CARTILAGE INJURIES IN THE KNEE

A tear or other injury in the cartilage of the knee can severely impact a person’s day-to-day life and prevent them from participating in their sport or active lifestyle. Our sports medicine providers can diagnose and treat your knee cartilage injury in Charleston or Mount Pleasant, South Carolina to help you resume a more active life.

The bones in the knee are lined with articular cartilage that allows the bones to glide smoothly over each other. When this cartilage is injured from an accident, overuse, or arthritis, it can become painful to walk or participate in sports. Articular cartilage has no blood supply, so this tissue has a limited capacity to heal after an injury and cannot regenerate.

When you visit our practice, our orthopedic surgeons will examine your knee injury and assess range of motion and pain along the joint line and look for symptoms such as swelling, fluid on the knee, abnormal alignment of the knee bones, and other indicators of a ligament or meniscal injury. Once the extent of the injury has been determined, a plan for treatment will be made, which may include surgery.

Surgery can be used to implant healthy cartilage cells into the damaged area, to remove damaged cartilage and increase blood flow from the underlying bone, or to repair pieces of torn cartilage. The type of surgery or other treatment that is recommended will be based on the extent of the injury, but often minimally invasive surgery can be used so that recovery time is quicker.

Don’t live with knee pain! Let our orthopedic surgeons and physician assistants help you resume full use of your knee so that you can get back to playing sports and being active. Call us at (843) 936-0715 to schedule an appointment.