Osteoarthritis in my knee?

anyone who is under 40 had to have surgery or even suffers from this?
i am 37 and after a motorcycle accident at 19 have had this condition. i know one day i will have to have a knee replacement, and tend at the moment to be in quite a lot of pain some days. doctors offer tablets to help, but dont like pills. injections i dont think are the answer to me, just wondered how bad people had got before they had the op?

Knee replacements are very rarely done on people under the age of 70. Simply because they only last about 10 years. Knee replacements are excruciatingly painful and are not always sucessful.
Osteoarthritis is a miserable condition, I have it myself in both knees and I don't resort to pills or injections either. I can recommend a good herbal tea to drink that will ease the symptoms. Just email me. Source(s): Herbal Medicine Diploma (Distinction)

The Rapist need to get booted off of here!!
(Edited later to add:Gone!!Good,hopefully for good!)

I don't know,but hope you get some relief soon.
iam 30 and i had an accident as well and i feel like you about pills what helps me is moist heat rest elevation then after all that some ice get a dog leash and in the hand hole lay on your stomach and place your foot into the hole and with the other end pull the leash over your shoulder making your leg come up to your behind do the stretch holding for 30 sec do this 20 mins a day and then if all that doesn't help with the pain then talk to your orthopedic and he may recommend arthroscopic surgery non invasion but helps a lotttttt . i hope this is comfort for you but do realize it wont take it all away and it wont help over night and i went through a yr of therapy and then the surgery and i still have pain but not as bad as i did good days bad days
Try Glucosamine supplements. See a physiotherapist about it, and consider acupuncture, preferably the type with tiny electrodes (very safe!), or hypnotherapy. Also see www.mercola.com
I have not had knee replacement but both hips from osteoarthritis. I had no cartilage for over 2 years before I found a doctor to help me. Anyone that tells you the doctors won't help before the age of 70...well it is no longer that way. I was 49 when I had my first replacement. Yes it is painful, what operation isn't. My feelings were that the short time of 6 months recoup were a lot better than pain for the next 10 years. The recoup time is not all 6 months, each day gets better.

Before I got the op, the best way to deal with the pain was to use a cane. when you are in pain, you tend to pamper that injury and cause more pain doing that. Good luck and I hope you find some relief.
Hard luck - you are very young to have this condition. My husband recently had a knee replacement because of osteoarthritis, but had to endure at least ten years of pain before they would do the op. I think he tried everything to relieve the pain, and the best help came from our local physiotherapist. However, once he had recovered from the op, he was soon walking without pain, and is now so glad he had it done.