With nearly 20,000 knee replacement surgeries performed each year in Taiwan, mainly due to degenerative joint disease, China Medical University Hospital deputy director Lee Kuang-sheng (李光申) urged people to do more to protect their knees.
Degenerative knee diseases result from aging, sustaining an injury, being overweight or overusing joints, which cause the knee joints to wear out and make walking difficult, Lee said on Jan. 8.
A woman surnamed Wei (魏), 62, had been an athlete and 15 years ago, she began to feel pain in her right knee, Lee said, adding that she would limp when the pain was worse.
In October last year, her knee was replaced with an artificial joint and she could walk normally five days after her discharge, he said.
Another woman surnamed Kung (孔), 54, had been a farmer and was now a cleaner who often needed to carry heavy objects, Lee said.
Her knee joints deteriorated to the point where she could no longer squat because of the pain, but she resumed a normal life after receiving orthopedic surgery in September last year, he said.
If medication and physical therapy prove ineffective, those who have difficulty walking due to knee pain should consider having their knee joints replaced with artificial joints, Lee said.
Painkillers are of no use when a knee joint has deteriorated more than 50 percent, he added.
Knee replacement surgery is partly covered by the National Health Insurance system, Lee said, adding that the surgery is technologically advanced, taking a short time and only leaving a small incision, while artificial joints last up to 15 years.
Men who need knee replacements are generally 70 years old, while women generally experience knee degeneration five to six years earlier, mainly due to softer ligaments and additional wear from high-heeled shoes, he said.
To extend the health of knees, people should do less hiking, stair climbing, squatting and kneeling, and should keep their body weight within healthy standards, Lee said.
To reduce stress on the knees when walking, people can perform exercises to strengthen their quadriceps, such as performing stretches and leg lifts — in sets of 15 — twice per day, he said.
Deep squat exercises can also build up people’s core muscles, but they should move up and down as slowly as possible to avoid injury, he added.
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