Excess weight complicates joint, orthopedic issues

Orthopedic surgeons, rheumatologists and physicians specializing in rehabilitation medicine know that the knee joint has to support the force of three to six times one’s weight.

The impact of extra weight is also multiplied on other joints, including those of the back, hips and ankles. The results of this increased wear and tear are impressive; for example, men who are just 40 pounds over their ideal body weight have a five-fold increase in osteoarthritis.

This close link between obesity and osteoarthritis is well documented. Of course, the incidence of severe osteoarthritis in people that are one hundred or more pounds overweight is exponentially higher, and the age of onset is much earlier. As always in medicine, unless patients and their doctors attack the root cause of their disease, in this case arthritis, medications and other therapy will only temporarily alleviate the pain and will allow for permanent injury to the bone and cartilage to eventually occur. For patients who do not yet require surgery to replace damaged joints, substantial weight loss has been shown to alleviate the debilitating symptoms of osteoarthritis.

Studies have documented that seventy percent of patients that were taking medications for joint pain had no pain and were off all arthritis medications after weight loss surgery. Another published study documented that 58 percent of patients undergoing weight loss surgery complained of chronic low back pain, but this number decreased to only 20 percent after surgery.

The N.E.W. Program specializes in both surgical and non-surgical methods of permanent weight loss and patients often come in to see our specialists, or are referred by their physician, specifically due to chronic joint pain.

In fact, at The N.E.W. Program, patients have often been referred by orthopedic surgeons specifically in order to lose weight prior to joint replacement surgery. Surgical complication after orthopedic surgery is higher in severely obese individuals and recovery from joint replacement is more difficult in obese patients.

A patient who is unable to undergo joint replacement due to excess weight is a prime example of a person who needs surgical weight loss. By now, everyone is aware that osteoarthritis will often improve with good weight control. For those people who are severely obese and are suffering from chronic joint pain, surgery for permanent weight control may be the best option to improve the results of their medical or surgical therapy.