Men's Journal

Advice from our in-house doc on…

Knee Therapy

Q: I’m a runner, and my knees are killing me. Now my doctor tells me I have advanced arthritis in my kneecaps. What can I do?

A: There’s a new kneecap replacement for the thousands of men whose arthritis only involves that part of their anatomy (the disorder is called chondromalacia, or runner’s knee, and occurs when there’s irritation on the underside of the kneecap). An MRI can indicate if that’s exactly what’s going on with you, but if it is, and your doctor suggests that you go with a kneecap replacement, it no longer means hobbling around for the rest of your life. There are several advantages to a partial knee replacement, one of which is that you will preserve healthy bone and all of your ligaments for a much more natural-feeling knee after surgery ― and that’s especially important if you play sports. In addition, a partial replacement surgery may be less invasive than a full knee replacement, and you’ll lose less blood, require less medication, and have a faster recovery. Later in life, if all the other tissue in either one of your knees goes downhill (unfortunately it does in the majority of patients), you can more easily replace the rest of your knee. A recent study from the Rubin Institute for Advanced Orthopedics showed 90 percent of partial replacement recipients had no pain with daily activities three years after the operation.

E-mail your questions for Dr. Bob Arnot to dr.bob@mensjournal.com.

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This article originally appeared in the May 2009 issue of Men’s Journal.