I went to my new ortho doctor last Tuesday totally convinced he was going to tell me I was going to have to have a total knew replacement as soon as he could schedule the surgery. To my surprise and delight he said he had several different procedure he wanted to preform on my knee before we get even close to the TKR. We discussed the various procedure he does and he is going to do a Platelet-rich Plasma (PRP) Treatment.You take a person’s (mine) blood, you spin it down, you concentrate the platelets, and you inject that in my knee with my own platelets in a concentrated form, his then activates growth factors and stem cells to help repair the tissue, if possible, calm osteoarthritic symptoms and decrease inflammation. I am excited and anxious to have this procedure and pray for the very best results.
@babette My doctor did go over some of the other methods he could try if this might not work and what he would do when I do get to the point when I will have to have a TKR. He said that once he gets the whole surgery done he does a Knee Nerve block on the knee he has done the TKR on, while the patient is still under Anesthesia..He does this to cut down on the discomfort and fear that his patient's have about their rehab. They are very worried about what they are to do for pain treatment and management and the nerve block in the knee will drastically cut down on the discomfort and fear that his patient's have about their rehab. He said that these blocks typically contain an anesthetic with a known duration of relief. He just calmly said, why have your patient hurt when there is a simple resolve that will help them to recover easier and with less pain. He did stress that the rehab was the most important part of this surgery. If you don't do all of your rehab the way your PT tells you, you will end up walking with a limp, develop back pain and a plethora of other symptoms your don't want. You want to have this surgery to get better and get it over with and gone, no to create another issue. He is a younger doctor and says that is the way he was taught in med school to do this surgery. I like this idea! Perhaps you should ask him about the Nerve Block? If he won't do it you might could find a Pain Specialist that will do it for you after your surgery. I have them in my neck and they do work wonders. Sorry, if this is way to much info but I do hope that all will go as smoothly as possible for you. More than 600,000 knee replacements are performed each year in the United States. If all those people can make it through everything, I have no doubt that you will do great. I will put you on my prayer list and pray for things to go as well as possible for you, dear. Try to remember when you feel overwhelmed-stop-inhale a lone breath though your nose and slowly release it by slowly blowing out your mouth. Goggle some "self relaxation" practice what they suggest. God Bless YOu. (Keep us updates, please.)