Topic: KNEES

[britman]

Since there appears to a few people on this site" A Little Long in Tooth", like me, has anyone had recent knee surgery or replacement.  I have been fighting the issue of deteriorating knees, the worst being my left for years now.  I attribute the cause to years of distance running when I was young and now my best friend in old age osteoarthritis.  When I asked my Orthopedic Doctor a few years back how close I was to knee surgery of some type, his reply was simple, "You will know when the time comes".  I believe the time has come, the mobility in my left knee has dropped to the point where any bending movement other than being completely straight when walking will result in a fair amount of pain, in other words screaming a little girl if you hit the right spot.  It has been this way for about two weeks now, with little to no improvement regardless of how I try to treat the condition. 

My Wife had a total knee replacement about five years ago and from helping her through the recovery process it was not a simple procedure.  I have read that the operation has been somewhat perfected, they are even advertising robotic knee replacement now.  I have an appointment in about a month with the same guy who gave me the above warning, but I thought I would ask if anyone here has had any recent experience with the procedure.  The worst thing out of this whole f^%$*n scenario, I can't ride until I get some type of relief.   

[madmtnmotors]

My ortho told me pretty much the same, that we'll schedule a knee replacement once I can't stand the pain. Oral steroids help sometimes (10 or 20mg prednisone), steroid injections right at the knee may as well have been saline injections (no relief), my guts won't tolerate mega doses of ibuprofen (800mg+), but I do get some relief from 15mg Meloxicam which is the next level NSAID. Once or twice a year I will have to break out the cane for a few days to help prevent me from hitting the floor. Highway pegs on the bike allow me to change knee position on longer rides and I will alternate between forward pegs, middle pegs, and even passenger pegs. I have found surprising relief using a heated massage wrap similar to this:

https://www.amazon.com/Rechargeable-Adjustable-Temperature-Vibration-Physiotherapy/dp/B07Z3MJ9K2/ref=sr_1_9?crid=36339GOT7W4WY&dchild=1&keywords=heated+knee+wrap+massager&qid=1629902235&sprefix=heated+knee+wrap%2Caps%2C190&sr=8-9

The manual labor aspect of the first twenty years of my working career took its toll on my knees. After a short fall (three feet) twenty-seven years ago I eventually had to have a small piece of loose cartilage removed from my right knee that had been damaged. Thankfully I appear to have escaped without any lower back issues.

Good luck and let us know whether you are able to find relief with replacement surgery.

[pmanning]

I feel your pain - literally. Like you I spent a lot of years distance running. Now in my 70s I can still run but not long. Three to five miles, three or four times a week is what I can comfortably do. And when I run it is the knees that usually talk the loudest.

Last December at the end of a run my right knee blew up with pain unlike any I'd experienced before and my immediate thought was "this is it. I'm due for a replacement." I made an appointment with my regular doctor, also about my age and also a runner, to get a referral to an Orthopedic clinic. He manually put my knee through the full range of motion, palpated for obvious tissue damage and then told me I should relax and be patient. No X-ray, no MRI, no referral. I spent about six weeks working out on a stationary bike and as the pain subsided eased back into running. The knees still talk but they are not screaming.

Your situation might be completely different but even old bodies heal though a bit more slowly.

[Don R]

 My wife could barely get around, her first doctor told her to lose weight and come back. A year later she tried again, her next doctor said that's ridiculous. His only comment on the first doctor was "young guys" and shook his head. He saw no reason to proceed with a "from the side" hip procedure first. He said her bad hip would prevent the therapy needed with the knee replacement. They did the hip in the fall and it went well, she got the knee in mid winter, the last day of optional surgery before covid closed it. I along went to her therapy in case it got closed too and we had to finish at home. It's a year and a half later she walks 1 to 2 miles every day, has lost weight and is a lot easier to live with since the pain is gone.  Finding the right surgeon is a good thing.

[britman]

I got another cortisone injection this morning, and seems to be helping some.  The Doctor was very candid, I should be the poster child for a complete knee transplant.  I am completely bone on bone in a arthritis riddled knee.  We talked for a bit about scheduling when the weather gets a little colder if the cortisone will hold up for that long.  I just don't want to be semi laid up for 3 to 4 weeks when the weather is still nice, but I guess time will tell....

[vfourfreak]

Ahh, the knees..... I'm a sufferer also, and in looking for some reference point when the business started, to comprehend how I was fixed, so to speak, I could do no worse than consult the 1939 work "At swim two Birds" by my compatriot, the peerless Flann O'Brien (which was not his real name at all) .

In it, one of the protagonists gives forth on ailments of the lower joint :

"I’ll tell you what’s hard, too, said Shanahan, a bad knee. They say a bad knee is worse than no knee at all. A bad knee and an early grave."

So I began to take the matter seriously. Between the saw bones in France and Ireland they have determined that I don't need a knee replacement, at least not for 20 years. Grand says I, in 20 years I'll have a lot more to worry about, if I even can. No, they says, you need (ha ha) more cartilage. In France the injected tubes of the stuff into the joint in knee No2, only then for good measure to repeat the procedure in knee No1.

Marvellous, it made no difference at all.

Then in Ireland, another chap in a spotlessly white coat confirms I need (a recurring joke) cartilage, but behind the knee cap. We will have you back in 6 weeks for the administration of the shot. In July I duly received a letter to confirm my appointment for January 7th. I double checked that it referred to 2022. Mercifully it does.

So glad that replacement is off the cards, but wrapping myself into a little RVF400 is quite a feat. Getting off it is a spectator sport.

Meanwhile I am putting myself forward as a Walter "Ole Stumpy" Brennan impersonator.

Kev

[RAFster122s]

I need a hip replacement (R hip naturally) and they want to fuse two vertebrae in my neck. Left knee has had a tear in the outer supporting ligament and when it pops past the side of the joint it feels like my knee just buckled and went sideways...
I destroyed the PCL in my right knee in a ladder accident in '05 so getting on my knees for anything is quite painful.
The neck will lay me up for at least 6 weeks in a hard collar and no driving allowed. Either hip or neck surgery will make life very difficult for several months. Naturally my car is a standard (stick shift) so driving would be restricted for too long. Haven't mentioned the MC to the surgeon...shudder to think their reaction to that...

[britman]

I wonder if the knees, hips, and shoulder replacement parts come out of a vintage parts bin for this crowd.  I tested the knee this morning sitting on my 750 Chopper, it will bend just enough to shift gears, uncomfortable as hell, but I can shift.  A short trip to the hardware store has been planned.  I am going to keep putting up a fight as long as I can..........

[Medyo Bastos]

I’m putting together a set of forward controls cause my tired old ass can’t ride cramped like a praying mantis anymore..,


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