When to Consider Total Joint Replacement for Advanced Arthritis

The 2022 report from the American Joint Replacement Registry stated that joint replacements grew by 14% from the previous year. More than 2.8 million joint replacements were performed at about 1,250 hospitals and medical centers throughout the United States. 

At McPhilamy Bone and Joint in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, our fellowship-trained orthopedic surgeon Dr. Austin McPhilamy performs both partial and total joint replacements using robot-assisted surgical techniques. Here’s what you should know. 

About total joint replacement surgery

Total joint replacement surgery to resolve severe arthritis damage and pain is one of the safest and most effective procedures in medicine. Replacement joints last 20 years or more; in most instances, you can expect your new joints to last as long as you do.

Although knees and hips are the most commonly replaced joints, other severely arthritic joints can benefit, including:

• Ankles
• Elbows
• Wrists
• Shoulders

Whether you’re best served by partial or total joint surgery depends on the extent of your arthritis, as well as your overall health. Dr. McPhilamy evaluates your joint function and mobility and general state of health to help you decide.

Knowing when it’s time to get rid of your severe arthritis pain and stiffness with a total joint replacement can be tricky, but there are several warning signs that can help you make the right choice. 

Have your medications and new habits stopped working?

When you first began to experience arthritis-related joint pain and stiffness, your doctor probably advised you to make a series of lifestyle changes to turn down the inflammation in your body that degrades your cartilage. 

Your first line of defense against arthritis progression includes these recommended changes:

• Losing any excess weight
• Adopting a healthy, anti-inflammatory diet
• Creating a sustainable activity and exercise plan
• Undergoing physical therapy
• Bracing or splinting damaged joints

The next (or concurrent) step after lifestyle changes is to take medications to alleviate joint swelling and pain. You may have started with over-the-counter non-steroidal inflammatory drugs (NDSAIDs), and then progressed to joint injections.

These measures may have worked for a while. However, you can’t take steroids or other potent medications over the long term. They may also have lost their effectiveness as your body adjusted to the dose or your joint damage, pain, and stiffness worsened.

If you can’t control your pain anymore, it may be time for a joint replacement. In most cases, Dr. McPhilamy recommends total joint replacement surgery, rather than a partial replacement.

Do pain and stiffness limit your mobility?

Severe arthritis may leave you unable to perform the most basic of everyday tasks. The immobility that comes with joint pain and stiffness may lead to inactivity that then atrophies supporting joint tissues like muscles and tendons.

Eventually, your joints weaken to the point where they’re barely functional. But you need to be mobile and active in order to stay healthy. If your degenerating joints are interfering with your strength and health, then a total joint replacement is in order.

Once Dr. McPhilamy replaces your diseased joint, you undergo a recovery period that includes physical therapy. After you’ve healed, however, you feel like you have a brand new joint — because you do. All the pain and stiffness you suffered for years is gone. You can move again.

Are you bone-on-bone?

When your X-ray shows that your bones grind against one another without the protection of cartilage, the only real option for relief is a total joint replacement. During your procedure, Dr. McPhilamy removes the diseased and damaged bone ends and replaces them with a prosthetic joint made of durable, biocompatible materials such as titanium. 

Ready to resolve severe arthritis pain and stiffness? 

Has severe arthritis pain, stiffness, and weakness made your life difficult or unbearable? Find out if you’re a candidate for total joint replacement surgery by contacting our expert team at McPhilamy Bone and Joint in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, today — you can reach us via phone or with our easy online form.