Dr. Smith is a fellowship-trained, Board Certified orthopaedic surgeon with extensive training in hip & knee surgery from the prestigious Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota & the New Albany Surgical Hospital in New Albany, Ohio. He completed his Orthopedic Surgery Residency at Michigan State University & medical school..
Your body weight and your job may be putting considerable pressure on your knees. This pressure could lead to a medical condition called knee osteoarthritis.
A recent study found that having a higher body mass index (a measure of height and weight) and living a more active lifestyle were both associated with a higher risk of knee osteoarthritis.
When patients with knee osteoarthritis are walking, their knees may jut out to the side. Shoes that imitate barefoot walking can help with that.
A recently published study found that wearing a "mobility" shoe keeps the knee joint more aligned in knee osteoarthritis patients.
Using flat, flexible footwear can significantly reduce knee loading in patients with the joint condition, according to researchers.
Surgery for a blown anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) inside the knee is becoming more and more common. New techniques to perform the surgery are on the rise across the country.
Damaged ACLs that were replaced using a double-bundle technique during surgery were as stable as patients who received the single-bundle technique, according to a study presented at a conference.
In double-bundle, the new ligament has two parts whereas the single bundle just has one.
People typically think knee replacement surgery is only for older adults with arthritis. But the surgery is also used for young patients when joint damage has become severe.
Recently, researchers found knee replacements did not last as long in young patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) as they do in older osteoarthritis patients.
Still, the procedure can be a life-changer for many patients with JIA – a painful disease that affects children. In patients with JIA, about 92 percent of knee replacements lasted 10 years and a little over 75 percent lasted 20 years.
Jeffery Katz, MD, of Orthopedic and Arthritis Center for Outcomes Research Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, and colleagues led the study to determine if patients with a meniscal tear and knee osteoarthritis had better outcomes with surgery plus physical therapy or just physical therapy.
Total hip replacement and smoking cigarettes just don't mix. That's because smoking can cramp the healing process. Even quitting just before surgery is better than not quitting at all.
Researchers recently studied a group of patients who had undergone total hip replacement surgery. Patients who were current smokers had higher rates of infection, pain and loosened hip joints, which had to be corrected with a second surgery, compared to non-smokers.
Hip joint replacements can help patients regain normal mobility. But just like any surgery, risks are involved in hip replacement. And women may have a higher risk than men when it comes to failure of the new hip.
Women were slightly more likely than men to have a failed hip replacement within three years of surgery, according to a new study.
The findings highlighted the risks and precautions patients should consider before deciding to get a new hip.
Preventing the risk of fractures as you grow older is important. Previously, vitamin D and calcium supplements were thought to help reduce that risk – but recommendations have changed.
The Task Force actually recommends against vitamin D in daily doses of 400 IU or less and calcium in daily doses of 1000 mg or less because it can increase the risk of kidney stones. At those doses, supplements do not prevent fractures in younger men and women.
However, the Task Force continues to recommend vitamin D supplements to prevent falls in adults 65 and older who are at higher risk for falls.
Osteoarthritis is known as the "wear and tear" form of arthritis. If you're overweight, you could be putting more strain on your joints and adding to this wear and tear. But losing weight could change that.
A recent study showed that patients with knee osteoarthritis may be able to relieve pain and improve function by losing weight.
Being obese or overweight can make osteoarthritis worse. Staying physically active is one of the best ways to avoid putting on extra pounds. However, many osteoarthritis patients remain inactive.
These findings suggest that there may be a serious need to improve physical activity among patients with knee osteoarthritis. According to the authors, increasing physical activity among these patients will likely involve weight management, healthy diet and improving pain and disability.
