The knee is an important joint and as it is weight-bearing can be prone to “wearing out”.

There are several risk factors for developing knee arthritis –

• * increasing age
• * being overweight
• * genetic predisposition (family history)
• * complication of previous injury or fracture treatment

Arthritis can be a very painful disorder which may slow down your mobility/ walking or even stop you from sleeping. The other symptoms of knee arthritis include knee stiffness, limping, difficulty with climbing up and down stairs and excessive pain on sitting for a prolonged period.

A knee replacement is an operation which replaces the severely damaged knee joint cartilage and bone with an artificial joint that does the function of the natural joint. It may reduce the pain and help you return to your activities.