Do you need surgery?
Arthritis of the joint can cause pain and stiffness, making regular activities such as walking and bending difficult. As arthritis progresses, conservative treatments tend to lose their efficacy and more definitive treatment should be considered. Joint replacement surgery involves replacing worn or damaged joints with implants to reduce pain and improve movement. It provides excellent results for many and is usually performed on those above 60 but may also benefit young patients with certain conditions.
Talk with your doctor about your joint health and risks for arthritis.
To help your doctor decide if joint replacement surgery is ideal for you, answer the questions below.
In general, your pain can be described as:
- Mild but does not affect movement
- Moderate and some difficulty with movement
- Severe and great difficulty with movement
- Extremely severe and certain movements are impossible
Does your joint pain affect your sleep?
- Never
- Sometimes
- Mostly
- Every night
Are you able to perform your basic household functions?
- Yes with very little difficulty
- I cannot perform certain tasks
- I can only perform some tasks
- I am mostly dependent on others
- No
- Sometimes
- Often
- Always
- More than half an hour
- 15-30 minutes
- 5-15 minutes
- Less than 5 minutes or instant pain with walking
- Yes, with little difficulty
- Yes, with some difficulty
- Sometimes I can’t
- Most of the time I can’t
- Mild, with little difficulty getting up
- Moderate, with some difficulty getting up
- Severe, with great difficulty getting up
- Extremely severe, requiring assistance to get up
- I can with no difficulty
- I can with some difficult
- I can but it’s very difficult
- Impossible
- Mild
- Moderate
- Severe
- Extremely severe
Do you feel your joint is unstable or may give way?
While walking, how long does it take before you experience severe joint pain?
Are you able to walk down a flight of stairs?
After sitting for a long time, describe the pain you experience on standing?
Can you kneel down and get back up again?
While driving, entering and exiting a car or using other forms of transport, your joint pain is described as:
