Osteoarthritis – Weight Loss

Transcript

One of the most important treatment options for patients who are overweight is weight loss. Patients with a BMI of over 40 especially are not candidates for surgery and need to undergo weight loss prior to being good candidates and decreasing their risk of developing complications after surgery, such as infection or pulmonary issues. Patients who are between the threshold of 35 and 40 also can benefit from substantial weight loss. Not only does this improve potential surgery complications down the road, but also decreases the pain associated with the arthritis by decreasing the ability of that joint to feel all of that load. The pain is much less with weight loss.