Alternatives to TKR

@kudzu
I just noticed the custom knee brace Lee Trivino uses.. Sounds silly but the only time I have pain/discomfort is walking. Other than injections, which im against, have you looked into these braces?

@jlhunt1022
I’ve had all different kinds of braces, and I have found them helpful.
Right now, my knees aren’t giving me much trouble; I’m working on my shoulder with prp and pt exercises. If it acts up again, I’ll look into that. Thanks.
When I had that meniscus tear in 2013, I did pt but also got a brace online from a company called Shock Doctor, which I took hiking with me.

@kudzu
Thanks.. I'll look into that also. Good luck!

Just a thought - perhaps you need to schedule an appointment with a physiatrist, an M.D. who works with patients to find alternative solutions to surgery. More and more orthopedic practices have these specialists on board. I worked with one to try to avoid my TKRs, and she had all kinds of alternatives to try. Unfortunately after we tried several alternatives, I was unable to do anything but surgery, but she helped me find a surgeon who communicated and really worked with me to make it all as easy as possible. If your doctors aren’t open to anything but TKR, maybe it’s time to investigate other doctors. Good luck to you!

@gravity3
I can’t help wondering if some of the restrictions on stem cells are financially or politically driven.
After all, if too many people get better with stem cell treatments and don’t need joint replacements, it will take business away from surgeons and the medical equipment industry. I could imagine both factions being a powerful lobby, like Big Pharma. Not saying all drs are like this, but it does make me think.

@leslieannmitchell
One consideration not mentioned if it’s an important issue is that not all the alternatives mentioned are covered by Medicare and/or insurance. I am now 2 weeks into a TKR after going through with most mentioned, The RFA was $5200. out of pocket and most if not all are classed as elective surgery- so is TKR for that matter. And I ended up having to have the TKR after 3 orthopedists agreed and failed attempts to avoid the surgery. There is no silver bullet-yet.

@bgl9463
Yes, and it seems that the best knee surgeons frequently no longer take any insurance.
Insurance was trying to stop paying for gel injections, but the doctors rose up in mass to stop that.

Yes. I call my surgeon a magician. Three years ago he replaced my left hip and I had no post surgery pain. Four months ago he replaced my right knee and, again, I had no post surgery pain and my range of motion in my first week of physical therapy was 122 degrees. Before the surgery we were talking and I told him that I wanted to be back on the golf course by the end of four weeks. I am an 80 YO male. He responded that it was an aggressive target but he was up to the challenge. On the 27th day after surgery, I was playing golf. But he has withdrawn from Medicare and doesn't take insurance. I had to pay his fee directly. Best money I ever spent.

@steveinarizona
Thank you steve for all your posts. Because of you and with the help of the AI copilot I have evaluated most of the surgeons in the USA, ha.

I have found 2 surgeons, one is Dr. Chow and the other is in Chicago. Both are now out of insurance coverage. I missed the one in Chicago by a few months. sigh

But I am now saving up for my surgery with one of these two doctors.

Plus, I am taking cartingenix hp. I am frankly amazed that this supplement helps as much as it does. I am not going to need my gel injections at this point because of the supplement.

Thank you again Steve! Thanks to your posts I feel that I now know exactly what I need to do if I have to have a knee replacement.

It would be lovely if stem cell treatments could be proven effective and the price come down enough so that they could be an affordable treatment that was competitive with surgery. The problem I see, is that they can't be a one and done treatment. Even if cartilage can be regenerated somewhat , it will keep wearing out as you use the knee, and treatments will need to go on for regular intervals on a long term basis because of continuing wear. I am curious if participants in treatment are told to stay off the leg while the cartilage repairs itself? I would think that if you continued to use the leg immediately, the new cartilage would be worn off about as fast as it could grow? I suppose the stem cells must be suspended in a similar substance as the hyaluronan type injections which add lubrication for some weeks and help with knee pain.