Mrs G had a half knee replacement early last year.
The reason for asking whether you were planning to go NHS or private is that the current waiting time on the NHS is somewhere between 18 and 21 weeks. That’s between first referral and the operation. However when Mrs G had her consultation she was told that she would’t get referred until the pain was significant - “chronic” was the word I think they used. She had had a hip replacement about 8 years ago, and the thought of having to wait again to be referred until the pain was that great encouraged us to go private.
She had her first consultation in about August 2023, making the decision to go under the knife in perhaps October or November, and she then had her operation in early February last year.
If you go private you can also have the opportunity to elect which consultant you use. This can make a significant difference, so I’d strongly suggest you do some research. We are near Oxford, and Mrs G had the professor who was part of the team that established what’s known as the “Oxford knee”. He was fantastic throughout.
As others have said, exercise both before and after is key. From the x-rays and MRI scans Mrs G was advised to do as much exercise as possible pre-op. This may seem counter-intuitive, but as the Prof said, you can’t damage your knee through doing these exercises and all muscle build up pre-op will help post-op.
Mrs G also stuck religiously to the post-op exercises. These helped immensely, and she had a whole course of physio (7 or 8 sessions, I think). They also provided a machine that pumps iced water around the knee, which again really helped - I can find out the name of the machine if that would help?
Progress seemed slow for the first few weeks, and Mrs G had an allergic reaction to the iodine that didn’t help. But after about 6 weeks post-op it was like a switch had been hit - Mrs G was suddenly walking around as though there had never been a problem. Coming up to a year after the op she is now out every week working our labradors and going for walks without a second thought.
They reckon that after two years you will see no more improvement.
Mrs G is likely to need to have the other hip and knee replaced at some point, but the dread she had about doing so has been greatly alleviated by her experience with the knee replacement.
Whatever you decide, best wishes, and let us know how it goes
The reason for asking whether you were planning to go NHS or private is that the current waiting time on the NHS is somewhere between 18 and 21 weeks. That’s between first referral and the operation. However when Mrs G had her consultation she was told that she would’t get referred until the pain was significant - “chronic” was the word I think they used. She had had a hip replacement about 8 years ago, and the thought of having to wait again to be referred until the pain was that great encouraged us to go private.
She had her first consultation in about August 2023, making the decision to go under the knife in perhaps October or November, and she then had her operation in early February last year.
If you go private you can also have the opportunity to elect which consultant you use. This can make a significant difference, so I’d strongly suggest you do some research. We are near Oxford, and Mrs G had the professor who was part of the team that established what’s known as the “Oxford knee”. He was fantastic throughout.
As others have said, exercise both before and after is key. From the x-rays and MRI scans Mrs G was advised to do as much exercise as possible pre-op. This may seem counter-intuitive, but as the Prof said, you can’t damage your knee through doing these exercises and all muscle build up pre-op will help post-op.
Mrs G also stuck religiously to the post-op exercises. These helped immensely, and she had a whole course of physio (7 or 8 sessions, I think). They also provided a machine that pumps iced water around the knee, which again really helped - I can find out the name of the machine if that would help?
Progress seemed slow for the first few weeks, and Mrs G had an allergic reaction to the iodine that didn’t help. But after about 6 weeks post-op it was like a switch had been hit - Mrs G was suddenly walking around as though there had never been a problem. Coming up to a year after the op she is now out every week working our labradors and going for walks without a second thought.
They reckon that after two years you will see no more improvement.
Mrs G is likely to need to have the other hip and knee replaced at some point, but the dread she had about doing so has been greatly alleviated by her experience with the knee replacement.
Whatever you decide, best wishes, and let us know how it goes
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