Dr. Karen Ellsworth, MD, FAAOS
Board-Certified Orthopaedic Surgeon
Dr. Karen Ellsworth (MD, FAAOS) is a board-certified orthopaedic surgeon whose practice centers on hip and knee arthritis and joint replacement. She is the surgeon who checks the medical accuracy of what appears here.
Her role is to keep these articles in line with current orthopaedic practice and international evidence, including the osteoarthritis guidance of OARSI (the Osteoarthritis Research Society International) and Cochrane reviews: how osteoarthritis is diagnosed and staged, what the evidence says about injections, weight, and exercise before surgery, how knee and hip replacement actually work, and what the risks and realistic outcomes are. She pays particular attention to where the picture differs for women, and to keeping the option of not operating in clear view.
What she confirms is accuracy and balance, not a treatment recommendation. Nothing here is a substitute for a consultation; only a qualified surgeon who can examine you and review your imaging can advise on your own knee or hip.
Articles medically reviewed by Dr. Karen Ellsworth
- Alternatives Before Knee Surgery: What Actually Helps Women Delay or Avoid a Replacement
- Anti-Inflammatory Eating for Knee Joints: What Helps Women, and What Is Hype
- Having Both Knees Replaced: Same Day or Months Apart?
- Hip vs Knee Arthritis in Women: How to Tell Which Joint Is the Problem
- Caring for Your New Knee Long Term: Protecting the Implant for the Years Ahead
- Exercises for Knee Replacement Recovery: A Week by Week Plan
- How Long Will a Knee Replacement Last? The 20-Year Numbers for Women
- Knee Braces for Arthritis: Do They Help, and Which Type Women Need
- Knee Pain: When to See a Doctor, and How Soon
- Knee Osteoarthritis in Women: Why It Differs and What to Do
- Knee Replacement Cost: What Drives the Price and What to Expect
- Knee Replacement Risks for Women: What the Numbers Actually Say
- Knee Replacement Surgery Explained: The Operation, Implants, and Hospital Stay
- Knee Replacement With Osteoporosis: What Thin Bones Change About the Surgery
- Osteoporosis and Bone Health After 50: What Women Should Know
- Kneeling After Knee Replacement: Is It Safe, and How to Get Back to It
- Menopause and Joint Pain: The Estrogen Link and What Helps
- Osteoporosis Medication: What to Expect Before You Start
- Partial vs Total Knee Replacement: How to Tell Which One Fits Your Knee
- Knee Replacement Recovery Week by Week: A Realistic Timeline
- Preparing for a Knee Replacement: A Woman's Checklist
- Preventing Falls and Fractures After 50: Weak Knees, Thin Bones
- Questions to Ask Your Knee Surgeon Before a Replacement
- Shoes, Footwear, and Knee Pain: What Helps and What Hurts
- Signs It's Time for a Knee Replacement: How Women Can Tell
- Staying Active With Arthritic Knees: A Practical Guide for Women
- Steroid Injections for Knee Arthritis: How Long They Last and What They Cost You
- Stiffness After Knee Replacement: What Is Normal, and When a Knee Is Stuck
- Joint Supplements: What the Evidence Says About Glucosamine, Collagen, and Vitamin D
- The Emotional Side of Living With Joint Pain
- Weight and Knee Arthritis: How Much Loss Actually Helps a Woman's Knees
- Why Osteoarthritis Hits Women Harder: The Mechanisms Behind the Gap