Knee arthritis

An X-ray sometimes. An MRI almost never.

A standing X-ray tells us what we need. An MRI in an arthritic knee finds meniscal tears in most people over fifty — including those with no pain — and those tears are part of the arthritis, not a separate problem to be operated on.

No. The opposite.

This is the most common and most costly misunderstanding. Cartilage is fed by movement. An unused knee gets stiffer, the muscles waste, and the pain gets worse. Walking is treatment.

Only when the knee stops you living your life — not when the X-ray looks bad.

The X-ray does not decide. You do. When pain wakes you at night, when you cannot walk to the shop, when you have stopped doing things you care about and exercise and painkillers are no longer enough — that is the time. There is no benefit in having it earlier, and a replacement has a finite lifespan, so a younger knee may need revising later.

Honestly — most people cannot squat deeply after a knee replacement, and kneeling stays uncomfortable.

We say this before the operation, not after. If daily life, meals or prayer happen at floor level, plan for a chair and a commode, and tell us — it is part of deciding whether and when to operate.