Who's had their knees replaced & was it better or worse than expected?
- Thread starter Herkmeister
- Start date
I have not, but I have two close relatives who did. They were both walking the next day and fully recovered after a few weeks of PT. Both are in their 60'sand one is morbidly obese, so I have been astonished at how well it went.
I haven't but I know a little bit about it.
As long as you get out of the surgery w/o an infection, you'll be fine. You have to EXERCISE the knee...If you don't use it, you will lose it. If you're not overweight, you'll be glad you did it and wonder why you waited so long.
I had a hip done. With hips they concern is popping it out of joint the first year after surgery...with knees it is all about regaining joint flexibility.
As long as you get out of the surgery w/o an infection, you'll be fine. You have to EXERCISE the knee...If you don't use it, you will lose it. If you're not overweight, you'll be glad you did it and wonder why you waited so long.
I had a hip done. With hips they concern is popping it out of joint the first year after surgery...with knees it is all about regaining joint flexibility.
I have had two replaced. One just 9 weeks ago. if you need your knee replaced it's because your existing knee is bone on bone. you are up walking within hours after surgery. From surgery to home was less than 24 hours. the first 5 weeks is up and down. If you do your rehab you will be fine. The knee to feel like the old one will take a good six plus months. Anyway it is worth it.
Some hospitals have different protocols for going home after a TKR. Could be the next day, could be a few days later.
Do some PT before surgery (even if you don't meet with a PT, your surgeon should be able to give you exercises to do at home). The stronger your muscles are going in, the easier your recovery will be.
Post surgery, you'll be in pain, but you won't hurt the knee. Do the exercises as directed (without overdoing it). Looking at six months or so for full recovery, but you'll be in PT for less than that.
I had partials done on both knees 6 years ago. The recovery is about the same. They have you walking some in a few hours but that is due to drugs. I probably won't do both together when these are worn out. I was 50 at the time so it was probably easier for me than most. I was off work for 6 weeks and was back to BAU in 10. One knee is fine and the other still sucks. This isn't unusual. The procedure keeps getting better all the time.
When we did mine it was the hope that they would last 10 to 15 years before I would need a total replacement. One might go 10 the other may never need replaced again.
When we did mine it was the hope that they would last 10 to 15 years before I would need a total replacement. One might go 10 the other may never need replaced again.
Okay, look... this all sounds terribly barbaric. When can we get to the point that Dr. McCoy can waive a gizmo over the hurt body part and make it all better?
Knee replacement is a miracle of modern medicine. I would think that cartilage replacement will be the next big step.
As Joel said you have to exercise the knee.
Could not get my mother to exercise and she complains about it not helping. If you are not going to follow thru on the PT then don't do it.
Could not get my mother to exercise and she complains about it not helping. If you are not going to follow thru on the PT then don't do it.
They're making good improvements there. Recovery is lengthy though.
Another option is donor knee replacements. Yes, a dead person's knee joint. Again, recovery is longer than an artificial replacement, but they are showing to be longer lasting and feel mechanically better (more normal gait, for example). The patient can be much younger as well.
Very important. If you don't do the exercises, you run the risk of having to go back under and they crank on your knee to break up the scar tissue. Helpful, but painful and your results still won't be as good as if you'd done the exercises to begin with.
My FIL just had his replaced. He's made at himself for not doing it sooner. Other the swelling it went very well and was walking the next day.
I had my left knee replaced Dec. 2010. I was 49. First 2 weeks afterwards were awful. Next 2 weeks got a little better. It was worse than I expected. I can do everything I did before I had knee replaced. I played racquetball a couple times but decided it was no longer worth the risk of injury. Glad I did it, but not looking forward to doing it again.
