Knee Surgeon in Chatswood

Specialist Knee Surgeon for Chatswood

Chatswood works hard. You commute through the Interchange. You spend the day at a desk in one of the office towers along Victoria Avenue or Help Street. You run weekend errands at Westfield and Chatswood Chase. You hike through Lane Cove on Sundays. Add a knee that has started catching, swelling, or aching on the stairs and the whole rhythm gets disrupted.

Dr Jonathan Negus is a specialist knee surgeon based in St Leonards, with rooms one train stop or a 10-minute drive from Chatswood. The aim is to get you back to the way you usually move, work, and live.

Specialist Knee Care 10 Minutes from Chatswood

The closest rooms for Chatswood patients are at MTP Health in St Leonards, about 10 minutes by car down the Pacific Highway or one stop on the train. Your surgery happens at North Shore Private Hospital (right next door to the rooms), Mater Hospital in North Sydney, or Macquarie University Hospital in Macquarie Park, depending on your private health cover and preferred location. Recovery after knee surgery is also coordinated locally, where possible, with physiotherapy referrals in Chatswood, Willoughby, and surrounding suburbs.

After-hours and early-morning appointments are available on selected days, so you can keep the consultation from eating into your workday.

Three Knee Problems Often Seen in Office Workers

Three patterns turn up most often in Chatswood patients, each tied to a different stage of working life:

1. Patellofemoral pain after long workdays

The most common knee complaint from Chatswood patients in their 30s and 40s. The kneecap aches after prolonged sitting, then worsens going down stairs or standing up from a chair. Common causes are weak gluteal and quadriceps muscles, overuse from weekend running, and poor ergonomic posture during the work week. Treatment is almost always non-surgical: 8 to 12 weeks of targeted strengthening, ergonomic adjustments, and a graded return to activity. Most cases settle without any procedure.

2. Meniscal tears from weekend sport

A classic Chatswood injury: a twist on the tennis court at the weekend, an awkward step on a Lane Cove bushwalk, or a fall on a slippery surface. The knee swells overnight, clicks or catches, and feels uncomfortable on stairs. Smaller, peripheral tears may heal with rehabilitation. Larger or unstable tears in the central meniscus often need arthroscopic repair or partial removal. Recovery from an arthroscopy is usually one to two weeks off desk work, four to six weeks before return to sport.

3. Early knee arthritis in adults over 50

Knee osteoarthritis quietly builds over a decade or more. The first sign is often morning stiffness that loosens within 30 minutes. Over time, pain on stairs, sleep disturbance, and a reduction in walking distance follow. Early arthritis is usually managed with weight management (each kilogram lost reduces joint load by three to four kilograms during walking), structured physiotherapy, and occasionally cortisone or hyaluronic acid injections. Advanced arthritis may need partial or total knee replacement.

Providing More Than Just Surgery to Relieve Pain

It is not just about surgery. It is about getting you moving again.

Living with ongoing knee pain can make everyday activities harder. Walking. Climbing stairs. Time with your family. Knee pain can limit more than movement; it can affect independence and confidence.

The focus is on helping you find relief, regain function, and move toward the life you want, through evidence-based care that goes well beyond the operation itself.

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How Much Time Off Work to Plan For

Time off is one of the bigger concerns for working professionals. Realistic timelines, broken down by procedure and job type:

• Knee arthroscopy (meniscal trim or repair): one to two weeks off desk work. Manual roles need four to six weeks. Work-from-home often possible from days three to five.
• ACL reconstruction: one to two weeks off desk work. Manual roles or jobs requiring kneeling: three months minimum. Hybrid work usually possible from week two.
• Partial knee replacement: four to six weeks off desk work. Manual labour: 8 to 12 weeks. Driving usually returns at three to five weeks.
• Total knee replacement: six to eight weeks off desk work, with home-based work often possible from week three or four. Manual labour: 10 to 12 weeks. Driving returns at four to six weeks for a right knee.

Speak with your employer early. Most workplaces are flexible about a hybrid return, particularly in the middle weeks where the knee is mostly fine but extended sitting or driving is still uncomfortable.

Booking an Appointment Around Your Workweek

Three practical things make scheduling easier:

1. Get your referral early. A General Practitioner (GP) referral is required, lasts 12 months, and only takes a brief consultation to organise.
2. Ask for the first or last appointment of the day. 7:30am and after 5:00pm slots are available on selected days at St Leonards.
3. Bring your scans on a USB or via the imaging provider portal. That saves needing a follow-up just to review images.

New patient appointments are typically available within two to four weeks. Urgent cases such as recent ligament injuries are triaged for earlier review.

Clinical and Surgical Interests

• Robotic-assisted knee surgery
• Total knee replacement
• Partial (unicompartmental) knee replacement
• Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) and ligament surgery
• Patella stabilisation surgery
• Optimising patient outcomes through individualised follow-up and rehabilitation programmes
• No-Gap joint replacement surgery for eligible Medibank Private and Hospitals Contribution Fund of Australia (HCF) patients

Consulting Locations

• St Leonards (MTP Health), Level 4, Suite 401, 7 Westbourne Street, St Leonards NSW 2065
• Beacon Hill (MTP Health), Level 1, 173 Warringah Road, Beacon Hill NSW 2100
• Gosford (Hills Street Sports Medicine), 1 Hills Street, Gosford NSW 2250

Hospital Appointments

• Northern Beaches Hospital, Frenchs Forest
• North Shore Private Hospital, St Leonards
• Mater Hospital, North Sydney
• Macquarie University Hospital, Macquarie Park

Fees, Private Cover, and Out-of-Pocket Costs

Every patient receives a written cost estimate before surgery is booked. The main figures to know:

• Surgeon fees range from $3,000 to $8,000, depending on the procedure.
• Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) rebates cover 75% of the schedule fee in hospital and 85% for in-rooms consultations.
• No-Gap joint replacement is available for eligible Medibank Private and Hospitals Contribution Fund of Australia (HCF) members on selected items.
• A gold-tier private hospital policy generally removes most of the hospital and theatre charge, leaving the excess and any surgeon and anaesthetist gap.
• Robotic-assisted surgery does not carry an additional surgeon fee.

If you have employer-funded private health cover, it is worth calling your fund before your first consultation to confirm what your policy includes for knee surgery and prostheses.

Stop Working Around the Knee Pain

Most Chatswood patients book a knee consultation only after the problem has stopped being manageable with rest, paracetamol, and the occasional physio session. An appointment with a knee specialist gives you a clear picture of what is going on, a plan that fits your work and your weekends, and an honest answer about whether surgery is needed.

To book with Dr Jonathan Negus, ask your General Practitioner (GP) for a referral to MTP Health, St Leonards.

Book a Consultation with Dr Jonathan Negus