With innovative programs, Bon Secours Piedmont Orthopaedics can help fix your joint pain
You don’t have to live with chronic and debilitating pain in your knees, hips, and other joints. Bon Secours Piedmont Orthopaedics doctors will find the cause and put you on the road to recovery.
Joint pain is a common complaint because it usually comes with age, and “we have a pretty active population,” said Dr. James E. Jennings, Jr., a hip and knee orthopedic surgeon with Bon Secours Piedmont Orthopaedics.
Arthritis—either degenerative, traumatic, or rheumatoid—is usually why joints hurt. Patients often “don’t know whether they have arthritis or not. They simply have knee or hip pain related to weight-bearing activities or certain (joint) movements,” Jennings said, adding there also can be pain when resting, or swelling and joint catching.
Patient history, an exam, and x-rays will determine the best treatments, which might include activity modification, anti-inflammatory medications, injections, physical therapy, and weight loss when needed.
When non-operative options fail, or patients have end-stage arthritis, surgery is necessary. Luckily, Bon Secours Piedmont Orthopaedics offers an award-winning total joint replacement program.
One reason for its success is the pre-operative Joint Camp. About three weeks before surgery, “campers” go to the hospital to get labs, screenings, and an anesthesia evaluation; meet their nurses and physical therapists; and see the surgery rooms. They also learn about discharge procedures.
“The idea is to have a comprehensive program to have all patients evaluated in pretty much the same way,” Jennings said. “All of this is in the pursuit of excellence, which this program has achieved.”
In 2022, it earned The Joint Commission’s Advanced Disease-Specific Care Certification in hip and knee replacement. It also is an Aetna Institute Quality provider and an Optum-designed Center of Excellence.
That is thanks in part to innovative total joint surgeries, most of which are either outpatient or require a one-night hospital stay. The robotically assisted knee replacements have “been a major advance as far as predictability of the surgery,” Jennings said. “We also believe it has improved patients’ short-term recovery.”
Patients go home with a walker, pain medications, and scheduled therapist visits to change bandages, remove staples, and update prescribed at-home exercises. Some knee replacement patients go to outpatient physical therapy, while hip replacement therapies happen at home.
It takes about four to five weeks to return to normal activities, including driving. A full recovery “where they really don’t think about their joint replacement much,” usually comes in six to 12 months, Jennings said.
At Bon Secours, our passion is getting you back to yours. If painful bones or joints are keeping you from enjoying your favorite activities, contact Greenville’s trusted orthopedic team. Visit bonsecours.com/greenville-orthopedics or call 864.234.7654.
