Pay attention to the elderly people passing by, you may see a lot of people walking with a limp, gait deformity, knee joints bent inward, just like a “loopy leg”. There are more serious people can not even walk, stay at home to spend the last days. In fact, old age is not doomed. A routine surgery to replace the worn cartilage on the surface of the knee is all that is needed – to give older people a better quality of life and a longer life expectancy. Osteoarticular medicine experts remind that functional rehabilitation exercises should be performed in a timely manner after surgery, avoid heavy physical exercise, and “walk and cherish”.
1, remind: BMI over 25 fat people’s joints are prone to early “end of life” With the increase in life expectancy, more and more people’s joint “parts” in the years of wear and tear close to “end of life “. The cartilage of the human knee joint will continue to wear, where the inner cartilage wears faster than the outer cartilage, and after a number of years, the lower extremities gradually become “loopy legs” and unstable walking. This is not the same thing as rickets, which is caused by calcium deficiency in children, and is often a sign of degeneration of the knee bone and joint. The following is the high prevalence of “circled legs”: (1) long-term sports athletes engaged in sports.
(2) Middle-aged and elderly people aged 50-60 years old.
(3) Older people who love running, climbing, playing badminton and other strenuous sports after retirement, especially those who insist on incorrect exercise for a long time even if they have joint pain.
(4) Obese people who are overweight and wear the knee cartilage more under the effect of gravity, especially those whose BMI (body mass index) exceeds 25.
(5) Patients with rheumatoid arthritis lesions that have invaded the joints and caused deformation.
When the joint cartilage is worn out and there is osteophytes, elderly people with “rotund legs” will feel pain in their knee joints and have a hard time walking, not to mention going on trips, and their quality of life is seriously affected.
2, surgery: good 90% of people can be used for 20 years Many people think that “old is natural is unable to walk”. This kind of patient as long as the inversion deformity, walking pain aggravated, you can do the surface of the knee joint replacement surgery, the wear and tear of the surface of the cartilage layer, and then replaced with a layer of metal instead, “This is not the entire joint replaced, but if the ligaments of the knee joint has been very unstable or even ruptured, but also need to install a restrictive prosthetic device, locking the bone so that it does not crooked. “
Many elderly people are concerned that they cannot afford to undergo surgery at their age, and are especially afraid that it will be painful, preferring to opt for conservative treatment and continue to live a life of disability. Surface knee replacement surgery is a routine procedure, similar to appendectomy, and in principle there is no upper age limit. Many elderly people in their 80s and 90s have successfully undergone the surgery, but patients with cardiovascular disease have to be evaluated for safety. The development of postoperative analgesic techniques has also greatly reduced the pain of patients. In contrast, the development of “rotundity” to late stage and then conservative treatment is very poor, patients can only be wheelchair-bound, most of the time at home, lack of exercise to accelerate the decline of the body organs, can affect life expectancy.
It is reported that an access system has been gradually established for this type of knee surgery in China. Patients are advised to choose a regular tertiary hospital with surgical qualifications for treatment. The metal materials used for surgery generally last for more than 20 years, and the artificial knee products that are currently on the market should be fine, but the problem is to find an experienced and qualified joint surgeon to do the surgery. Otherwise the joint will be crooked and the knee will not work for a few years.
3. Rehabilitation: 6 to 8 hours after surgery, you need to exercise Two or three days after the joint surface replacement surgery, the patient can walk on the ground, and after a week or two can walk normally. This replacement surgery allows the knee to bend to 120 degrees and life is basically unaffected, but a squat to the end requires bending to 140-150 degrees, which cannot be fully achieved with current technology. Moreover, the flexion and extension of the knee depends on the severity of the lesion prior to surgery.
Post-operative rehabilitation is so important that many patients do not exercise in time according to the doctor’s instructions, and after missing the time how hard the knee joint bends can not be bent, feeling painful, and in some cases, further surgical treatment. Six to eight hours after surgery, when the effect of anesthesia has passed, patients must start exercising. They have to perform flexion and extension exercises daily, making sure to keep the knee joint straight. A bent knee makes one feel a little more comfortable, but over time it can lead to a flexion contracture deformity of the joint, which can no longer be straightened later. Therefore, you can sleep at night with a pillow on your heel to keep your leg straight. It is also important to practice extreme flexion once a day, either by actively flexing the leg yourself or passively by having someone else help you flex the leg.
After the surgery, patients should avoid heavy physical activities and change their daily exercise habits slowly. Exercises such as swimming, walking and cycling avoid putting body gravity on the knee joint and are more suitable for post-operative patients. If you like to play tai chi, you should pay attention to avoid squatting low horse stance and try to stand into a high position for boxing.