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One knee replacement and will never have another one!
Hello to all of my fellow knee sufferers! I had a TKR in 2020. I had a very rough time after the surgery…..allergies to pain meds etc and had to only take Tylenol! PT for six months following surgery. My knee (right) is still painful and stiff, even after the replacement. I had this done at a top Boston hospital with a surgeon that came highly recommended. However, his answer to me with all of this pain and stiffness is “It will never be the knee that God gave you.” Oh, great!!! My left knee is bad but I could never go through this surgery again. I have had cortisone shots to the left knee which are no longer working and recently received three gel shots, which did not help. Both of my knees are so painful! Should I seek out a dr who deals with pain? I don’t know what else to do. Other than these knee issues, I am in good health and am 75 years old (although, other than these knees, I don’t feel like I am 75!!!!). Any suggestions or help would be deeply appreciated! I have tried knee braces, creams, ointments, Voltaran, Advil, Tylenol etc. Nothng has helped!!! Thank you, in advance, for any input! MaryAnn from Boston
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Hello Rocksister, If at all possible, I would hold off for as long as you can on having a TKR. Before consenting to this major surgery with your ortho, I would get a second and third opinion. If you decide to go down that road, you need to know how excruciating the pain can be, especially without pain meds. Unfortunately, I could not take the prescribed pain meds because I broke out in a rash, along with vomiting, to a couple of the meds. I could only take Tylenol, and I have to be honest with you…….the pain was BAD! I had to use a walker in my house to get around and it was very painful. PT services came into my house for the first few weeks but I had a hard time doing their exercises because of the intense pain. It is important to begin moving the knee as soon as possible so that scar tissue will not build up, but it was very difficult for me. I felt depressed and I had no appetite, so I lost 18 pounds in those first few weeks at home. I was able to get to outside therapy about six weeks after surgery, and I got a wonderful PT! I continued to see her twice a week for six months and she really helped me to build up supporting muscles for my knee. However, the replaced knee isn’t all that great……still stiffness and weakness. On how soon that I was required to walk, it was the *next day* after the surgery!!! I truly was in agony and I had an older woman who was a PT at the hospital making me walk and do stairs. She had no sympathy for the pain that I had (she should have retired long before!) and had me in tears. Truly, this was NOT ME!!! As painful as my left knee is currently, I just cannot go through it again. I am trying another cortisone shot next week, and if it doesn’t help, I just rely on Advil, Voltaren cream and Extra Strength Tylenol. I am also making an effort to strengthen my glutes, my quads and my calves to support the left knee. I wish you all the best, but I would definitely get a second opinion. MaryAnn from Boston
This is the PT I watch on youtube. Here he explains why you should not work on your quads. He has a lot of videos with exercises. It's hard to explain the ones I do, maybe you can subscribe to his videos. Basically, anything that gets your glutes stronger, one is squeezing your butt cheeks. Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7x7Ywo5tfE&t=162s
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3 ReactionsI take Turmeric (200mg) and Boswellia serrata (100 mg)
UC-II (40mg) BioPerrine ( 5 mg). I have been taking these herbs since 2017 and they were keeping my right knee relatively pain free until I had a bike accident in Sept 2023. I broke my left forearm and fractured my left tibia right where it joins with my partial artificial knee.
Both of these breaks healed well but I was not allowed to take any supplements while I was in the hospital and I had to hop on my right leg/knee since my left leg was in a non weight bearing brace for six weeks while it healed.
During that time of hopping and not taking any supplements my right knee became very painful. That is when I talked to the orthopedic surgeon who said I could not have knee surgery until I got clearance from my cardiologist. The cardiologist would not clear me for elective surgery due to abnormal EKG results so I needed to find an alternative to TKR. I had PRP injections in January this year and as soon as I was
cleared for exercise the PT had me strengthening my glutes and calf muscles as well as resuming my supplements. So now my right knee is considerably less painful - but still not as pain free as my left knee which has the partial knee replacement.
I hope you can find a program that works for you to relieve your pain.
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3 ReactionsThank you so much!
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2 ReactionsThank you very much for your input! I am so sorry for all that you have been through! I do take Tumeric, and it has BioPerrine in it, but I wrote down those other two supplements and will look for them and give them a try. I am also going to work on strengthening my glutes and calf muscles every other day. So glad that your right knee is now less painful. Honestly, knee pain is just so debilitating! Thanks again!
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2 ReactionsMabfp3,
Thanks for the video link. I have watched the El Paso PT in the past and he is very good. Here is another PT that shows Calf exercises to reduce knee pain ( around 4 min. into video)