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Scar tissue after knee replacement
I had knee replacement surgery 6 weeks ago . Through PT I have been working on breaking up the scar tissue only for it to regrow by the time I get back to PT two days later. I have been massaging at home, using a hand held massager and roller. It is painful and swollen. I am getting very disheartened. Any suggestions as to what else I can do. Has anyone had laser treatments to break up scar tissue? Were they effective?
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@gutthookd Please do keep us updated. Does insurance cover the X10 at all? If you have to use it for long that's a pretty high per diem. How long do they recommend using it?
JK
@contentandwell Your wise to avoid then
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1 ReactionSo sorry to hear of all your pain-I got 2nd opinion regarding scar tissue overgrowth , btw, only 1% of tkr patients have this problem, Not around 5 % as my ortho surgeon told me when he discharged me in December!... The new Ortho Drr. suggestion is to wait another 6 months-feels there was likely a miscalculation of part sizes used in the tkr titanium replacement ...sleepless nights, stabbing pain is a sad way of life. On a waiting list to see pain management specialist but from what I'm reading here... Doesn't look promising.
Good morning, JK, Dame Wocane, and all -
First on the X10 - This item is ONLY covered by Blue Cross/Blue Shield in Michigan (the original surgeon/inventor
has strong links to Unniversity of Michigan Dr. Haller - also his CEO and several of his corp people are grads).
U of M has a lot of influence in that state. When you go to their website - you see the limits on the areas you can
get access to this. If you anywhere other than the mid-west (or Florida) you're making a 3-4 week pilgramage
that will NOT be covered by your insurance.
Dame Wocane - My first TKR was severely complicated by an obviously oversized upper (femoral) portion of the prosthetic.'
They don't say much about this (or anything), but these are "shelf components" stocked in these surgical centers. Yes, they
take xrays and MRI's but on the day of surgery I am told they "eyeball" the joint cavity when it is opened up and select what
they think will fit. This process is literally called (and I'm not making this up) "stuffing the joint cavity" (like a Christmas turkey
maybe). The prosthetic joint consists of three pieces - an upper, lower, and middle insert (usually polyethelyne). These are
"sized" like shoes. What isn't commonly known is that - it's common for someone to receive a size #6 upper portion and then
a 6-1/2 or #7 lower portion based on their individual physiology (and what should ideally fit best). When you understand that
most of these surgical centers are in a literal race to see how many of these they can do in a day... it's easy to see how these
mistakes (which are usually never admitted by theoriginal surgeon - deemed "close enough") happen frequently. In my own case,
foe the partial revison I got two opinions from respected local surgeons who both commented that the upper portion was clearly
oversized. The one who said this "the loudest" is the one I chose. Writing up the recommendation to my insurance for the necessity
of the procedure, he significantly "soft-pedaled" this as "a possible explanation and something that might work to solve the problem"
although this was drastically stated to me as "the knee can NEVER recover properly if you don't do this". Sometime after the revison
surgery I learned that a sizeable amount of his business came from doing surgical TKR revisions from this surgeon mainly as well
as other local surgeons (all of course "highly respected" but mostly by each other). Typically... you can expect surgeons to never admit
that there ever was a problem with the surgery they themselves performed - and they assume no responsibility (financial or otherwise).
These people are being very well paid as "guardians" of our best health interests. At some point we must ask the question:
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
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2 ReactionsThe above describes exactly what happened to me. Six weeks post op from revision and so happy I sought out a second opinion as my original surgeon was treating me for scar tissue and never mentioned another possibility. Said he did his part well and it was now up to me to break the scar tissue. I know it can be hard to find someone who will take you as a patient but what I learned is there are doctors who specialize in revisions. I just got lucky I know as I was turned down by two doctors but don’t give up and know what this person above explained that the fit can be the culprit.
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1 ReactionHere's what i've learned about the stem cell theory from asking 3 different Ortho M.D's in my area, (Fl.) -anyone else please lets hear what your experience is- It is my understanding that as far as using stem cells for knee replacement healing- there are no good results yet- for other things, yes. My new MD explained that if I go in for round two after 6-9 months, there is a technology which is still Experimental, where they take your bone marrow and grow a compatible stem cell system- no promises, yet. Don't be taken in by scammers!
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1 ReactionYou are correct about scammers. The scammer buy stem cells from sales people and the cells are dead. I worked with a dr who was trained by Regenexx and i had knee and my back done. I had great success. My TKR was a disaster. Work out in water the knee swells. Been 6 years and my TKR is twice the size of my stem cell knee. I wish i had a do over. My stem cell knee was one of following directions. The cells were taken from my hip and mixed with my blood for 3 hours. Then injected in the knee. Took 10 days of lying around reading and watching TV. Never took any pain pills. It took time but i can do everything but play tennis. Golf, gardening, down on my stem cell knee, biking etc. No swelling. I am still seeing my ortho dr about the TKR swelling and pain and i get a good shoulder shrug. The orthos who work in same hospital as stem cell dr continue to bad mouth it, but now Promedica is now covering all their employees for stem cells with Regenexx. Other insurance companies are also covering it. I wish i had a do over on the TKR . I know many have success but judging by what i read many do not. I was told , yes tennis and all the activity you did before. I now walk down my steps backwards to avoid the pain. Pretty good at it. I learned about stem cells from Mayo and its use on arthritis. I found out about DR Kruse in Toledo and i am happy with my results. I would recommend people interested to go Regenexx web site. They keep all the data on their success and failure rates. My friend had his hip done and was told it was a 50 50 chance. They were honest with him. He is happy with the results.
My back had an L4 and a L5 rubbing on the nerve. 2 friends had the same and had operations twice and did not work. I had the injection and within weeks i noticed the difference,
Bottom line, do your homework. Do not go to drs who buy stem cells. Chances are they are dead. Use your own and stay away from meds and pills that kill your stem cells and their are many. Good luck
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2 ReactionsSo did the stem cell help your knee. I would like to start it but very expensive my insurance will not pay for it. But with that being said if it help with this partial knee replacement that isn't getting any better I would surely do it
Look at Regenexx and mayo clinic and find Drs who know what they are doing. My Dr examined my MRI and said its doable. My TKR dr said no way. I called him and told him to look for another job. We kid a lot even though my knee is a total flop.
I keep saying regenexx because i have not found out who else to trust. You can get on their newsletter once a week. They do train the drs. My back dr was trained on back with stem cells and id now being trained on the neck etc.
It is sad to see unqualified people taking advantage of people and tgen the word is spread that it does not work. One item is unknow. How long does it work. I keep working out and working on strength of my legs. I did that before the TKR and what a disaster.
I talked to one company in Toledo whose CEO worked with Regenexx and now there company will pay for stem cells only wth them. Hate to keep blowing their horn but not sure who else to talk about. We have nurses doing it and other drs who are not qualified. Where is the FBI and FDA?
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1 Reaction@gutthookes