Joint & Movement Health
Degenerative changes in the knee joint that can cause pain, stiffness, swelling and reduced function.
Physician-led assessment · individualized care · Vancouver clinic
Understanding Knee Osteoarthritis
Maybe it's the first few steps out of bed, the ache after a long walk, or the way you've started taking stairs one at a time. Knee osteoarthritis often creeps in slowly, and it can make everyday things feel like more effort than they should.
It's often called 'wear and tear', but it's really a whole-joint condition. Cartilage, bone, the joint lining, ligaments and the muscles around the knee all play a part, and over time the balance between breakdown and repair shifts. That's actually encouraging, because it explains why strengthening the surrounding muscles and managing load help so many people. It also explains why X-ray changes and pain often don't match, so we focus on how your knee feels and works, and what you want to get back to doing.
Causes and Contributing Factors
Osteoarthritis develops when the balance between joint tissue breakdown and repair is disrupted over time, affecting the whole joint, not just the cartilage. Contributing factors include age, previous knee injury or surgery (such as a meniscus or ligament tear), repetitive high load, excess body weight, joint alignment, muscle weakness and family history. It's a gradual process with many contributors, and the amount of change on imaging doesn't reliably predict how much pain a person feels.
Signs and Symptoms
Knee osteoarthritis usually develops gradually, and symptoms can fluctuate. Common features include:
Assessment
Your assessment is with Dr. Teri Fisher, our sports medicine physician. No referral is needed, and it helps to share your most recent imaging or reports before your appointment.
Dr. Fisher talks with you about your pain, stiffness and swelling, how your knee affects daily life, past injuries and your general health. She then examines range of motion, stability, alignment, swelling, tenderness and the strength of the muscles around the knee. X-rays can help, and since imaging and symptoms don't always line up, the whole picture guides whether exercise-based care, an injection or a specialist referral is the right next step for the activities you want to keep doing.
Sports medicine consultations are physician appointments with a consultation fee, confirmed when you book.
Treatment Options
These are some of the options connected to this concern. The appropriate plan depends on assessment, suitability, and your goals.
Guidelines agree that exercise-based care is the foundation for knee osteoarthritis, and it works: learning about your knee, a structured exercise program to strengthen the muscles that stabilize and offload the joint, and weight management where relevant can meaningfully reduce pain and get you moving again. Physiotherapy, activity changes, footwear or bracing, and the right pain-relief measures are added to suit your symptoms and goals. For most people, these foundations are the treatment.
Injections can be a helpful part of that wider plan. Dr. Fisher offers ultrasound-guided options for the knee, including corticosteroid, hyaluronic acid preparations, platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and prolotherapy. There's no single best injection for everyone, and the choice is at the physician's discretion, based on your age, X-ray findings, severity, activity level and goals. In simple terms, a hyaluronic acid preparation is a bit like adding lubricant to a worn hinge, while PRP, prepared from your own blood, aims to prompt the joint's own repair processes. The knee is one of the most-studied areas for PRP, with some trials encouraging for pain in milder osteoarthritis, while the evidence overall is still mixed and major guidelines don't yet routinely recommend it. Every injection sits alongside exercise and weight management, and individual results vary.
If you're waiting for knee surgery, an injection can help make the wait more manageable. When symptoms stay severe and limiting despite good care, referral to an orthopaedic specialist is arranged.
For the fuller picture, explore the treatment pages above or discuss the options during a consultation.
Knee osteoarthritis is approached here as a whole-joint, guideline-first condition, with treatment guided by how the knee feels and functions. Structured exercise, muscle strengthening and weight management where relevant are the core of treatment for most patients, started before any injection and continued alongside it. PRP is discussed openly as an option for selected patients with milder disease, always paired with the exercise-based foundation, and framed as a way to help with pain and function.
Selected sources informing this page. Canadian guidance is prioritized, and manufacturer materials are not treated as independent clinical evidence.
Medical Assessment
Assessment is important when knee pain is persistent, limits daily activities, or is worsening. Prompt medical attention is needed for a knee that is hot, red and markedly swollen, especially with fever, which can suggest infection or an inflammatory flare, or for a knee that locks, gives way repeatedly, or becomes acutely swollen after an injury. Rapidly progressive pain or symptoms out of keeping with osteoarthritis should also be reviewed.
Frequently Asked Questions
For most people, the right exercise helps a great deal, by strengthening the muscles around the knee and restoring function. Guidelines list structured exercise as a core part of care, and Dr. Fisher can help you find a program that suits your knee, working with your physiotherapist if you have one.
The knee is one of the most-studied areas for platelet-rich plasma (PRP), and some trials suggest it may reduce pain in milder osteoarthritis. The evidence is still mixed, so it's an individual option for selected people, used to help pain and function alongside exercise and weight management. It doesn't regrow cartilage. Dr. Fisher talks through whether PRP or another ultrasound-guided option suits you after your assessment.
Usually not at first. Most people do well with exercise, weight management and pain strategies. Joint replacement is generally considered when symptoms stay severe and limiting despite these measures, and if you're already on a surgical waitlist, a well-planned program, sometimes with an injection, can make the wait more manageable.
Physician Assessment
An assessment can help clarify what may be contributing, which options may be appropriate, and what a reasonable next step could look like for you.
Visit Our Clinic
Anti-Aging Medical & Laser Clinic combines medical assessment, individualized planning, physician oversight, and a broad range of treatment options in its Vancouver clinic.
Bring your questions, treatment history, and goals. Your provider can help you understand appropriate options, expected recovery, and realistic outcomes.
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