If some people say that colder or warmer weather makes their arthritis worse, does the same apply to knee replacement surgery and (particularly) recovery? Alex Dodds, orthopaedic consultant for The Cotswolds, Cheltenham and Gloucester, explains.
*photo courtesy of New Africa via shutterstock
You know that expression ‘I can feel it in my bones’? For some people with arthritis, it seems to be the literal truth. I meet many patients who tell me their knee pain gets worse in winter. For others, the exact opposite is true. But should that influence when you have knee surgery?
Can knee osteoarthritis be influenced by the weather?
Sort of. It seems pressure and humidity (rather than weather and temperature) can have an impact. The Cloudy With A Chance of Pain project a few years ago found that “high humidity, low pressure and strong winds—in that order—were significantly associated with increased pain”.
That said, it’s not the case for everyone. For some patients, the exact opposite conditions could lead to increased pain.
We don’t know exactly why some conditions affect osteoarthritis sufferers in different ways.
> Discover more about osteoarthritis of the knee
Does that mean there’s a better season for knee surgery?
No. The atmospheric conditions don’t have an impact on the outcomes of your knee replacement. Nor is there any evidence to suggest they have an impact on recovery.
Yet whilst this may be objectively true, it’s also true that subjectively, each patient may have a very different view on their ideal time for knee replacement surgery, although these tend to be for lifestyle reasons.
If you have a big summer holiday planned, you might want to arrange your private knee surgery in Gloucestershire for after your holiday or well in advance of it so you have plenty of time to recover.
If you plan on spending time on the ski slopes next February, this summer may be the ideal time for surgery, so you have plenty of time to build back the muscle strength that will help you cope with some (gentle) slopes.
Other patients simply prefer the idea of knee replacement surgery when the weather is warmer and drier, because the first few weeks of limited mobility are a bit less of a trial when you do them in the sun.
> Discover more about knee replacements
Practical considerations
There are some practical things to bear in mind that may affect your preferred time of knee surgery. You can’t drive for six weeks after a knee replacement. You can’t fly long haul flights until 12 weeks after surgery, so you’ll need to factor both of those into to any holiday or return to work.
It’s also the case that, while wait times for private knee surgery in Cheltenham, Gloucester and the Cotswolds are much, much lower than on the NHS, there will be a few weeks to wait between your initial consultation and surgery.
To plan your knee replacement, please book your appointment or call 01242 246549
> Discover more about osteoarthritis of the knee
> Discover more about partial & total knee replacements