In early arthritis of the knee the focus of treatment is to relieve symptoms and to try to prevent the disease progressing to more severe arthritis which would require joint replacement. This general philosophy is one of joint preservation. Treatment options include physiotherapy with muscle strengthening, simple painkillers, viscosupplementation (“shock-absorbing”) injections into the joint, and in some cases, key-hole surgery of the knee to deal with any underlying cartilage tears which might be contributing to pain. Further treatment options may also be considered, such as cartilage repair or restoration techniques or, where the arthritis is more advanced, realignment osteotomies. Please click on the Knee Surgery section for further details abthe small these techniques.