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Ray Kemble avatar

TKR out of the question when you've got PN?

Neuropathy | Last Active: 1 hour ago | Replies (13)
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Profile picture for projfan @projfan

@ray666 , I hesitate to suggest this because you sound like you've already been through the wars, and all the stuff that helps us defer the TKR is stuff that you've done, but I have to say that the single most useful thing I went through in regard to buying time was fixing my gait. I've lost weight, had knee injections, contemplated and may try acupuncture, been through PT to work on strength and found that I am also limited by the pain and balance. All of that helped. However, the years I bought by working with a therapist trained in observing and improving gait (he focused normally on dancers, which I emphatically am not) were striking. Took maybe a year, because how you walk is a big habit to change, and included bracing my hip for a few months to reduce the torque on my left knee.

So...something to discuss with your orthopedist?

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Replies to "@ray666 , I hesitate to suggest this because you sound like you've already been through the..."
Ray Kemble | @ray666 | 2 hours ago

Hello, projfan (@projfan)

I am go glad you did NOT hesitate to suggest gait therapy! I've suspected for the longest time that, if there were a way to narrow down the focus of the PT I'm currently doing, it would be to place top emphasis on GAIT.

My gait is a mess. I know that. I've known it for years. It began with the ache of severe flat feet, genuinely relieved by orthotics (since the 1980's); then a drop-foot episode (in the 2000's), the gradual addition of arthritis (ankles, knees, hips); then my one TKR (in the 2010's); and now my PN.

To really mess up my gait, I was laid up (mostly off my feet, recliner-bound, and shoeless) for 14 months, the result of a sepsis infection (which produced a grotesque 8" wound in my left foot). It's hardly surprising that my gait is all messed up! After all that time, just learning to wear shoes again was a reall challenge.

Your message (which I've saved) has inspired the heart-to-heart conversation I'm going to have with my therapist when I see him next Monday. Our topic? GAIT! 🙂

Tell me more of your experience in recovering your gait, but only if you wish and you've time.

And thank you a millionfold, projfan, for your message!

Best wishes!
Ray (@ray666)

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