Cartilage is a connective tissue that is present in all bone joints. It has many functions in the body including acting as a shock absorber, reducing friction, and lubricating the joints. “Sometimes the cartilage can get damaged or torn due to trauma or wear and tear that occurs due to aging,” says Dr. Bharani Kumar.

Dr. Bharani Kumar Dayanandam is the senior orthopaedic surgeon and trauma consultant at Chennai Orthopaedics. Here, he discusses the common mistakes that patients make while dealing with a cartilage tear and the advantages of cartilage regeneration therapy. 

In younger people (below 40 years), the most common form of cartilage tear occurs in the knee and shoulders. “Though cartilage tear can happen to anyone, sports persons are more prone to this,” says Dr. Bharani Kumar. 

 Dev (name changed), a 22-year-old, is an avid sportsperson who loves playing football and hitting the gym. A fall while playing football, left him with a swollen left knee which caused tremendous pain. An X-ray showed no bone fractures, and therefore Dev opted to treat his pain with Homeopathy. However, when the pain continued to persist even after 6 months, he finally decided to visit Dr. Bharani Kumar, who asked for an MRI scan. The MRI scan showed a tear in the cartilage. 

“Dev’s is not a stand-alone case. Many people opt for alternative therapy like homeopathy or ayurveda to treat cartilage tears due to an irrational fear of surgery. Advancement in science has provided us with many novel approaches to treating torn cartilage. Cartilage regeneration therapy is one such method,” says Dr. Bharani Kumar.

Cartilage regeneration therapy is ideal to treat smaller tears in the cartilage in younger patients who wish to continue their active lifestyle. This can be done in 2 ways: single-stage and 2-stage techniques. Both these techniques use chondroblasts (bone stem cells) from the patient to re-grow the cartilage. This provides the unique opportunity to treat the cartilage tear without replacing the joint with an artificial structure, as done in joint replacement surgeries. 

Dev was an ideal candidate for cartilage regeneration therapy. His young age, along with the smaller size of the focal cartilage tear, increases the success rate of this therapy. Dr. Bharani Kumar is happy to report that Dev is back to playing his favorite sport after a 10-month rehabilitation period. 

Dr. Bharani Kumar is not of the opinion that alternative therapies should be shunned. “Alternative therapies can be used to strengthen the body or to maintain your general health. However, once an injury happens to the cartilage, it is best to visit your orthopaedic surgeon,” says Dr. Bharani Kumar. 

Dr. Bharani Kumar’s advice to patients is ‘the earlier the better.’ Not everyone requires surgery or cartilage regeneration therapy. However, it is of utmost importance to get yourself diagnosed correctly at the earliest if you exhibit any symptoms. Fear of surgery or ignorance should not hinder one from getting the correct treatment.

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