Passions are important to our health. Yet, as we grow old, our bodies don’t perform as well as they used to, and this greatly affects the ability to carry on with our passions, especially for the elderly. Among all of the common elderly health problems, damaged or diseased knees are one of the most serious health concerns that affect their quality of life.
From Patient to Champion
Mr. Chan, a patient in his 70’s, had suffered from degenerative joint disease in his knees for over 10 years. Prior to the diagnosis, he was an active player of lawn bowls all his life. But because of the excruciating knee pain, he had no choice but to stop his passion.
His knee joints became stiff, making it very difficult to bend or straighten his legs. This chronic condition affected his quality of life so much that he had tremendous difficulty walking up or down the stairs. Exercises like squatting and lunging were just impossible for him.
The reason behind Mr. Chan’s severe knee condition can be traced back to the knee injury sustained in his younger days. Since medication couldn’t help much in his case, total knee replacement was performed on his right leg, which was degenerating at a much faster pace than the left one. After the surgery, his mobility was restored and his passion regained. A year later, he even won the champion of a Lawn Bowls Competition for Elderly.
Knee Replacement Surgery
The tricky thing about joint degeneration is that, it can happen to anyone. And how fast your joint is going to degenerate depends very much on your habits and if you have any knee injuries before. People who are doing manual work are at a higher risk of developing knee degeneration. When problems first start, patients could use medications for treatment, such as painkillers and hyaluronic acid injection. But when the condition becomes more serious, knee replacement surgery should be considered.
The whole surgery takes around an hour. During the process, the damaged joint is replaced with an artificial metal joint. Generally speaking, patients can regain their walking ability half a day after the surgery, and are usually discharged after 3-4 days.
Knee replacement has already been around for several decades. The design, material, and stability of the artificial joint have been repeatedly tested and proven, ensuring the highest quality and durability for long-term use. In normal condition, artificial joints can last over 10 years. So even for patients who are aged below 60 can consider this surgery when their quality of life is greatly affected by the diseased joint.
Dr. Sha Wai Leung
Orthopaedics Specialist at Hong Kong Adventist Hospital – Stubbs Road
Adventist Medical Center