Should I try anything else before I go under the knife?

AN ARTIFICIAL knee will never be as good as your own — most patients rate them about three-quarters as good, according to the charity Arthritis Research UK. Plus, surgery carries a risk of infection, bleeding and the implant failing, so if you don’t need it, you don’t want it. There are options to try before surgery, ask your surgeon if you are suitable. ‘If you wait too long, the knee gets stiffer and more deformed,’ says Professor Turner, ‘and results of surgery are worse if knees are really bad to start with.’ Steroid injections can ease inflammation and pain, while physiotherapy strengthens the thigh muscles that support the joint. Orthotics (insoles to correct knee alignment and gait) or an ‘off-loading’ knee brace (which applies pressure to the unaffected side of the knee) may have ‘some benefit’, he adds. But in most cases, these only delay surgery by six months to a year.