Conditions.
The hip and knee conditions Professor Daevyd Rodda sees most often. Not all of them need an operation, and several are treated without one.
Hip conditions.
Hip Osteoarthritis
What it is, what causes it, how it is diagnosed, and why the X-ray and the symptoms so often disagree.
Read more HipHip Labral Tear
A tear in the rim of cartilage around the hip socket. Common on MRI, often not the cause of the pain, and important mainly for what it says about the shape of the joint.
Read more HipHip Impingement (FAI)
A shape mismatch between the ball and the socket, so the two abut during movement. One of the recognised routes to earlier hip arthritis.
Read more HipHip Dysplasia
A socket that is shallower than it should be, so the load from the body is carried over a smaller area of cartilage. A common and frequently missed cause of hip arthritis in younger adults.
Read more HipAvascular Necrosis
Loss of blood supply to the ball of the hip, causing an area of bone to die and, if it progresses, to collapse. Timing matters more here than in almost any other hip condition.
Read more HipTrochanteric Bursitis
Pain on the outer hip, tender to press and painful to lie on. Commonly mistaken for hip arthritis, usually not a bursa problem at all, and almost never treated with surgery.
Read more HipLeg Length Difference
One leg measuring or feeling longer than the other. Common before a hip replacement, planned for during one, and often felt afterwards even when the measurement is equal.
Read moreKnee conditions.
Knee Osteoarthritis
Arthritis simply means any condition causing pain and dysfunction in a joint. Knee arthritis refers to the gradual degeneration and loss of the smooth cartilage lining the knee joint.
Read more KneeMeniscal Tear
A tear in one of the two cartilage cushions inside the knee. The critical question is not whether the scan shows a tear, but whether the tear is a fresh injury or part of an arthritic process.
Read more KneePatellofemoral Arthritis
Arthritis of the joint between the kneecap and the thigh bone. Produces a distinctive pattern of front-of-knee pain that is worse on stairs and standing up, and is often missed on standard X-rays.
Read more KneePatellar Instability
A kneecap that slips out of its groove, or feels like it might. Mostly a problem of younger knees, and relevant here for the arthritis it can leave behind decades later.
Read more KneeKnee Ligament Injury
Injury to the cruciate or collateral ligaments. Relevant to this practice mainly for what it does to the knee two and three decades later.
Read more KneeCartilage (Chondral) Defect
A localised area of damaged joint surface, as distinct from the widespread wear of osteoarthritis. The distinction determines whether repair is possible at all.
Read more KneeBaker's Cyst
A swelling behind the knee, filled with joint fluid. Almost always a consequence of something happening inside the joint rather than a problem in its own right.
Read moreConditions affecting either joint.
These affect the hip and the knee alike, or follow a joint replacement.
Inflammatory Arthritis
Arthritis driven by the immune system rather than by mechanical wear. Managed medically by a rheumatologist, with joint replacement reserved for joints already damaged.
Read more Either jointGout & Crystal Arthritis
Crystals forming inside a joint, producing sudden severe pain and swelling. Important here because it mimics infection, and because it complicates a joint replacement.
Read more Either jointPost-Traumatic Arthritis
Arthritis that follows an injury, often decades later. The same disease as osteoarthritis, in a younger patient, in a joint whose anatomy has already been altered.
Read more Either jointInfection in a Joint Replacement
Infection around an implant. Uncommon, and the complication with the most serious consequences, which is why it is worth knowing what to look for and when to call.
Read more