🦵 Hip & Knee

Knee arthritis

Osteoarthritis is wear of the smooth cartilage that lines the knee. It causes pain, stiffness and sometimes swelling, often worse after activity. Treatment usually starts with exercise and physical therapy, losing extra weight, pain relievers and sometimes injections. Knee replacement is considered when pain still limits daily life despite these.

Knee replacement

In a knee replacement, the worn joint surfaces are replaced with metal and plastic parts. It's one of the most common operations, and most people have much less pain afterwards. Recovery takes months, and physical therapy exercises make a big difference to the result.

ACL and meniscus tears

ACL tears often happen when pivoting or landing in sports. Not everyone needs surgery; it depends on how stable the knee feels and how active you want to be. In middle-aged and older adults, many meniscus tears are part of normal wear, and studies show physical therapy often works as well as keyhole surgery.

Everyday knee pain

Pain around or behind the kneecap is very common, especially in runners and people who climb stairs or squat a lot. Strengthening the thigh and hip muscles and easing back on the painful activity for a while often helps.

Hip arthritis

Hip arthritis usually causes pain in the groin or front of the hip, stiffness, and trouble with shoes and socks. Like knee arthritis, treatment starts with exercise, physical therapy, weight loss if needed and pain relief, with replacement for pain that stays severe.

Hip replacement

Hip replacement is one of the most successful operations in medicine for relieving pain. Surgeons use different approaches (front or back of the hip); each has pros and cons, and long-term results are broadly similar. Ask your surgeon which they use and why.

Hip pain and bursitis

Pain on the outside of the hip is often from irritated tendons and the bursa there, not arthritis, and usually improves with targeted exercises. Groin pain is more likely to come from the joint itself, such as arthritis or a labral tear.

When to get help quickly

Get help the same day if a joint is hot, red and swollen with a fever, if you can't put weight on your leg after an injury, or if the leg looks deformed. After joint surgery, call your surgeon about fever, wound drainage, or new calf pain or swelling. Chest pain or sudden shortness of breath after surgery: call 911.

Orthopedic, sports medicine and physical therapy doctors

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Sources

The main guidelines and studies behind this page. How we write our pages.

1. American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (OrthoInfo): Arthritis of the Knee
2. American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (OrthoInfo): Hip Osteoarthritis
3. American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (OrthoInfo): Total Knee Replacement
4. American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (OrthoInfo): Total Hip Replacement
5. American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (OrthoInfo): ACL Injury: Does It Require Surgery?
6. American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (OrthoInfo): Knee Arthroscopy
7. Siemieniuk et al. Arthroscopic surgery for degenerative knee arthritis and meniscal tears: a clinical practice guideline. BMJ, 2017
8. NICE guideline NG226: Osteoarthritis in over 16s (2022)

Written by DoctorsVideos.video as a general guide, not by the doctors in the videos. For education only; it isn't medical advice. Last reviewed October 2026.