Surgery for arthritis

What is arthritis?

Arthritis is caused when the joints of the body are inflamed. When a person has arthritis they will experience a lot of pain and have trouble moving.

However, if the person is able to control and take care of the symptoms of arthritis, the quality of life can still remain high and they do not have to let arthritis interfere with their everyday activities.

Contrary to popular opinion, arthritis is not a condition that only affects older people. It can affect people of all ages, including children. Diagnosing arthritis

If a person is experiencing stiffness or swelling in the joints, it is important to take visit to the doctor as soon as possible.

It is important for the person to give the doctor a full description of the pain and stiffness that they are experiencing. The person should not be afraid to ask questions, because working together with the doctor will result in the best possible diagnosis.

It is a good idea to make a list of problems and question before going to the doctor, so the person does not forget or leave out anything important.

The doctor will then check for bone swelling and creaking joints.

There will also be tests to determine the tenderness of the joints, restrictions in movement and instability.

X-rays might also be performed in order to confirm how much damage has been done to the joints.

However, if the arthritis is very severe, the doctor might recommend surgery to the patient.

Surgery

Most people who have arthritis will never need to have surgery, but, if the joints are severely damaged and no other treatments seem to be helping, then surgery may be required.

The surgery will be performed by an orthopedic surgeon.

There are several possible surgical procedures that may be performed.

The joints that are damaged the most may be replaced with artificial joints. The inflamed lining of the joint cavity might have to be removed.

The painful coverings from tendons might have to be removed, or the tendons might have to be repaired instead of removed.

Sometimes, whole bones will have to be removed to get rid of the pain.

In some cases, trapped nerves might have to be released. In other cases the joints might have to fused to make them more stable.

However, the procedures are fairly effective, and once the surgery is done and the patient has recovery fully, they should find it a lot easier to move around and perform everyday activities without feeling joint pain.