The pain of osteoarthritis can be crippling. While injections, physical therapy and medications help many, there are many more who are facing a knee replacement. A knee replacement is considered when non-surgical measures fail to control your pain AND your quality of life is very poor because of the pain you are experiencing. You no longer want to go out walking, you are using a shopping cart as a walker, and you try to minimize the number of times you go up and down the stairs at home due to the miserable pain you experience.
In this knee replacement video, one of our patients shares his experience, his fears and his expectations around his knee replacement episode. Hopefully his experience can help you or someone you know.
Iva Wilson
I had a bi-lateral knee replacement surgery on February 4th 2013, i.e. more than a year and a half ago. The surgery was done by a very competent surgeon and it was successful. I had PT after that, unfortunately with not a very competent PT, so I did not complete the process. I also did pool exercises, and still do them. I had another 4 weeks of PT recently. I still have pain in the muscles around the knee and in the muscles bellow the knee and so far nobody knows why. I checked with my surgeon, I went to a specialist for Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and the last thing I am doing is acupuncture. I walk on my treadmill and run my stationary bike but things are not improving. I am 76 years old and otherwise in good health. I also heard that the recovery sometimes lasts 3 years depending on the age of the patient. Do you Dr. Luks have any suggestions? Thanks for your resommendations
Iva .. there are many reasons why our muscles bother us. Arthritis affects all the tissues around the knee… but we only replace the missing cartilage. It can take a long time for the other tissues to recover. Other things to look into is a reaction because of other medications you are taking. Many anti-hypertensives, and cholesterol medications can cause muscle pain and cramping.
Good Luck