For the joints in our body to work pain-free, they need to be a smooth gliding surface. Unfortunately, some injuries will damage the cartilage. Once the cartilage starts to become damaged and is no longer a smooth surface, this can very quickly lead to pain in the joint. In fact this is quite literally what early arthritis is. Some times cartilage that is torn or abnormal can be replaced to relieve pain and restore comfort and better function. There are, depending on the case, ways of either taking someone’s splint cartilage and rolling it in a laboratory and then reimplanting it, or using donated cartilage to repair tears or gaps in the cartilage.
Articular cartilage, most notably that which is found in the knee joint, is generally characterized by very low friction, high wear resistance, and poor regenerative qualities. It is responsible for much of the compressive resistance and load bearing qualities of the knee joint and, without it, walking is painful to impossible. Osteoarthritis is a common condition of cartilage failure that can lead to limited range of motion, bone damage and invariably, pain. Due to a combination of acute stress and chronic fatigue, osteoarthritis directly manifests itself in a wearing away of the articular surface and, in extreme cases, bone can be exposed in the joint. Some additional examples of cartilage failure mechanisms include cellular matrix linkage rupture, chondrocyte protein synthesis inhibition, and chondrocyte apoptosis. There are several different repair options available for cartilage damage or failure.