"Mild" Osteoarthritis?? | Arthritis Information

Hi Everyone,

I am new here and I was diagnosed as having osteoarthritis in my right knee about 2.5 years ago. I am now 53.

I just had an MRI done about 5 days ago. The symptoms I am having are far surpassing the amount of joint and cartilage damage the MRI is showing. This is what it says:

IMPRESSION: No meniscal or ligamentous tear. Grade 2-3 changes are
noted in the cartilage without of the medial femur and tibia.
Minimal grade 1 signal is noted in the patellar cartilage.

I have constant pain, aometimes worse than at other times, I have a very hard time driving, carrying things, walking, climbing stairs, sleeping.. you name it. I take Aleve and it takes the edge off, sometimes. My husband and I went to the ocean and I couldn't walk on the sand, it hurt horribly. For a couple of days after that I had to use a cane, my knee wouldn't bend. It is always swollen and it sometimes makes my foot and lower leg go to sleep.

Is this "mild" osteoarthritis?? It was recommended I get a total knee replacement, but if it's "mild" what would that do???

Any ideas? Thank you so much!

To try better to understand this I had to do a bit of research. I found the grading system that is used is as follows:

Outerbridge classification:
            - grade 0: normal cartilage;
            - grade I: cartilage with softening and swelling;
            - grade II: a partial-thickness defect with fissures on the surface that do not reach subchondral bone or exceed 1.5 cm in diameter;
            - grade III: fissuring to the level of subchondral bone in an area with a diameter more than 1.5 cm;
            - grade IV, exposed subchondral bone.

So, to my way of thinking (and others may differ with this because I'm no expert), the II - III represents pretty significant wear and tear on your knee.

Talk to your doc. Have him/her explain why he thinks replacement is necessary. Ask all the questions you can think of. I'm fairly certain they wouldn't be recommending replacement unless you really needed it - for they have to justify the surgery to the insurance company.

I think you hurt and have swelling because the damage to your knee is more than you are giving it credit for.   (bad sentence structure, but this isn't an english class, right?

Thank you SO much for your answer! I'll be going into an Orthopedic Surgeon that specializes in knees on Wed morning, Nov 5th. I'll be going in with a lot more understanding thanks to you! Now I don't feel so bad when I say that my knee hurts!