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Knee Replacement Surgery
Covers surgery to replace the ends of bones in a damaged joint. Includes slideshow on knee replacement. Looks at why surgery is done, risks, and how well it works. Discusses what to expect after surgery and living with a knee replacement.

Arthritis: Shots for Knee Pain
Shots, or injections, for arthritis knee pain can help you cope with the pain and be more active. The most common shot for arthritis knee pain is a steroid shot. It's also called a cortisone or corticosteroid shot. Arthritis pain is caused by inflamed tissue, and the steroid shot can help reduce the inflammation...

Knee Problems and Injuries
Briefly discusses sudden injuries like meniscus tears and torn ligaments that cause knee pain. Covers injuries like bursitis and tendinitis caused by overuse. Offers interactive tool to help decide when to seek care. Also offers home treatment tips.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) of the Knee
Discusses test (also called MRI scan) that uses a magnetic field and pulses of radio wave energy to make pictures of the knee. Covers why it is used, including to find problems like arthritis, meniscus injury, or damaged cartilage, ligaments, or tendons.

Arthritis: Should I Have Knee Replacement Surgery?
Guides through decision to have knee replacement surgery for osteoarthritis. Describes other surgeries and treatment options used to decrease osteoarthritis pain. Covers benefits and risks. Includes an interactive tool to help you make your decision.

ACL Injury: Should I Have Knee Surgery?
Guides through decision to have knee surgery for an ACL injury. Compares surgery to rest, exercise, and rehabilitation as treatment for an ACL injury. Covers benefits and risks. Includes an interactive tool to help you make your decision.

Physical Therapy for Knee Arthritis
Painful knee arthritis can keep you from being as active as you need to be. You may not walk as much. You may avoid going up and down stairs. But when you don't move that knee as much, the ligaments, tendons, and muscles around it can shorten and get weaker. Movement also pumps fluid in and out of the joint space, which...

Plica in the Knee
Plica in the knee is a ridge or fold of the tissues lining the knee joint (synovium). Normally a plica doesn't cause problems, but it can become inflamed and thickened from injury or overuse. This is called plica syndrome. Plica syndrome can interfere with normal joint function and cause pain when the thickened plica...

Knee Bursitis and Tendon Injury: Preventing Pain
To prevent and ease knee pain during work, play, and daily activities: Stay at a healthy weight. Wear kneepads when kneeling on hard surfaces. Avoid prolonged kneeling. Strengthen and stretch your leg muscles. Pay special attention to your front and back thigh muscles (quadriceps and hamstrings). Avoid deep knee bends...

Leg Amputation
The decision to have a limb amputated is difficult for the person and their doctor. Many times, extensive measures have been tried to save the limb. The major causes of amputation are diabetes and/or peripheral arterial disease that results in either painful, poor limb function or gangrene. In general, amputation is...

Medial Collateral Ligament (MCL) Injury
What is a medial collateral ligament (MCL) injury? A medial collateral ligament (MCL) injury is a sprain or tear to the medial collateral ligament. The MCL is a band of tissue on the inside of your knee. It connects your thighbone to the bone of your lower leg. The MCL keeps the knee from bending inward. You can hurt...

Lateral Collateral Ligament (LCL) Injury
What is a lateral collateral ligament (LCL) injury? An LCL injury is a sprain or tear to the lateral collateral ligament (LCL). The LCL is a band of tissue on the outside of your knee. It connects your thighbone to the bone of your lower leg and helps keep the knee from bending outward. You can hurt your LCL during...

Meniscus Tear
What is a meniscus tear? A meniscus tear is a common knee injury. The meniscus is a rubbery, C-shaped disc that cushions your knee. Each knee has two menisci (plural of meniscus)—one at the outer edge of the knee and one at the inner edge. They keep your knee steady by balancing your weight across the knee. A torn...

Baker's Cyst
Discusses Baker's cyst (also called popliteal cyst), a pocket of fluid that forms a lump behind the knee. Covers causes such as swelling from arthritis and knee injury. Discusses symptoms. Covers treatment, including things to do at home and surgery.

Meniscus Surgery: Recovery Time
Surgery to repair a torn meniscus involves rehabilitation. But rehab varies depending on the injury, the type of surgery, and your doctor's preference. In general, meniscus surgery is followed by a period of rest, walking, and selected exercises. Every recovery is different and depends on many things. But here are some...

Meniscectomy for a Meniscus Tear
Meniscectomy is the surgical removal of all or part of a torn meniscus. A meniscus tear is a common knee joint injury. Surgeons who perform meniscectomies ( orthopedic surgeons) will make surgical decisions based on the meniscus's ability to heal as well as your age, health, and activity level. Your doctor will suggest...

Meniscus Repair
A meniscus tear is a common injury to the cartilage that stabilizes and cushions the knee joint. Whether or not your tear can be repaired depends on the type of the tear. Radial tears sometimes can be repaired, depending on where they are located. Horizontal, flap, long-standing, and degenerative tears—those caused by...

Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome
What is patellofemoral pain syndrome? Patellofemoral pain syndrome is pain in the front of the knee. It frequently occurs in teenagers, manual laborers, and athletes. It sometimes is caused by wearing down, roughening, or softening of the cartilage under the kneecap. What causes it? Patellofemoral pain syndrome may be...

Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Surgery
Surgery for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries can help you stabilize your knee and return to activity. You may have: Reconstruction surgery. With this, the surgeon replaces the damaged ACL with a graft. For an autograft, the surgeon uses tendon tissue from your own body. This can be done safely. Often, part of...

Treatment for ACL Injuries in Children and Teens
An ACL tear in children is often treated with surgery. This helps make your child's knee stable. And it may help them get back to being as active as they were before the injury. Surgery may also prevent other injuries to the knee. But with surgery, there is a small risk of an injury to your child's growing bone...

Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Injuries
What is an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury? An anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, injury is a tear in one of the knee ligaments that joins the upper leg bone with the lower leg bone. The ACL keeps the knee stable. Injuries range from mild, such as a small tear, to severe, such as when the ligament tears...

Preventing ACL Injuries
A lot of the research on preventing anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries has focused on women: women athletes injure their ACLs up to 8 times as often as men athletes. Although the following tips come from women's programs, they can help anyone prevent ACL injuries. Training and conditioning should take place...

Kneecap Dislocation
What is kneecap dislocation? The kneecap (patella) is normally positioned over the front of the knee joint at the base of the thighbone (femur). A kneecap can be dislocated, or moved out of its normal position, when: The inner edge of the kneecap is hit, pushing it toward the outer side of the leg. This can happen more...

Meniscus Tear: Should I Have Surgery?
Guides you through the decision to have surgery for a torn meniscus. Explains two kinds of surgery. Explains when surgery is done. Lists risks and benefits of surgery for meniscus tear. Includes interactive tool to help you decide.

Posterior Cruciate Ligament (PCL) Injury
What is a posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) injury? A PCL injury is a sprain or tear of the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL). The PCL is a band of tissue that crosses inside the center of the knee joint. It connects your thighbone to the bone of your lower leg. The PCL keeps your knee stable when it moves forward or...

Osteoarthritis
Covers the causes and symptoms of osteoarthritis. Covers possible treatments with over-the-counter pain medicines and prescription medicines. Includes info on home treatment for joint pain, including using heat or ice, staying at a healthy weight, and exercise.

Bruises and Blood Spots Under the Skin
Briefly discusses how and why bruises and blood spots might develop. Offers interactive tool to help decide when to seek care. Also offers home treatment tips.

Extremity X-Ray
Describes extremity X-rays, what they are, and why they are done. Provides tips on how to prepare. Also covers risks. Explains normal and abnormal results, as well as what can affect accuracy of tests.

Meniscus Tear: Rehabilitation Exercises
Provides step-by-step instructions and photos for rehab exercises that strengthen the thigh and calf after a meniscus injury or surgery.

Psoriasis
Includes info on psoriasis, a chronic skin disorder. Covers causes and symptoms, including scaly patches on the knees, elbows, and scalp. Includes info on what increases your risk. Covers treatment with creams and oral medicines. Offers home treatment tips.

Meniscus Tear: Should I Have a Diagnostic Test (MRI or Arthroscopy)?
Guides through decision to have a diagnostic test like an MRI or arthroscopy done on a meniscus tear. Describes the two tests. Lists the three types of meniscus tears. Covers benefits and risks. Includes an interactive tool to help you make your decision.

Joint Replacement: Realistic Expectations
It is important to have realistic expectations of joint replacement surgery. Replacement joints are not "miracle" joints. They will not restore a joint to the function it had before the arthritis began. Pain relief is the most dependable outcome of joint replacement. When the pain is relieved, you also may get some...

Patellar Tracking Disorder: Exercises
Provides step-by-step instructions and photos for doing easy and then more intense exercises for patellar tracking disorder.

Patellar Subluxation
A subluxation is a partial dislocation. The kneecap (patella) can move out of its normal position more easily when the thigh muscles are weak or when the patella is not firmly held by the tendons and ligaments. This can also happen when there is a problem with the alignment or structure of the knee bones. A patellar...

Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis: Deciding About Total Joint Replacement
If your child has severe joint damage from juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), your child's doctors may recommend a total joint replacement. As you and the doctors work through this decision together, consider the following: Your child's age. Consider how old your child is. His or her bones may still have a lot of...

Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation (RICE)
As soon as possible after an injury, such as a knee or ankle sprain, you can relieve pain and swelling and promote healing and flexibility with RICE—Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. Rest. Rest and protect the injured or sore area. Stop, change, or take a break from any activity that may be causing your pain or...

ACL Injury: Exercises to Do Before Treatment
When you have an ACL injury, you lose leg strength and motion. You also lose stability in your knee. It's important to get back your leg strength and motion as soon as you can, whether you choose to have surgery or not. Exercises to get back your muscle strength and knee motion should begin before you start treatment...

Coping With Osteoarthritis
How does osteoarthritis affect your social and emotional health? Living with osteoarthritis can be stressful. You may worry about how it may change your life, work, and relationships. It's hard to know how fast your arthritis may progress. Your symptoms may come and go, stay the same, or get worse over time. Some days...

Exercise and Osteoarthritis
Using different types of exercise and activity may be best for arthritis. Talk to your doctor or physical therapist about which exercises may be best for you and safest. You may need to change or modify activities based on your symptoms. Aerobic activity. It makes your heart and lungs stronger and builds endurance...

Modifying Activities for Osteoarthritis
If your joints hurt when you do an activity, you can do a number of things to help yourself. Use the largest joints or strongest muscles to do things. When you lift a heavy object off the floor, use your hip and knee muscles, not your back. When you carry a bag of groceries, use the palm of your hand or your forearm...

Complications of Osteoarthritis
Most people find osteoarthritis to be a nuisance that eventually becomes significant enough to affect their daily activities. And sometimes there are more serious complications. Possible complications of osteoarthritis include: Rapid, complete breakdown of cartilage resulting in loose tissue material in the joint...

Osteoarthritis: Exercising With Arthritis
Explains how aerobic, strength, and range-of-motion exercises help with arthritis, and offers tips for how to get started with these types of exercise. Provides tips for using heat and ice after exercise. Recommends checking with a doctor or physical therapist before starting new exercise.

Small Joint Surgery for Osteoarthritis
Surgery is more common on the larger joints, such as the hip and the knee. But if arthritis in the joints of the hands or feet is so bad that you can't do your daily tasks, surgery may help you move better and with less pain. In the hands, the goal is to allow you to do basic daily tasks—such as eating, bathing, and...

Osteoarthritis: Heat and Cold Therapy
For moderate to severe pain from osteoarthritis, try applying heat and cold to the affected joints. Experiment with these heat and cold techniques until you find what helps you most. Apply heat 2 or 3 times a day for 20 to 30 minutes, using a heating pad, hot shower, or hot pack. Heat seems to be effective for pain and...

Comparing Rheumatoid Arthritis and Osteoarthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis are different types of arthritis. They share some similar characteristics, but each has different symptoms and requires different treatment. So an accurate diagnosis is important. Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis. Rheumatoid arthritis affects about one-tenth as...

Quick Tips: Exercising Safely With Arthritis
Talk to your physical therapist or doctor before you start an exercise program or activity. Ask what kind of exercise is best for you and how to exercise if a joint is sore or swollen. Also ask if you should take nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to make it easier for you to exercise and if you should use...

Quick Tips: Modifying Your Home and Work Area When You Have Arthritis
The pain and stiffness from osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis may make it hard for you to do daily tasks, like opening doors or using a keyboard. Here are some tips and some tools that can help you at home and at work. At home Here are some changes you can make in your home that can help you move more easily and...

Capsaicin for Osteoarthritis
Capsaicin (Zostrix), available without a prescription, is a pain reliever that comes in a cream that you apply directly to your skin (topical analgesic). It has been found to relieve joint pain from osteoarthritis in some people when rubbed into the skin over affected joints. To be beneficial, the cream must be applied...

Assistive Devices and Orthotics
Learn about tools to help with daily tasks when you have pain and stiffness.

Sprained Ankle: Rehabilitation Exercises
Provides step-by-step instructions for a sample set of exercises for an ankle sprain. Includes range-of-motion, stretching, strengthening, and balance exercises. Cautions that timing for starting each type of exercise depends on the care provider's recommendations.

Getting Started With Flexibility and Stretching
Offers tips for stretching and flexibility. Provides step-by-step instructions and photos for basic stretching exercises.

Glucosamine and Chondroitin
Glucosamine and chondroitin are part of normal cartilage. Cartilage acts as a cushion between the bones in a joint. These supplements come in tablet, capsule, powder, or liquid form. They are often taken together or taken with other supplements. Glucosamine may be taken separately as a dietary supplement for joints...

Complementary Medicine for Arthritis
A lot of people use some form of complementary medicine to treat osteoarthritis. These treatments are often used along with standard care to help relieve their arthritis symptoms. Some of these treatments may help you move more easily and deal with the stress and pain of arthritis. But in some cases, not much is known...

Osteotomy for Osteoarthritis
Covers surgery (osteotomy) to remove a wedge of bone near a damaged joint. Looks at why it is done and what to expect after surgery. Covers physical therapy. Includes info on how well it works and the risks of surgery.

Paraffin Wax for Arthritis
You can use paraffin wax (which may be called either paraffin or wax) to apply moist heat to your hands or feet to ease the pain and stiffness of osteoarthritis. Paraffin wax especially helps to reduce pain and loosen up your hand and finger joints before exercise. You will need: 4 lb (1.8 kg) of paraffin wax. Paraffin...

Physical Rehabilitation for ACL Injuries
Rehabilitation (rehab) is needed after most ACL injuries, with or without surgery. It'll help you regain normal range of motion and flexibility in your knee. Rehab programs also strengthen the knee and the muscles around it, leading to better knee stability. Your doctor or physical therapist will design a rehab program...

Bev's Story: Coping With Arthritis
Find out how Bev learned to cope with arthritis.

Medicines That Can Cause Bruises
Many prescription and nonprescription medicines may reduce your blood's ability to clot and cause bruising or bleeding under the skin. A few examples are: Medicines (called blood thinners) that prevent blood clots. Also, taking a nonprescription medicine with a blood thinner may increase your risk of bruising and...

Complications of Paget's Disease
Paget's disease can cause complications such as: Osteoarthritis. Paget's disease can damage the bone around a joint. This can cause the cartilage in the joint to weaken and break down, which leads to arthritis. Many people feel bone or joint pain before they are diagnosed with Paget's disease and osteoarthritis. Broken...

Leg Injuries
Briefly discusses symptoms of leg injuries caused during sports or recreational activities, work-related tasks, and work or projects around home. Includes bruises, swelling, sprains, pulled muscles, and broken bones. Offers interactive tool to help decide when to seek care. Also offers home treatment tips.

Skin Adhesives (Liquid Stitches)
Skin adhesives are clear gels that may be used to hold the edges of a small cut together. Your doctor may apply a skin adhesive instead of stitching your cut. A liquid will be applied to your skin and allowed to dry. As it dries, it creates a film that will hold together the edges of your cut. If a skin adhesive is used...

Cut That Removes All Layers of Skin
Cuts may slice off several layers of skin. As long as some of the layers of skin are still in place, new skin will form in the bottom of the wound and along the wound edges. The wound will heal from the bottom up. When a cut or scrape removes all of the layers of skin (a full-thickness avulsion injury), fat and muscle...

Cuts: When Stitches Are Needed
It is important to determine if your wound needs to be closed by a doctor. Your risk of infection increases the longer the wound remains open. Most wounds that require closure should be stitched, stapled, or closed with skin adhesives (also called liquid stitches) within 6 to 8 hours after the injury. Some wounds that...

Cuts
Briefly discusses how cuts may occur and types of cuts. Offers interactive tool to help decide when to seek care. Also offers home treatment tips.

Puncture Wounds: Stitches, Staples, and Skin Adhesives
Puncture wounds are less likely than cuts to be stitched, stapled, or have a skin adhesive applied because: Puncture wounds tend to be smaller than cuts and usually do not heal better or scar less when stitched. Puncture wounds tend to be deeper, narrower, and harder to clean than cuts. Sealing bacteria into a wound...

Arthroplasty for Rheumatoid Arthritis
Discusses arthroplasty, joint replacement surgery for conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis. Covers why it is done. Also covers how well it works and the risks.

Puncture Wounds
Briefly discusses types of puncture wounds and the risk of infection. Offers interactive tool to help decide when to seek care. Also offers home treatment tips.

Removing an Object From a Wound
In the following situations, do not try to remove an object from the wound. Seek medical treatment immediately. Do not remove an object that has punctured and penetrated the eyeball. Note: Do not bandage or put any pressure on the eye. If an object has penetrated the eyeball, hold the object in place to prevent further...

Care for a Skin Wound
Skin wounds, including animal or human bites, need thorough cleaning to reduce the risk of infection and scarring and to promote healing. You may be able to do this yourself for minor wounds. You'll have to stop any bleeding, clean the wound, and perhaps bandage the wound. Stopping the bleeding Put on medical gloves, if...