What course of treatment should be given for damaged knee cartilage?
Patient: My son was diagnosed at 17 yrs old with a rare never seen before disease that has destroyed the cartilage in both knees. A cartilage re - implantation was tried with no success as his cartilage is diseased. His surgeon has stated that nothing more can be done for him. Knee replacements are not considered an option because of his age. We live in Australia, I was hoping you may be able to help . Thanks Doctor: Hello,  The surgeon is right, at his age we cannot opt for the knee replacement if the cartilages are diseased and knee joint space is reducing.   I will advice to look out for a competitive physiotherapist, who can help regain the knee functions by providing excellent strength in the knee joint muscles on both sides.   As the function of the cartilage is to act as a shock absorber their absence role can be taken care by the muscles and other ligaments.   It's a time consuming process to deal with exercise but it will help to avoid early ageing of the knee joint and using assisting devices like knee brace will also be benefited.   But exercise in proper way to maintain the gap between the knee joint is of utmost importance to avoid pain and ageing of knee joint. We can try this out as no one would wish to have an artificial joint.  Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.  Take care  Regards, Jay Indravadan Patel, Physical Therapist or Physiotherapist