Knee replacement

[polranny]

My left knee is painful after a day’s stalking, and this keeps me awake at night. It has been diagnosed a mild/moderate osteoarthritis. The question is do I consider a knee replacement sooner while the pain is still bearable or later when it becomes greater? Advice please, has anyone been in this position?
Thanks

 

[VSS]

My left knee is painful after a day’s stalking, and this keeps me awake at night. It has been diagnosed a mild/moderate osteoarthritis. The question is do I consider a knee replacement sooner while the pain is still bearable or later when it becomes greater? Advice please, has anyone been in this position?
Thanks

Are you overweight?
No need to answer that personal question if you don't want to, but it does seem to have a major bearing on the success or otherwise of knee surgery. Or even whether knee surgery is necessary. I know of a few large people who struggled with knees, and were told they had to reduce their weight before surgery. Having successfully lost weight, they then found that their knee problems more-or-less disappeared without intervention.

 

[Moose67]

SWMBO had a knee replacement this year and it has greatly improved her mobility and quality of life
Amazing operation and speed of recovery - after a pre-op regime of physio & exercises
Stick to the physio before and after

 

[Apthorpe]

WIfe has osteoarthritis and has fairly good success in managing her diet to avoid most of the discomfort. She told me all about it, but I must admit I didn't pay attention.
Some foods seem to cause inflamation

 

[countrryboy]

This might seem a bit left field and i have to admit ive not properely started doing it properely yet.

But they reckon cold showers, cold water swimmibg and ice baths can help with problems like that.
Dont think much scientific evidence of any improvements.
But any time they talk about it on radio theyre's a host of 'normal' folk ( not the experts or fans) who all swear by it.
Solved all sorts of problems, and meant to have a lot of anti imflamatory benefits

 

[User00056]

Following decades of pain after injury and arthritis, my knees are pretty much shot out now too. I had an arthroscopy 15 years ago, which helped no end for ten years or so, before gradually deterioration set in again. Couple of months ago I had a steroid injection into the same knee, and it's taken it back to how it was five years or so ago. Physio is unlikely to help much in my opinion, but a steroid injection may be worth asking your doctor about first?

 

[ruger77]

I have a good quality knee brace

 

[paul o']

Keep your own as long as you can get 2kg of frozen peas and a towel
Last resort should be a tkr trust me have had the same one done twice but they have failed and now need doing again ! Last one was only 2011.?

 

[sako751sg]

I snapped my ACL in 96,had 5 ops on it including what i was told would be the last which was ACL reconstruction,breaking the leg and re-straighten and was off work for pretty much a year in 2009.8 years later the with pain getting gradually worse i was told i needed a complete knee replacement and could get it pretty much straight away back then.
Surgeon said to try and live with it until it was very much needed so managed another 6ish years,and was kept on the waiting list by visiting the surgeon once a year for an assessment.The last assessment he said the leg was offset so much that load bearing could end up with it giving way so after 6 years of only being able to work through the powers of Tramadol i committed to getting it done.
Had to have 2 ops that year,both to remove metalwork and finally had the replacement knee in Dec 22.
Was told not to go back to work as a builder for roughly 6 months,but i bit the bullet after 8 weeks and think it helped rehab tremendously although there were times it could have went wrong.
Finished the project we were on but had neglected the physio side,so took a further 2 months off purely to work the range and it was amazing how quick it came although it really is no pain no gain.
It's been a total success and wasn't easy at the start but at 54 it's been a huge changer to life.
As someone has said,do your physio to the letter.Would also say watch as much youtube on the op and rehab as i learned way way more off of that than i did from anyone that i would have expected to hear it from.

 

[willie_gunn]

NHS or private?

 

[newsatten]

I had a TKR in March 21’
It was with out doubt the most painful post op ive had and it’s well documented that this is the case ,
However before a couldn’t walk 100 with out stopping and sitting down,
Now I’m back to unlimited miles with zero pain!
Bloody amazing,
I religiously did my post op exercises , had loads of physio, you have to put up with the pain for the op to work properly,

Mine was done at a private hospital but funded by tbe NHS,

The only real downside is sometimes my limb memory isn’t correct and I don’t lift my foot high enough to clear obstacles, so I’ve tripped up a couple of times ?

 

[Fosbery Holster]

A simple X-ray will tell you and your GP all you need to know.

 

[ejg]

The advantage of doing the replacement earlier is that one might be still good enough to do the pre op training properly. I almost left it too late. I had my knee twisted with foot backwards at 23 while skiing. Lost ACL, Cartilage bits of bone etc., a good surgeon got it going again but it was never really pain free. At 60 it was kaputt and finally replaced in June last year. Luckily my wife treats many pre and after op patients with these conditions. We spent a few months prepping in the pool etc and the OP was much more civilised than the op at 23. No pain this time and could walk a day later on crutches, off crutches in a week. Kept the pool routine up and plenty exercise. I only had two sessions with a physio but many with my wife who does a variety of treatments including Neuro Muscular therapy. After five weeks I could cycle and late September back to shooting in the hills. I am still very careful but out every weekend. Getting better and better, not scared of airports anymore.
There have been a few knee replacements in our area that did not go well and needed to be done again. A friend of ours who got the op a month after mine got an infection and was very close to losing his life although the pain was not huge he was in intensive care for two months and now home again still on antibiotics. I never found out the reason for the infection. He was younger, fitter and stronger than myself, maybe he trained a bit too much after the op.

edi

 

[RescueMe0007]

My left knee is painful after a day’s stalking, and this keeps me awake at night. It has been diagnosed a mild/moderate osteoarthritis. The question is do I consider a knee replacement sooner while the pain is still bearable or later when it becomes greater? Advice please, has anyone been in this position?
Thanks

I had knee surgery two years ago because of sports/trauma and age deterioration. Now every six months I have "Susplasyn" injected into the joint to assist in lubrication. Thus far, it's been successful. When I was going for the procedure on my knee my GP advocated avoiding having my knee replaced for as long as possible. Ones knee is one of the most delicate mechanisms in the body, so any dramatic procedures on it should be approached with a significant level of caution. Whatever path you take I hope you enjoy the best outcome!

 

[co’den]

If you are managing a full day stalking then I would say you’re not ready for a knee replacement yet.
Knee replacements have a lifespan which varies significantly due to your weight and how active you are. Best to leave it as long as possible.

 

[sikamalc]

Much depends on your age.
I had a full left knee replacement about 2 years ago. My kneecap also had to be repositioned.
As a rule they will not perform a knee replacement under 60 years old.
Mine was quite extensive surgery, I was in for 3 whole days.
All I would say is it was bloody painful, without the morphine it would not be possible. You must do the exercises as soon as your out. And keep them up.
My knee is great now, no pain and free movement. Just as well, last week over 5 days I covered over 20 miles walking.

 

[Buchan]

A significant issue with knee arthritis is the muscle wastage - especially the quads. So do specific exercises, physio guided, to maintain that. I'm due replacement, but I am able to do pretty much anything, but will need to ice the knee after skiing. If I cycled more, I'd be better!!!

 

[polranny]

Thank you for all of your comments. I’m 70 so the number of years I’m likely to be doing strenuous stalking are limited in any case. I just want to do as much as I can for as long as I can. So I would be prepared to go private rather than have an extensive NHS wait. I now have a follow up physio appointment at my GP in a week or so will so what is said. I was just wanting to ask the experiences of others who have been here before. So thank you again. I had a cortisone injection about 5 months ago but I’m not sure it helped. Ibuprofen tablets and gel help short term. I have taken turmeric and chondroitin (iMove) daily for a number of years.

 

[SikaSeeker]

My left knee is painful after a day’s stalking, and this keeps me awake at night. It has been diagnosed a mild/moderate osteoarthritis. The question is do I consider a knee replacement sooner while the pain is still bearable or later when it becomes greater? Advice please, has anyone been in this position?
Thanks

While you’re fit and able, get it done. A total knee replacement is much more painful post op then a total hip. There is a unicondylar, it’s a half knee replacement. Recovery is unique, you can’t compare to the person next to you. It will improve you quality of life. As long as you do your part and don’t get an infected joint.

 

[HonestJohn]

Whatever you do. Go private, or deal with it until you can afford to do so.