Wellness

[RinaRina]

My left knee is killing me and I'm at the point where I can't stand walking more than 20 minutes. I've spoken to two women in their 50's who both told me they had an orthopedic surgeon "clean up" their knees. The "clean up" surgery was not a knee replacement. Has anyone here ever had "clean up" done on their injured knees? Did it help you walk better? Did the pain stop? My injury is "bone-on-bone", so I don't understand the procedure.

Thanks.

[Thrive]

My sister had surgery and it helped her. She is now getting injection in the other knee which is bone on bone. I have osteoarthritis of the left knee. I injured it several months ago by pushing a reclining chair. It hasn't been the same since. It hurts at times when walking. I really don't want to have surgery. I think I will go back to the injections again. If that doesn't work, I may have to have surgery. Good Luck!

[StylishLady]

I had a couple arthroscopic procedures done to clean up torn meniscus. Worked fine with minimal pain and problems. Get your knee checked and see if something minimally invasive can be done in your case. Good luck.

[Kachina624]

The injections people get are steroids and if they work, the results are temporary in duration. They can be repeated but slowly lose their effectiveness. After a while, something more permanent must be done which if often a TKR. The "cleanup" surgery is to remove debris which has broken off and is interfering with the operation of the joint. Sometimes minor surgery work...sometimes it doesn't.

[okiebug]

"Cleaning up" probably means taking of any bone spurs, torn cartilage, etc. Your knee can only be cleaned up if there's cartilage left. If you're bone on bone, you may need knee replacement. The only way to know is to go to an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in knees. I've had both knees replaced and the afternoon after the surgery I was in less pain than the day before.

[151949]

I would think that what needs to be done to help your pain depends upon what is wrong with your knee. There are many knee conditions beside arthritis that would be treated much differently than arthritis.

[CalminHeart]

I had 2 arthoscopic knee surgeries in 2011. The first one was to repair a torn meniscus and the second one was to clean up all the arthritis. I went from zero to massive arthritis in just 6 months after the first surgery. Several surgeons said this is common in joint surgery...that sometimes it triggers arthritis. I also had a series of shots after the second surgery and they also helped. But it was only temporary. I was bone on bone within 2 years. I had a total knee replacement this summer. It's a tough recovery but I'm doing so much better now, finally.

You'll need to see an orthopedic surgeon to find out what's wrong with your knee and if surgery can repair it. There could be other issues that surgery won't fix.

[number one queen]

Why put yourself through more pain, bone on bone I don't think injections most likely clean out jobs will work. You need a good ortho DR., who specializes in knees. I have had both total knees done it is hard and a tough recovery, but it is worth it. One thing if you have the total knees done Do The Exercises!

[MariotaMurielle]

do you have damage to your knee from an injury? or do you have osteoarthritis? how do you know you have a "bone-on-bone" situation? if you've had xrays that confirmed that you have cartilage loss in your knee joint , have you seen an orthopedic surgeon? the answers to these questions will affect what type of treatment you need. I have osteoarthritis and had to have a total knee replacement at the age of 58. I chose to put it off as long as possible because I had a very busy job and didn't want to take the time off of work. but, as my orthopedic surgeon told me, "when the pain gets bad enough, call me". my first thought was, how bad can it get? believe me, when I got to the point where I felt like someone was stabbing me in the knee with an ice pick every step I took, I realized what he meant. I did the series of 5 injections , which did not relieve the pain. as number one queen said, why put yourself through more pain?

you need to see an orthopedic surgeon who does a lot of knee replacements for his/her advice. if you do have cartilage loss you need to face the fact that the pain is not going away and will, in fact, get worse until you do something about it.

[wismiss]

I went through the process, but still had to have knee replacements. One knee was worse than the other so each knee was in a different stage of treatment.

Injections for a torn meniscus.

Arthroscopic surgery to fix torn meniscus (done on both knees, but 5 years apart) and during this time, had injections on the one knee that had more cartilage

Physical therapy at certain points during this five year period

Injections when bone on bone,which did not work, but was tried, as my ortho used replacements as the very last step.

Knee replacement in both knees, seven months apart.

After 2 years for right knee, 1 1/2 years for left knee, NO PAIN. My only regret is not having it done sooner, but I had other health problems that did not allow me to have the surgery. Once I was better, then I had the surgery.

Find a good orthopedic doctor who specializes in the knee and maybe one other area. My ortho only did knees and hips, so he really knew his stuff.

Good luck and may you be free of pain in the near future.