# What to do with the time before surgery *What a useful wait buys — non-surgical joint treatment Phoenix* > Non-surgical joint treatment Phoenix can include exercise, weight work, walking aids, and clinic options while you decide whether surgery is needed. Phoenix keeps its municipal golf courses open year-round. A sore joint may show itself through fewer holes or more time riding. That change counts. You're walking less even if soreness only comes during golf. ## What to work on before you decide Use the time well. A physical therapist can show you exercises made for the sore joint. Repeat those exercises without pushing through sharp soreness. Walking may also feel steadier with a cane or brace. The work must be regular. One good week of exercise won't tell you whether it's helping. Keep notes on sleep, missed chores, stairs, and walking. You'll have better facts for the next visit. QC Kinetix calls its clinic choices biologic therapies, meaning blood-based care prepared and given by medical providers after they examine you. One name you'll hear is PRP, or platelet-rich plasma. To make it, the clinic takes some blood from you and spins it until one portion holds more platelets. A needle delivers that portion inside the aching joint, unless your exam, the cost, or the time required points you toward other care. ## When to stop buying more time Stop repeating care that hasn't helped. Arrange another exam if walks get shorter or sleep keeps breaking. Do the same if the joint won't straighten or keeps giving way. More delay can bring more trouble standing, walking, and using stairs. Choosing surgery doesn't mean you failed. It may be sensible after physical therapy, exercise, braces, or medicine had the time set by the person overseeing your care. Your health, X-ray, soreness, and daily limits all matter. A website can't make that choice for you. Bring a short record. List each type of care, how long you used it, and what changed. Tell the provider which daily job matters most. That's enough to keep the visit useful. ## Sources 1. In the only randomised controlled trial to compare total knee replacement directly with non-surgical treatment in patients already eligible for surgery (n=100), the replacement group improved more at 12 months than the non-surgical group (KOOS4 32.5 vs 16.0; adjusted mean difference 15.8, 95% CI 10.0 to 21.5) but had four times the serious adverse events (24 vs 6, P=0.005). Only 13 of 50 patients (26%) assigned to non-surgical treatment alone had undergone knee replacement by 12 months. Skou ST, Roos EM, Laursen MB, et al. — [A Randomized, Controlled Trial of Total Knee Replacement.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26488691/). *New England Journal of Medicine*, 2015. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1505467. 2. At 2 years across two parallel randomised trials (200 patients, mean age 66), total knee replacement plus non-surgical treatment beat non-surgical treatment alone by 18.3 KOOS points (95% CI 11.3 to 25.3), and non-surgical treatment in turn beat written advice by 7.0 points (95% CI 0.4 to 13.5). Among patients eligible for replacement, 16 of 50 (32%) in the non-surgical group had surgery within 2 years - meaning two out of three delayed it for at least two years. Skou ST, Roos EM, Laursen MB, et al. — [Total knee replacement and non-surgical treatment of knee osteoarthritis: 2-year outcome from two parallel randomized controlled trials.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29723634/). *Osteoarthritis and Cartilage*, 2018. DOI: 10.1016/j.joca.2018.04.014. 3. In a long-term follow-up of a randomised trial in 109 patients with symptomatic and radiographic hip osteoarthritis, adding exercise therapy to patient education raised 6-year survival of the native hip from 25% to 41% (p=0.034; HR 0.56, 95% CI 0.32 to 0.96), with median time to total hip replacement of 5.4 years versus 3.5 years. The authors describe this as an explanatory finding suggesting exercise therapy can reduce the need for hip replacement by 44%. Svege I, Nordsletten L, Fernandes L, et al. — [Exercise therapy may postpone total hip replacement surgery in patients with hip osteoarthritis: a long-term follow-up of a randomised trial.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24255546/). *Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases*, 2015. DOI: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2013-203628. 4. In 156 patients with knee osteoarthritis randomised in the US Military Health System, physical therapy produced a mean WOMAC total score of 37.0 at one year versus 55.8 for a single intra-articular glucocorticoid injection (mean between-group difference 18.8 points favouring physical therapy, 95% CI 5.0 to 32.6, on a 0-240 scale where higher is worse). Secondary outcomes moved in the same direction. Deyle GD, Allen CS, Allison SC, et al. — [Physical Therapy versus Glucocorticoid Injection for Osteoarthritis of the Knee.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32268027/). *New England Journal of Medicine*, 2020. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1905877. 5. A systematic review and meta-analysis of 120 randomised trials (10,253 participants) covering resistance training across the knee osteoarthritis continuum - 88 trials in early OA, 13 preoperative, 19 after knee replacement - found improvements in mobility, walking capacity and knee extension strength in early OA (SMD 0.46-0.81, moderate-to-high GRADE), in preoperative knee extension strength (SMD 0.47, high GRADE) and in mobility after knee replacement (SMD 0.58). Resistance training improved pain, symptoms, function and quality of life in early OA but showed NO significant effect on those outcomes preoperatively, with no increased risk versus controls at any stage. Brown RCC, Mora-Traverso M, Fernández-González M, et al. — [Efficacy and safety of resistance training for knee osteoarthritis and subsequent knee replacement: A systematic review and meta-analysis.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42030701/). *Annals of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine*, 2026. DOI: 10.1016/j.rehab.2026.102122. 6. A meta-analysis of seven studies (419 patients) of preoperative high-intensity strength training before total knee arthroplasty found statistically significant post-operative improvements versus control in the 6-minute walk test (pooled SMD 0.73, 95% CI 0.04 to 1.41), range-of-motion flexion (0.40, 95% CI 0.08 to 0.72), SF-36 (1.54, 95% CI 0.32 to 2.75) and WOMAC (-0.78, 95% CI -1.22 to -0.34). Huang ST, Yang SW. — [Preoperative High-Intensity Strength Training and Outcomes After Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41320898/). *Sports Health*, 2026. DOI: 10.1177/19417381251388638. 7. In 63,158 hip and 54,276 knee replacement patients in the Clinical Practice Research Datalink, the lifetime risk of requiring revision surgery was about 5% for patients operated on after age 70 with no sex difference, but rose to 35% (95% CI 30.9-39.1) for men having surgery in their early 50s, with women's risk about 15% lower at the same age. Median time to revision for patients operated on younger than 60 was 4.4 years. The authors state their evidence challenges the trend toward more replacements in younger patients. Bayliss LE, Culliford D, Monk AP, et al. — [The effect of patient age at intervention on risk of implant revision after total replacement of the hip or knee: a population-based cohort study.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28209371/). *The Lancet*, 2017. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(17)30059-4. 8. Applying a modified validated appropriateness classification to 205 Osteoarthritis Initiative patients who underwent total knee arthroplasty in the US, 44.0% (95% CI 37-51%) of the procedures were classified appropriate, 21.7% (95% CI 16-28%) inconclusive and 34.3% (95% CI 27-41%) inappropriate - approximately one third judged inappropriate, against about 20% in earlier studies outside the US. Riddle DL, Jiranek WA, Hayes CW. — [Use of a validated algorithm to judge the appropriateness of total knee arthroplasty in the United States: a multicenter longitudinal cohort study.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24974958/). *Arthritis & Rheumatology*, 2014. DOI: 10.1002/art.38685. 9. A systematic review of prospective studies in unselected osteoarthritis patients found that the proportion reporting an unfavourable long-term pain outcome ranged from about 7% to 23% after hip replacement and 10% to 34% after knee replacement; in the best-quality studies, 9% or more after hip and about 20% after knee replacement. Beswick AD, Wylde V, Gooberman-Hill R, et al. — [What proportion of patients report long-term pain after total hip or knee replacement for osteoarthritis? A systematic review of prospective studies in unselected patients.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22357571/). *BMJ Open*, 2012. DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2011-000435. ## What to do next Start with a talk. QC Kinetix lets you arrange a consultation for joint soreness. After examining you, the medical provider can discuss regenerative care prepared from your own blood and given at the clinic. One name for it is platelet-rich plasma, or PRP; staff take some blood from you, spin it to collect more platelets, then use a needle to place that portion in the aching joint. Choose the office that fits your drive. Peoria serves the north I-17 corridor. Banner Estrella is at 91st Avenue and Thomas Road, find Scottsdale on E. Mountain View Road, and Chandler is on Dobson. Call (602) 837-PAIN for help choosing. You won't get a promise of a result. You'll get an exam and advice about what to do next. That may mean clinic care, physical therapy, home care, or a visit with a doctor who handles bones and joints. The answer needs to fit your joint. Book a free consultation: --- Straight answers for a sore joint. Learn why a joint can feel sore, simple things that may help, signs it needs an exam, and non-surgical care from QC Kinetix in Phoenix. Plain help for Phoenix joint soreness, from home care to a clinic visit. This site is operated by the owners of the QC Kinetix clinics serving the Phoenix area — Banner Estrella, Scottsdale, Peoria and Chandler — which makes it first-party writing by a business that benefits when you book, and is exactly why every claim on it is tied to a study you can open yourself. © 2026 The Phoenix Joint Ledger. General education about joint care and the timing decision behind it, not medical advice about your joint; talk to a clinician about your own case.