Until few years ago, Nirmala Devi used to be the lady on move taking care of all the household chores alongwith a active social life of her own. However, as she reached sixties, her knees started hurting and ultimately made her curtail her movement just inside the house. In hope of getting back to her normal lifestyle, she tried every form of medicine, massages, injections and therapies, but all were good for short-term and none for long-term. By the time she consulted us, she was extremely frustrated after years of limited mobility and numerous visits to therapists and n number of popped pills, and had started to believe that only death will put an end to this agony. A precise clinical check and couple of leg scans have re-iterated that she is suffering from advanced osteoarthritis of knee. We suggested total knee replacement, but she and her family were totally against the idea. In fact, they had been suggested knee replacement by various doctors before, and they came to us in the hope that we can cure her without surgery. On digging further, we came to know that the patient has been misguided both by certain advertisements making false promises of curing knee osteoarthritis without surgery and certain patient’s expereinces of kne replacement which were not as expected. The family as a whole also believed (albeit falsely) that she is quiet old to have such kind of surgery.
Ageing affects each and every part of human body and knees are no exception to that. Medically what we call as knee osteoarthritis, is simply ageing of knees. Furthermore, crossed-legged sitting which is an inherent part of Indian lifestyle, hastens the knee damage. If one takes proper care of knees, then rate at which knee degenerates can definiely be slowed down, but nothing can stop it altogether. Depending upon the severity of damage, different treatment modalities are advisable with knee replacements being reserved for cases with severe damage only. The quality of knee replacement is that it is the only one among plethora of treatment modalities, that actually works by replacing damaged part. Furthermore, osteoarthritis is a problem of old age only and if it happens in younger age, then its mostly pathological.
After detailed discussion, alleviation of concerns and reassurance, Nirmala devi and family agreed and we proceded with total knee replacement. A day after surgery she was up and walking, before discharge she was climbing stairs with the help of just a walking stick. I saw her three months later in clinic, she was looking fitter (had intentionally lost nearly 10kgs of excess body weight), happier and overall younger. I asked how do you feel, and she exclaimed “you saved my life”. I knew what she meant. Free and painful mobility is the one of the greatest gifts of god and nobody should be denied that. On a superficial level, a knee replacement may not have the life saving quality of heart or brain surgeries, but at deeper and more humane level, it does have an impact which is equally big. Physiologically, human body has been designed in such a way that any lack of mobility pushes all the organs of body, be it brain, heart, kidneys, GIT, lungs, towards poor function. A knee replacement in a right manner on a right patient results in immediate restoration of lost mobility and hence restoration of overall physical and mental health.
We, the knee replacement team, at W Pratiksha Hospital, work with the moto of “You. Mobile Agian”, where “You” stands for numerous Nirmala Devis, who are living an incapacitated life due to curable knee pains. If you or someone you love is searching for a permanent cure for knee osteoarthritis, kindly feel free to contact us, we are just a call away.
