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OK, my right knee is STIFF but bends good

Posted , 4 users are following.

joy47826
joy47826

An MD on the radio who does Prolotherapy injections says as long as knee bends, even with some pain, there is cartlidge in that knee.

As I understand it, when replacement is done, the knee is gutted of everything, even some cartlidge that was there.

THis knee started to creek when I was 57 and now 76, so that's 19 yrs.... but no pain to speak of, some when I start to walk. I use homeopathic lotion for pain and a knee support....Does not give me pain when I'm sleeping. I exercised all my like and still get on my living room recumbent bike, for short time, to keep that knee moving...

Knee became much WORSE after hip replacement in 2010, body alignment is all changed so more stress and tension on knee and foot/ankle...

I'm in the U.S. and "maybe" we just don't do these replacements when they start to creek.

I'm thinking many here would have done a replacement if they had my knee, or are really thinking about it.

I don't know LONG TERM how these knees play out but the recovery sounds brutal.

My BP goes sky high just thinking about a surgery after this hip fiasco. j

1 like, 14 replies

14 Replies

  • jean95756
    jean95756 joy47826

    Posted

    Hi Joy

    yes the recovery is brutal.

    but before the op I could hardly walk so have I done the right thing? I will let you know in a few weeks time.

    but right now not able to sleep as usual ...I wonder if it was all worth it.

    but onwards and upwards

    Jean 

    • joy47826
      joy47826 jean95756

      Posted

      Yes, Jean, once it's done, can't undo it....I've wondered IF I did the right thing with this hip replacement, that thought has entered my mind hundred's of times in the last almost 4 yrs.Hope all your hard work pays off.

      I sleep good but wake up stiff every morning...stiff is the name of the game....bodywide OA doesn't make us limber. j

      I wonder if being REAL fit before these replacements makes things easier, my friend talks about her neighbor and how great he's done with new knee parts, he was a real jock and did everything physical before.

  • jean95756
    jean95756 joy47826

    Posted

    I'm laid awake again waiting another hour before I can take some more painkillers

    I guess you could be right about how fit you are before the Op

    i have a Back problem too so maybe that doesn't help with the exercises

    i keep thinking I am 76 now and I don't have time to lay around feeling sorry for myself.

    Jean 

    i like to go on holidays abroad and see places I have never seen before.

    iust thank goodness our Winter is coming up and I should be much more Mobile by the Spring.

    fingers crossed.

    Jean

    (roll in Spring)

    • joy47826
      joy47826 jean95756

      Posted

      Jean, good thing I've lost all desire to do any travelling, so I'm content being home a lot, I travelled for many years in a sales career and did plenty of vacations so that is no desire for me at this later date....the thought of going to an airport wears me out.I also deal with some Fibro since 1999 so life has changed a LOT for me....

      I'm 76 too but don't feel sorry for myself, more angry about the hip outcome...more angry about OA and Fibro....

    • jean95756
      jean95756 joy47826

      Posted

      I too think I may have come to the end of my travelling

      as you say it's waiting around in airports that's the nightmare

      i know there are plenty of nice places in the uk that I've never visited

      perhaps that will be my goal when ...or if ever this knee gets right

       jean

    • joy47826
      joy47826 jean95756

      Posted

      Jean, I've learned so much fromm Discovery and National Georgraphic, never knew so much about Alaska and Antartica and other parts of the world as I get from these tv channels. That's my travelling....Hopefully you will be able to do some travel down the road....
    • jean95756
      jean95756 joy47826

      Posted

      What I need to concentrate on right now is getting this knee mobile so I can walk

      my travelling is on hold for now.

      i can't even get to the Supermarket...thank goodness for online grocery shopping at least we are not going to starve.

      although I personally have no appetite right now with this horrible nausea.

      roll on the day when I can stop the painkillers

      but thank goodness for this site I now know I'm not alone with this problem 

      Jean 

       

  • Oldfatguy1
    Oldfatguy1 joy47826

    Posted

    There is a 3 part injection made from th cockscomb of chickens. It's expensive but medicare covers it providing the attending physican give the patient a highly probable chane of it working. I go to a University (teaching hospital-med center) and they have been using it for at least 10 yrs but in my case it wasn't even a maybe, I was turned down flat.TKR is a painful process and takes a lot of work but it;s plenty doable.Medicare gives you good leeway as far as physical therapy and with diligence you can walk without pain. It can take a year so don't go into it thinking 3-4 months and you'll be done, especially if you've been walking with a limp or irregular gait. I  wish you well and  hope you make a decision you are comfortable with. Most of us aren't given the luxury of that. It's either doit or live in agony and have nothing but pain to contend with
    • joy47826
      joy47826 Oldfatguy1

      Posted

      I've not heard of those chicken injections...I had the Synvisc type two times which is a 3 series protocol, and they did not help.

      I take a chicken type collagen now and a tendon/ligament product with manganese which many are very deficient in for bone support. I'll look up those injections. I have collagen in my knee(s)....but things have gotten worse in recent years....

    • joy47826
      joy47826 Oldfatguy1

      Posted

      I believe the injections I've had SynVisc and Eufflexa are the same you are talking about...they are Hylauronic Acid.....One can buy HA capsules too and take them, I've done that but no help that I can recall.

      My last try would be the PRP Injections (prolotherapy) our own platlets injected into joint. It's pricey and insurance does not cover.

      I don't have the greatest time walking but just can't bring myself to a knee surgery....Having fibro doesn't help either as our nerves are hyper...

    • joy47826
      joy47826 Oldfatguy1

      Posted

      Those injections are outrageous, even with Medicare I had a fairly large copay for injections that didn't help. I've heard this many many times that these injections do nothing....but make pharma richer., money scams in the name of health....
    • Oldfatguy1
      Oldfatguy1 joy47826

      Posted

      I think we are definitely talking about the same thing. Like I said, the med center wouldn't even discuss it with me. Of course I don't know your ability to travel but mayo,s in Rochester, mn would be the next stop if you aren't confident in local practioners. I took my wife up there a few years back and the 4 day schedule turned in to 14. One of the neurologists saw the leading indicators of Parkinson's disease that no one had ever seen and 6 months later the diagnosis came to fruition at the local university med center where one of the countries leading Parkinson's specialist practices. Same hospital where my ortho's practice. Mayo's is a great place but you have to ready to be mobile cause they move you around a huge piece of teal estate

    • joy47826
      joy47826 Oldfatguy1

      Posted

      We have a lot of pretty outstanding MD's here in So. Cal. but as I said I can walk, not a lot and not in horrific pain....so I'll continue along and MAYBE try the PRP Prolo work if things get much worse...or I just decide TO DO IT....it's said to REGENERATE the ligaments around our bones. Encourage cartlidge growth.

      Did you read my note on Vit D and PD for your wife....I mentioned that to you back in another thread. Vit D is vital and a MUST for many conditions....

      Thanks....

  • carol45436
    carol45436 joy47826

    Posted

    Hi Joy, I wouldn't have had TKR for a stiff knee either. My left knee is like that and it'll have to stay that way. However my right leg was totally deformed  from the knee down, the result of a broken tib abd fib years ago and no cartiledge on one side at all. It was getting worse and I was so lopsided that my hip and back were suffering. It is so hard to get this op on the NHS that no one here has it done unless It is absolutely needed. The first few weeks recovery isn't easy but better than the alternative. Good luck with yours.

     

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