Was it worth it?

Sorry to hear. Mine weren't either.

Absolutely ! Didn’t your surgeon remove the arthritis ? But you’re right the time it takes for the body to adjust to the trauma we agreed to cause 🙃feels too long !

I have no regrets but I was in horrible pain for 11 months , I listened to what everyone said , took the drugs , did the stretches , iced and elevated and went to physio every 14 days .

After double TKR ? I’ve had no real knee pain but lots of muscle /nerve pain and cramps …I do walk stiffly

Now at 10 weeks as the swelling goes down I have a bit of knee discomfort and weird feelings

This will never be the knees god gave us ! But I love that my surgeon heard my voice and helped me in my 50’s fix an injury

No regrets here 🥰🇨🇦

When I started to have knee problems, they crept up slowly. When I parked on a hill (daily), I had to plant my feet parallel to one another, 90 degrees to the car, to avoid twisting my knee, If I did that I had no knee pain and could walk just fine. I did that for years. Occasionally I'd have lingering pain, and twice I had cortisone shots. I had many good months in between. One day I got up from the sofa and my right knee just gave out. It wouldn't support me, and I was gripping furniture to stay upright. Fortunately, a friend had an extra cane to give me and 5 days later I no longer needed it. A few weeks went by before I found my right knee failing me when I went up the big front step to my house. Months later I went on a family outing and couldn't keep up. Soon I was clinging to a door frame to enter the house -- just that one tiny step up. Up until the family outing, I had been renovating my house, so I was fairly active. At some point I bought a new ladder with steps closer together than normal because the regular one was causing pain and felt unsafe. Still, it was a matter of slow deterioration. The family outing was the turning point. My daughter had an 18-month-old daughter, and I couldn't keep up. When I first walked into the surgeon's office I did it unassisted, without pain, no cane. I told him my quality of life had gone downhill. About 6-months later I had the TKR. Recovery was a shock. I wondered if I had done the right thing. People make it sound so easy -- "You'll be up and walking the same day," they tell you. It was hard to remember how bad my condition was before surgery, when I was now needing a walker, using an assist device to lift my leg, a portable commode and a shower chair. Then I graduated to a cane and could drive my car again. There were set-backs and struggles, but after 10-months I was using my stationary bike at home again. Things had clearly moved the other direction. I was now getting stronger, not weaker! I'm 15-months past surgery now. I don't know what my condition would have been without surgery, but I was clearly on a slow decline. Now things are getting better, day-by-day. Was it worth it -- I want to shout, YES!

Your story is so encouraging to me as I am only 8 weeks out from TKR. I had been getting cortisone injection before my surgery so I was pretty comfortable and could walk easily...but coming out of surgery and recovering I have asked myself " what did I do to myself?: Now it's the walker the cane, the shower help the furniture walking and another person to help transition and walk. It's getting all better . It's good to know it will get a whole lot better in the future and I hope I can say "yes it was worth it"!

I had a partial knee replacement in March. I did a partial because I was afraid of pain , weakness and immobility. I have bad arthritis in the other knee and was is natural in my left knee. My replacement is fine now and I am still afraid to proceed with the other knee. July 1995 you have given me a glimpse into a realistic success story.

There is a video on the web I have viewed of Dr. Adam Rosen explaining that the recovery process from a TKR is, like so many other things, a bell curve.

IMO, if one is careful, one can significantly improve one's chances of getting on the positive side of the bell curve by finding a surgeon who does the newest minimally invasive techniques (subversus approach, tranexamic acid instead of using a tourniquet, no cutting of tendons, etc.) and WHO HAS DONE THE PARTICULAR SURGERY HUNDREDS IF NOT THOUSANDS OF TIMES

If one can do both, one is definitely improving one's chances but there is still the random possibility of a bad recovery outcome.

I have done this and I am having my TKR in less than a week. My surgeon has been doing the subversus approach for at least a decade, uses the CORI robot and Journey II implants. There is a video on the web of my guy doing a TKR that way (in 2020). Fingers crossed it works for me.

Hello, All,

I thought I'd comment even though I have not had a TKR. A couple of years ago, I did have a THR. I was not in great pain or impaired much prior to the surgery but thought it was enough that I was always aware of it and experienced some limitations. I researched the best orthos and selected an ortho with a large ortho group, impressive resume, and head of hip surgery. Rather than a long story, only short here. The surgery went well but, of course, after anesthesia and pain meds wore off, some pain, used Tylenol. I was very, very careful in activities so as not to dislocate or affect the implant. I did the exercises prescribed by ortho, but ortho did not advocate PT by a therapist. Instead, he maintained that only walking is sufficient. So I walked. My disappointment was that within a week, I began experiencing seriously painful nerve pain on the front and outside of my thigh from the knee up about 18 inches, felt like fireants, made me cry. PA and ortho said it would go away, last estimate was 18 months. I'll be 3 years post-op soon but still have numbness (not so bad) and pain (not as severe but don't like) on that thigh area). Maybe it will improve in months and years to come, but this has been more negative to me than the pre-surgery pain. Anyway, good news, the hip is not painful (unless I sleep on it sideways wrong, which I avoid). I was told the nerve pain was femur nerve that was retracted back and held back during surgery. Ortho said it occurs in 50% of his patients but almost all say it goes away. I am probably the .01%. My other hip has arthritis and not enough pain to make me swap the witch for the devil. My friends who have had THR report dramatic improvement, none of what I have. I was 75, active, and in good health when I had the THR.

I have been told that TKR is much more intricate and risky. Much of the outcome depends on the surgeon selected (see steveinarizona advice, yes), your age, state of health, weight, and luck. I do know that hip surgery is grizzly, they twist and turn and pop, saw, drill, etc. like you are a rag doll. So it is a wonder we can make a comeback. If the pain is serious and limits you so much (see july1955), then you really have very little choice--surgery or be in a wheelchair or crippled, not a way to live. If my other hip begins to leave me no quality of life, then I will opt for THR again and keep my fingers crossed. I am not certain whether I will return to the ortho I used for the first one. It's no doubt he's highly skilled and gifted, but even with his skills, I had nerve damage that has not yet completely resolved. Maybe I'll be lucky and it will. I am still active, but NOT climbing mountains, jogging, or doing splits and backbends, but at my age, I wasn't doing that before the surgery. Good luck to all and irishtrish!! Fingers crossed. Mine are. Smiling. (Forgive typos/errors, no time to proof/edit)

Has anyone used Frankincense oil for pain on their Tkr?

Hi there. ...

Just a few words from my experience of have both knees FKR Nov 2024 / April 2025.

Like you I did some due diligence ... getting 4 Orthopedic opinions, having
severe bone on bone in both and excessive amount of pain for more than a 6 year period.

One leg was bowed, and the other seemed to be heading in the same direction. I was also informed that I had a Immuno Thrombocytopenia (Which delayed the surgery until the cause of it and remedy could be implemented )

KEY PREPARATIONS

> Stretching 3X daily
> Strength Training
> Dietary Corrections
> Home Ergonomics
>Bedroom Logistics
> Physical Therapy
> Schedule

I ve always been a gym rat... with 40+ years at my hobby. Knees that are so bad that you are almost crippled. Definitely put a dent in your activity level, especially for doing legs, but I will tell you that any and all training that you can do upper body as well as the lower body will enhance your body's ability to heal... as well as make you stronger so that you can support yourself through the difficult work that must be done.

The areas above identified were key to me. Crushed ice in quart & gallon zip bags in the Bedroom freezer / frig kept the swelling DOWN.. hence pain down. Get off the narcotics by 4 - 5 days to avoid addiction... 800 MG ibuprofen was my ORTHO prescription.

Official PT was 2X/ week... but I did 4 sessions/ day at home with their exercises...and a few of my own... for 5 days/ week.

●Very important to get up and walk with walker within 2 - 4 hours of surgery to AVOID blood clots

● Very important to take ice cooler to hospital room as theirs may be insufficient

● A large bath sheet to wrap around ice packs great to keep isolated and control swelling days 2 - 15

● Walker that fits through bathroom & Bedroom doorways critical.. and an attached cup holder & carry pouch on walker best!

● Sooner you schedule & begin PT ( 7 days ) from surgery best

● Stock up pantry & refrigerator with some pre-fixed items / get arranged help for coffee / meals / ice

● Walk limited to 3 - 4 minutes first week / session! DON'T OVERDUE IT! Walk each week to add 20 - 40 more steps than prior week.

● IN bed ankle flexes, knee flexes, leg raises all aid CIRCULATION & STRENGTH... do both legs... one first 8 - 10 reps... then the other

● Consume all fresh foods, low carbs, high lean protein, lots of vegetables, minimum processed sugars, good amount of fruits, lots of colored vegetables & fruits, salads, multi- vitamin, magnesium supplement if allowed medically. ( Sugars feed inflammation so avoid them mostly )

PS: 5☆ to my Surgery Orthopedic Team & PT folks...as I'm in gym 3 - 4 X weekly, 1000% better... hoping to jog on the beach at 6 months / October!

I can walk 60 minutes!

Finally off all daily meds... past 1 clot and blood thinner protocol ( and past 1 infection at 2 weeks after surgery )

It's a new world... don't know all the answers of health in your 60s...but its a life altering experience!