Understanding Knee Arthritis
Learn how arthritis affects the different parts of the knee, what symptoms it causes, what standing X-rays show, and how we determine whether arthritis is responsible for your pain.
Read the GuideKnee Education
Understand Your Knee. Know Your Options.
Knee pain does not automatically mean knee replacement. Start by understanding what is causing the problem, learn what can be done without surgery, and know what to expect if replacement eventually becomes the right next step.
Where Should I Start?
If you are trying to understand why your knee hurts, start with knee arthritis. If you already know you have arthritis, you can move directly to treatment options or learn when replacement may become appropriate.
If you are already planning a knee replacement, jump ahead to understanding the operation, preparing for surgery, and the recovery roadmap.
01 · Start Here
Understand What Is Happening in Your Knee
Knee pain can come from arthritis, the meniscus, tendons, ligaments, the kneecap, or other structures. Your symptoms, examination, and X-rays help us determine what is actually causing the problem.
02 · Before Surgery
Understand Your Non-Surgical Options
Having arthritis on an X-ray does not automatically mean you need a knee replacement. Many patients can manage symptoms for a period of time with exercise, medications, injections, activity changes, and other treatments.
Non-Surgical Treatment Options
Learn about exercise, physical therapy, medications, injections, weight management, braces, walking aids, and other ways we may manage arthritis without surgery.
Read the Guide03 · Making the Decision
Know When Knee Replacement Becomes Reasonable
The decision to replace a knee should not come from an X-ray alone. We look at how much pain and stiffness are affecting your life, what the imaging shows, what reasonable treatments have already been tried, and whether you feel ready for surgery.
When Is It Time for Joint Replacement?
A practical guide to deciding when arthritis has become limiting enough that joint replacement deserves serious consideration.
Read the Guide04 · Understanding Surgery
Learn what a knee replacement actually does.
Despite the name, a total knee replacement does not remove the entire knee. The damaged joint surfaces are resurfaced with metal components and a durable plastic bearing while the surgeon restores alignment, stability, and motion.
Understanding Knee Replacement
Learn what gets resurfaced, what the implants are made of, how they are fixed to bone, what happens to the ligaments, and what surgery is designed to improve.
Understand Knee ReplacementAn Important Distinction
We treat the patient, not the X-ray.
Some patients have severe arthritis on X-rays but are still doing the things they want to do. Others have reached the point where pain, stiffness, sleep problems, and loss of mobility are substantially changing their lives.
The purpose of the X-ray is to help explain the problem. It does not make the decision for you.
05 · Before Surgery
Prepare for more than just the operation.
A good knee replacement experience begins before surgery day. Medical readiness, glucose control, nicotine cessation, medications, home preparation, and your recovery plan all deserve attention beforehand.
Preparing for Joint Replacement
Follow the preoperative roadmap from medical evaluation and testing through medications, health optimization, home preparation, and the final days before surgery.
Prepare for Surgery06 · Recovery
Know what the first several months really look like.
Knee replacement recovery takes time. Pain improves before all of the swelling, stiffness, weakness, and awareness of the knee disappear. Understanding that before surgery makes the recovery process much easier to navigate.
Recovery After Joint Replacement
Follow the recovery roadmap from the first week through the first several months, including walking, swelling, pain, therapy, knee range of motion, driving, work, and warning signs.
See the Recovery RoadmapA Common Concern
“Why is my knee still swollen?”
One of the most common surprises after knee replacement is how long swelling, warmth, stiffness, and changing aches can remain. Six weeks is an important recovery milestone, but it is not the end of recovery.
Knee Range of Motion & Recovery Expectations
The recovery guide explains what commonly happens during the first week, weeks 2–6, weeks 6–12, and beyond — including how I think about knee bending and straightening after surgery.
See Knee Recovery ExpectationsThe Goal
The goal is not simply to replace a knee. It is to improve your life.
A successful knee replacement should help reduce arthritic pain and allow you to do more of the things that arthritis has been taking away from you.
That decision should be made because the operation makes sense for your symptoms, your knee, and your goals — not because you reached a certain age or because an X-ray looks bad.
Knee Replacement in St. Louis
Still not sure where you are in the process?
If knee pain is limiting your walking, sleep, work, exercise, or the activities you enjoy, an evaluation can help determine what is causing it and whether treatment — surgical or non-surgical — may help.