I need a TKR: Do I do it, or go as long as I can?

Best wishes. Good for you not putting this off any longer. I too have a valgus deformity and several yrs of bone on bone has to go.

Only thing that helped me was cortisone as I can't take Nsaids....16 months out and now going for a bone scan. It's a process......Tylenol 3 so far is all I can take and it doesn't help much and like you I'm very active and I'm not going to stop if I can help it. Best of luck to you!

When I want to know about a surgeon I google the doctor and look at his/her’s patient reviews. I found my neurosurgeon to fix my back that way. He had many positive reviews. He did a fabulous job.

Doctors are irresponsible when they don’t treat a patient’s pain . I am almost 3 months and occasionally take a percoset. Went through tramadol. I understand their concern about addiction. They should be more concerned about your comfort. Find another doctor and get it done. It is a long process pt 2-3 x a week. Takes a year for full recovery.

Thanks cody. It can take up to one year to heal completely after a TKR. The best way to speed that up is to work with a trainer or PT for six months before surgery, and to do all the follow up physical therapy immediately after the surgery. This is one time where immediate action yields great results (ok, almost always).

I had both knees replaced in 2022 and feel great. For the first year, I used a stationary recumbent bike and just pedaled. The motion helped and I never pushed it hard. Now I'm in spin class 5 days a week. So patience and diligence are virtues after any joint replacement.

Thanks Patty. I agree that unfiltered patient reviews are important.

I also look for surgeons who have been practicing for 5-10 years, so surgeons in their late 30s to mid 40s - and with a solid med school and residency pedigree. The surgeon I picked for my TKRs had done his residency at the Cleveland Clinic, a world renowned institution. It is not easy to get into these schools to study or to serve a residency - they have strict entry requirements. They produce doctors and surgeons who are very skilled at their specialty.

And younger doctors (30s and 40s) are still very ambitious and on the leading edge of medical advancements. And they're old enough to have completed hundreds or thousands of procedures.

Good advice about finding the right surgeon. That is the method I use also. You are so right about Cleveland Clinic. Have a good weekend group

No simple answers:
I am thin, walk every day with pup, and my knee is always sore and stiff after 5 years😕
Had TKR, and for me it has not been what I’d hoped for.

I had an extremely easy recovery from my TKR. I attribute that to:
1) Surgeon that everyone raves about who does robotic surgery
2)continuous flow ice machine (on amazon and elsewhere)
3) bed that uses a remote to raise and lower the foot.
I had an amazingly short recovery. Best of luck to you!

Have it done. I did the right knee and recovery was and normal PT. I was fine recovery was quick and I’m no youngster. The second knee I waited too long and I fell and broke my FEMUR. That was a big problem because my bone never grew around the rod. Shortly after my fall, I had the second knee done and that, a little more difficult than the first because of the rod. So don’t wait like I said recovery time was not difficult. I am now 82 and had the right knee done 10 years ago and the right knee is still fine. The left knee is OK too , but the Femur is not. Just do it and get it over with so you don’t fall and break something else.