In the outpatient clinic, the doctor tells the patient that he or she needs joint replacement surgery. I am sure that every patient will ask, “Can we not do it, I want to take the medicine. At this point, the doctor may say, “In foreign countries, joint replacement is a more common and accepted procedure. This is actually true. But why are we hesitant about surgery? In my humble opinion, there are several reasons: 1. Perception: Chinese people are old-fashioned and always think that what they have is the best. Foreigners, on the other hand, think that what they have, is useless, so of course they need a replacement to improve their quality of life. 2. Cost: Joint replacement discourages many patients due to the cost of its expensive prosthesis. In contrast, abroad, they are all reimbursed. Fortunately, however, since 2010, all joint replacement surgeries performed by the Department of Bone and Joint Surgery at Eastern Hospital have been able to reimburse the cost of the prosthesis for 10,000 or 50,000 if the patient is on medical insurance. 3, Chinese medicine: Chinese medicine is the treasure of our country. People in foreign countries do not have Chinese medicine, that of course, no way. And domestic Chinese medicine, we always think that Chinese medicine can completely treat osteoarthritis. This concept is wrong, Chinese medicine does have its unique features. It can relieve osteoarthritis and slow down its progress. But it is scientifically proven that there is no drug that can completely cure severe osteoarthritis. 4, not enough understanding of surgery, there are large and small misunderstandings. Many patients believe that if the surgery is broken, they will not be able to walk for the rest of their lives, or even have their limbs amputated. Here, I would like to clarify that this concern is not necessary. We have performed a large number of knee replacement surgeries at Eastern Hospital with excellent results. Before the surgery, we will strictly carry out various examinations, strictly grasp the indications for surgery, and after the surgery, we will carry out active rehabilitation training, and we will be able to walk on the ground within a week after the surgery. 5, there are patients who think, only 10 years, after 10 years, I am not ruined? In fact, this problem, like you bought a car, theoretically 10 years should be scrapped, but you can use it for 20 years, 30 years or even more if you maintain it well. Same thing. Many patients, they can last the rest of their lives. Clinically, we perform a lot of joint replacement surgeries. We have found that many of our patients have been in pain for years, even decades, and finally they are too painful to walk, too old to take care of themselves, and only then do they come in for surgery. When asked about their medical history, many patients are reluctant to undergo surgery, and even when they reach the level of severe osteoarthritis where doctors recommend surgery, many of them still choose conservative treatment such as medication and injections. They even believe in prescriptions and take medication to completely cure osteoarthritis. In fact, severe osteoarthritis cannot be cured at all by conservative treatments such as medication. Ultimately, after decades of pain and decades of medication, you come back to the hospital for joint replacement surgery just to be able to stand up and walk. Think about it, if decades ago, your doctor told you to have a joint replacement, you had surgery. Then, for those decades, you just walked around normally, without joint pain, without a limp, and with a significantly better quality of life. How happy that would be! Our advice is that if you develop severe osteoarthritis with severe pain, joint replacement is recommended as soon as possible after your doctor confirms the diagnosis. All normal bone joints have cartilage on their surface. Articular cartilage is smooth, flexible, and weight-bearing tissue. There are no nerve fibers on the cartilage surface, so normal weight-bearing joints, such as the knee, can walk and move normally. Patients with osteoarthritis, on the other hand, will have cartilage wear and tear, and mild osteoarthritis with intra-articular free bodies and meniscal damage in the knee can undergo minimally invasive arthroscopic surgery. Once severe osteoarthritis develops, the articular cartilage is damaged to the 4th degree and the subchondral bone is completely exposed because there are rich nerve fibers on the surface of the subchondral bone, once it is exposed and subjected to a certain amount of compression, pain will occur, causing patients with severe osteoarthritis to be unable to walk on the ground and can only undergo joint replacement. In fact, joint replacement only removes the surface of the cartilage and replaces the normal bone, not the entire joint as the people think. In general, osteoarthritis can be relieved by conservative treatments such as medication and injections. However, due to the irreversible nature of cartilage wear, that is, once cartilage wear occurs, it is impossible to regenerate the worn cartilage with medication or injections. The purpose of injections and medication is only to slow down the course of osteoarthritis. In severe osteoarthritis, even if you take medication and injections, the effect is only pain relief and numbing of your pain sensation, but it will not have any effect on the joint cartilage and will not allow the cartilage to regenerate. Therefore, this part of patients, it is recommended to perform joint replacement surgery early. Shanghai Oriental Hospital Bone and Joint Surgery Department carries out joint replacement surgery with advanced small incision joint replacement concept, short operation time, small incision, less bleeding and fast recovery. It has enabled many patients who were unable to walk to resume their daily lives and even resume their sports.