Signs It Might Be Time For a Joint Replacement

At Desio Sports Medicine, we see, and treat, all kinds of joint injuries that can be fixed without drastic measures.

Treatment for mild arthritis can range from exercise and physical therapy to brace applications to injection and cartilage therapy.

In some cases, the best way to get rid of joint pain is to (putting it bluntly), throw it out and start over.

A prosthetic joint, whether it replaces the shoulder, hips, or knees, is meant to restore joint function and relieve the pain associated with arthritis and other common chronic conditions.

While prostheses work and move in the same way a regular joint does, it’s still a big step to replace a joint if you’ve never done it before.

Here’s a few ways you can know that it’s finally time:

Other Treatments Haven’t Worked Out

If you’ve been dealing with joint pain for a long time and saw an orthopedist in the past, they aren’t likely to have jumped straight to replacement surgery. Instead, you’ve likely used one or more of the treatment methods described above to attempt to treat your pain.

Whether they worked once (and no longer), or never worked at all, then the time for experimentation is past. Now is the time for action.

The Pain is So Bad You Can’t Go About Your Day to Day

Slow buildup and resistance to treatment is one thing, but intense pain is another. If the pain you feel (with or without treatment) is intense enough that you can’t sleep or carry out your daily routine without help—climbing stairs, walking a dog, doing laundry and other chores—then surgery is likely to improve your quality of life more significantly and much faster.

Doctor Evaluation Doesn’t Promise Good Results

If the pain is disruptive enough or the damage to your joint is severe (whether from an injury or a chronic history of arthritis and other pain), then your doctor might predict that other non-surgical or non-invasive surgical methods aren’t likely to yield good results.

If that’s the case, there’s no shame in getting a second opinion. If the two doctors agree that moving straight into surgery is the right choice, then you know it’s time.

Request an Evaluation Today

If you’re suffering from joint pain that you aren’t sure warrants a full replacement, call Dr. Stephen Desio at 508-363-6363 to make an appointment at our Worcester, MA office.