Arthritis: How Is This Treated? - Dr. Mullen

Dr. Mullen:
Naturally, arthritis in a woman can afflict her shoulder, her hip, her knee, her ankle, her wrist, her back and a number of other joints.

Most commonly patients want to seek some treatments for the knee, the hip and the ankle because that’s where the weight bearing goes.

Arthritis in the shoulder, in the elbow and the wrist is typically better tolerated, but when it comes down to the knee and the hip it’s much harder to tolerate.

Often people who have arthritis in the knee and hip that have failed non-operative treatments come to me asking, “Should I have my knee replaced? Should I have my hip replaced?”

Luckily now, hip and knee replacement surgeries are done a little differently than they were 5, 10, 15 years ago.

The surgical incisions are now smaller. The approaches spare the muscles for the most part. Knee replacements are typically done without cutting any muscle now.

That makes a smaller scar. It makes the recovery easier. It makes the whole process go a lot quicker too.

Some women come in asking me, “How is the replacement going to get rid of the arthritis?”

What the replacement does is it allows me to trim off parts of the bone that have arthritis but keep the biggest parts of the bone together.

We try and keep as many of the natural ligaments as we can. Naturally, all of the muscles stay the same.

All we are doing is removing the most diseased part of the knee and leaving it as natural as possible.

About Dr. Daniel J. Mullen, M.D.:
Dr. Daniel J. Mullen, M.D., specializes in reconstructive procedures of both the knee and shoulder. He did his undergraduate studies at the University of Notre Dame. He went to medical school at Temple University in Philadelphia and did his orthopaedic training in Baltimore centered out of Union Memorial Hospital. He also worked at Johns Hopkins University Hospital and the Shock Trauma Center. He did a fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio where he was assistant team doctor for the Cleveland Browns, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the spring training division of the Cleveland Indians. He has authored numerous articles and textbook chapters and delivered many research and teaching presentations on surgery of the knee and the shoulder on both a national and international level. He volunteers his time and resources to help the local high school athletes during their sporting seasons. He lives in Gilbert, AZ, with his wife and two boys.

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• Arthritis