Damaged cartilage can lead to short-term symptoms such as pain, swelling, locking symptoms, and longer-term symptoms of osteoarthritis due to lack of the shock absorber function.
NYU Langone doctors often recommend nonsurgical options as a first-line treatment for a knee cartilage injury. These include anti-inflammatory medication, physical therapy, and injections into the joint, including steroids; hyaluronic acid, also known as synthetic joint fluid; and platelet-rich plasma (PRP).
You might be surprised to learn that people can have virtually no cartilage in a part of a joint (“bone on bone”) and have no pain at all. As a matter of fact, this is very common. We have patients who have completed Ironman triathlons without any cartilage in parts of their knee.
Knee cartilage injury recovery time
If surgery is not needed, recovery can happen in six to eight weeks. Knee cartilage surgery recovery time on average takes three to four months after a meniscus repair and up to nine months after an articular cartilage repair. In severe cases it could take up to 18 months.
Damage to the articular knee cartilage can cause pain, inflammation, a clicking noise and catching sensation, and reduced range of motion of the joint. Cartilage injuries that are wider than a centimeter have the potential to get bigger over time, which may lead to osteoarthritis, a degenerative condition of the joint.
Sprains and minor cartilage damage may get better on their own within a few days or weeks. More severe cartilage damage probably won't improve on its own. If left untreated, it can eventually wear down the joint.
Can cartilage be repaired without surgery? Simply, no. In most cases, surgery is required to repair articular cartilage. In rare cases, small traumatic cartilage lesions form a repair tissue called fibrocartilage on their own.
stiffness or swelling around your knee – the swelling may not start for a few hours or days. difficulty bending, straightening or moving your knee. your knee giving way when you try to stand. a crunching or clicking feeling when you move your knee.
Cartilage Regeneration Options
MACI is a surgical procedure that uses cartilage-forming cells from your body to restore damaged cartilage in the knees. It involves a biopsy to harvest chondrocytes (cartilage-forming cells), which are allowed to multiply in a lab, and surgery to implant them into the damaged area.
It is also commonly known as a meniscal tear or a torn cartilage. Physiotherapy is an excellent treatment for a knee cartilage injury.
Braces. An offloading brace can be effective when cartilage loss in the knee s confined to only one area of the knee. These offloading braces push the knee away from the side of no cartilage, reducing pressure and inflammation in that part of the knee.
What is the recovery after cartilage repair? Very generally speaking, patients will spend 1-3 days in the hospital, then use crutches for 8 weeks. They can return to stationary biking at 4-6 weeks, swimming and elliptical trainer at 8-12 weeks, and light jogging at 1 year.
Grade IV - The cartilage may wear away completely, leaving the underlying bone exposed in small or widespread areas. When the involved areas are large, pain usually becomes more severe, causing a limitation in activity.
But in the process of protecting the bones, the cartilage itself can take a beating and become damaged. Worse, once we're adults, our articular cartilage cannot regrow or heal because it doesn't have any blood vessels, which means oxygenated red blood cells can't reach the damaged tissue.
Ideally patients are between 15 and 55 years of age, although this is flexible. If fitness and the general level of health is good, active people up to the age of 65 years have successfully received cartilage transplants and have gone on to enjoy sports such as skiing once more. Solution: presurgery weight control.
Cartilage loss caused by a direct injury can result from blunt trauma to the joint. This can be from a severe car accident or even a very bad fall where the joint makes direct impact with the ground. If you're an athlete, sporting injuries are also a cause of cartilage loss.
Advantages of Cartilage Transplants
There are some distinct advantages to cartilage replacement in the knee, particularly for younger, physically active patients: Quicker recovery time than knee replacement. Less-invasive procedures with less chance of infection and scarring. Immediate, long-term pain reduction.
Signs you need knee surgery
swelling and inflammation of the knee which no longer responds to medication. stiffness in the knee and immobility. 'bowing' of the leg. non-surgical, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs no longer provide relief from pain.
Severe knee cartilage loss makes walking, sitting, standing, squatting, and going up and down stairs extremely painful. People with a total loss of knee cartilage can benefit from joint injections. In many cases, surgery including a total knee replacement is needed to treat no cartilage in the knee.
Radiographs cannot directly visualize the soft tissue of cartilage but instead are used to identify changes in subchondral bone. It might not be possible to detect secondary bone changes radiographically within a year of injury. MRI and CT can diagnose changes within the cartilage matrix.
The patient should be able to bear weight on the knee while standing or walking, immediately after surgery with a brace. The patient is expected to walk with crutches for 4-6 weeks after surgery. Rehabilitation is intended to control pan and swelling, achieve maximum range of motion and full load walking.
This condition represents a breakdown of the weight bearing (articular) cartilage of your knee. Cartilage cracks lead to deep fissures. The outer cartilage “skin” is lost and leads to progressive erosion of the deeper cartilage layers. This condition is pre-arthritic in most patients.
Injury or arthritis can damage cartilage, causing pain that keeps you from the activities you love. Depending on the nature and extent of cartilage damage, doctors may use procedures that include: Cartilage repair: Orthopedic surgeons can reattach or remove bits of loose cartilage using minimally invasive arthroscopy.