Joint Replacement
If you are seeking relief from joint pain and stiffness, the UM Upper Chesapeake Health Joint Center in Bel Air offers a team approach to joint replacement that promotes healing and gets you back to a more active lifestyle.
Our team of board-certified orthopedic surgeons, nurses and rehabilitative professionals take a patient-focused approach using the most advanced technology, such as robotic-assisted joint replacement.
Many of our orthopedic surgeons are part of the University of Maryland Joint Network, a group that brings its advanced expertise in hip and knee replacement to Harford County.
Want to learn more? Check out our video to learn all about joint replacement surgery at UM Upper Chesapeake Health.
We Set You Up to Succeed
What happens before your joint replacement surgery is as important as what happens during and after. The Joint Center's group model promotes team spirit and support among participants.
Care Partners
Each patient is encouraged to have a care partner (a friend or loved one) who serves as a support person. This partnership promotes quicker healing, builds confidence and reduces the anxiety associated with rehabilitation.
Care partners are trained in the recovery process and attend the group sessions to act as coaches. Your care partner will help keep you on track and focused on leaving the hospital and returning to a more active life.
If you cannot identify a care partner, we will provide a volunteer care partner.
A Learning Experience
The bedrock of our unique collaborative approach is education and communication.
Prior to surgery, you and your care partner will attend a class where we review expectations and explain our group therapy approach and the role of the care partner.
A comprehensive patient notebook you will receive after surgery reinforces all the information you learn at this session.
A Team Approach
We have dedicated nursing and rehabilitative team members to each higher activity levels during your hospital stay.
Our physical and occupational therapists fully evaluate each patient. As a group, patients attend exercise classes that focus on their needs after surgery, such as moving around safely and the activities of daily living. Our nurses work proactively with you to keep your pain in check.
Robotic-Assisted Surgery
The type of robotic-assisted joint replacement we use, known as MAKOplasty, is a knee and hip joint replacement procedure for the treatment of degenerative joint disease.
In this minimally invasive surgical procedure, your surgeon utilizes a robotic arm system to achieve a higher level of precision when resurfacing the diseased portion of the bone.
CT scans of the joint taken prior to surgery are used to develop 3-D virtual animation that guides the surgeon during the procedure. This technique preserves more of healthy bone and surrounding tissue than more traditional knee and hip replacement surgery options.
The robotic assistance allows for better positioning and alignment of the joint implant, creating a more accurate fit and more natural motion of the joint following surgery.
More importantly, it allows for more rapid healing and recovery, quicker pain relief and faster return to daily activities and an active lifestyle.
Live Greater Podcast Episodes
Learn more about joint replacement, how it can affect you and the latest treatments.