.  Respondents with the most severe and long standing disabilities at the time of their surgery fared much worse than people who underwent surgery when they were less impaired.  If you wait too long, it not only becomes harder to fix, but may do permanent and irrevocable damage to the joint and it may never function as good again as it use to.