Wellness

[Mmsfoxxie]

Saw my orthopedic doctor yesterday and I have knee spurs. My joints are not bone to bone yet but he says that a knee replacement is definitely in my future. Right now I am on the high end of moderate QA in my knee. He says my options are a cortisone injection which is good 70% of the time or a scope to clean out the spurs. I've done a lot of reading since yesterday have decided to try the injection. The scope might have me laid up for too many weeks so I need to wait til I retire next year for that. Initially, I had a problem walking but now I only have a problem with stairs so there has been an improvement of my condition. Can anyone tell me how long the recovery time is after their knee scope..(.anthroscope or some similar name). Thanks.

[hckynut]

My Orthopedic doctor friends will not give more than 2 cortisone shots to anyone in the same place regardless of their circumstances. The know what depending on cortisone can do to the tissues of the knee and 2 is the limit for both of them. They are both Sports Medicine Certified in their fields, one specializes in: shoulders/hips and knee repair or replacement.

The other practices at our State Spinal Institute and works primarily on issues on every part of the spine.

Seems like your Orthopod would be able to tell you which would be the best for your situation. Cortisone I've had only in my shoulder so no experience with that. My wife has had cortisone in both knees and my friend did both of them for her and also my shoulder.

I have asked my hip and knee doctor a few times about recoveries from these things and this is what he tells me every time. How soon one recovers from any type of invasive surgery depends a lot on their overall health and along with their physical fitness. With knees how strong the muscles and connective tissues around the knee are can make a huge difference in one's recovery.

I've had so many hockey players over the years have their knees "cleaned up" and some of them were back playing again after missing maybe 1 week.

[anniebear]

I had arthroscopic surgery on both knees years ago and was up and walking very quickly. Had huge, melon-sized wrapped ace bandages on my knees over the protective dressings, but when I could remove them the actual incision sites were so small compared to the size of the wrappings that I had to laugh. It really helped my knee pain and wasn't a long recovery at all. I used crutches to keep from putting too much weight on the joint for a couple of weeks, but that was the most troublesome aspect of the whole process. The post-surgical pain was very mild. I'd do it again in a heartbeat if I needed it.

I had cartiladge fragments causing bone to bone type pain. My Ortho tried cortisone injections in my knees first and the effects of the initial injections lasted about 8 - 9 months. Tried injections again when it wore off and the effect was minimal. He then recommended the surgery.

I was in much better physical shape 25 years ago than now, so I suspect my recovery time now would be a bit longer, but it wasn't what I'd call a very traumatic surgery. The incisions were just large enough for insertion of the scope-type instruments. I'm sure there have been many improvements in the methods of doing this type procedure too, so you'd have to factor that into things as well. Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

[Mmsfoxxie]

On 7/10/2014 hckynut said:

My Orthopedic doctor friends will not give more than 2 cortisone shots to anyone in the same place regardless of their circumstances. The know what depending on cortisone can do to the tissues of the knee and 2 is the limit for both of them. They are both Sports Medicine Certified in their fields, one specializes in: shoulders/hips and knee repair or replacement.

The other practices at our State Spinal Institute and works primarily on issues on every part of the spine.

Seems like your Orthopod would be able to tell you which would be the best for your situation. Cortisone I've had only in my shoulder so no experience with that. My wife has had cortisone in both knees and my friend did both of them for her and also my shoulder.

I have asked my hip and knee doctor a few times about recoveries from these things and this is what he tells me every time. How soon one recovers from any type of invasive surgery depends a lot on their overall health and along with their physical fitness. With knees how strong the muscles and connective tissues around the knee are can make a huge difference in one's recovery.

I've had so many hockey players over the years have their knees "cleaned up" and some of them were back playing again after missing maybe 1 week.

Yes, the doctor did tell that cortisone injections can due harm if too many are done. On a scale of 1 to 10, I'm a 6 in severity. He says that 70% of the time that can hold a patient for a few months.

[Mmsfoxxie]

On 7/10/2014 anniebear said:

I had arthroscopic surgery on both knees years ago and was up and walking very quickly. Had huge, melon-sized wrapped ace bandages on my knees over the protective dressings, but when I could remove them the actual incision sites were so small compared to the size of the wrappings that I had to laugh. It really helped my knee pain and wasn't a long recovery at all. I used crutches to keep from putting too much weight on the joint for a couple of weeks, but that was the most troublesome aspect of the whole process. The post-surgical pain was very mild. I'd do it again in a heartbeat if I needed it.

I had cartiladge fragments causing bone to bone type pain. My Ortho tried cortisone injections in my knees first and the effects of the initial injections lasted about 8 - 9 months. Tried injections again when it wore off and the effect was minimal. He then recommended the surgery.

I was in much better physical shape 25 years ago than now, so I suspect my recovery time now would be a bit longer, but it wasn't what I'd call a very traumatic surgery. The incisions were just large enough for insertion of the scope-type instruments. I'm sure there have been many improvements in the methods of doing this type procedure too, so you'd have to factor that into things as well. Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

Thanks. It's the driving part afterwards that I'm concerned about. By the time I get the ok from my insurance and have it done, I'll only be able to rest the knee for 3 or 4 weeks before I'll need to drive to work everyday which is why I hope to hold off on the surgery.

[Gooday]

I just had a knee arthroscopy three weeks ago today for a large tear of the meniscus. The surgeon who did my knee was my former boss. I do not know how I tore it but I have a sneaking suspicion it was because I climbed many stairs the day before my pain started. (that's another story).

I continue to have some postop pain but I am nearly 61 and I am carrying a few extra pounds. The first week I hurt like the dickens. That coupled with the fact they placed the tourniquet to tight on my thigh. I know a poster here said that tourniquets are not used for arthroscopy but, I beg to differ as I read the operative report and discussed this with my surgeon. He also told me that I had a lot of arthritis that did not show up on x-ray. I have an appt. to see him next week. He showed me exercises to do for my quads and said I did not need therapy as long as I worked on this. He said NO impact activities and stick to swimming, biking and short walks. He also said if after a while my pain recurs, take the occasional non-steroidal and that he could give me the occasional cortisone injection or a course of Synvisc.

[rudy]

Certainly they've let you know this, but the cortisone injections are a double-edged sword. Yes, it is very sweet relief to be pain free for a time, yet the injections can actually accelerate the cartilage deterioration. It did just that in my case. If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't have agreed to multiple injections in my knee.

[Mmsfoxxie]

On 7/11/2014 rudy said:

Certainly they've let you know this, but the cortisone injections are a double-edged sword. Yes, it is very sweet relief to be pain free for a time, yet the injections can actually accelerate the cartilage deterioration. It did just that in my case. If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't have agreed to multiple injections in my knee.

Yes, the doctor mentioned this. Said he wouldn't do more than two for that reason. But, he said I might be one of the 70% that does well with one injection. Thank you.

[Mmsfoxxie]

On 7/11/2014 Gooday said:

I just had a knee arthroscopy three weeks ago today for a large tear of the meniscus. The surgeon who did my knee was my former boss. I do not know how I tore it but I have a sneaking suspicion it was because I climbed many stairs the day before my pain started. (that's another story).

I continue to have some postop pain but I am nearly 61 and I am carrying a few extra pounds. The first week I hurt like the dickens. That coupled with the fact they placed the tourniquet to tight on my thigh. I know a poster here said that tourniquets are not used for arthroscopy but, I beg to differ as I read the operative report and discussed this with my surgeon. He also told me that I had a lot of arthritis that did not show up on x-ray. I have an appt. to see him next week. He showed me exercises to do for my quads and said I did not need therapy as long as I worked on this. He said NO impact activities and stick to swimming, biking and short walks. He also said if after a while my pain recurs, take the occasional non-steroidal and that he could give me the occasional cortisone injection or a course of Synvisc.

Gooday, I was hoping that you would respond because I remembered your post. Although the doctor didn't mention meniscus, our cases sound similar. I was walking up the stairs at work when my pain started, too. I walk a lot and go up and downstairs a lot at work...usually fast trying to get an aerobic benefit out of it. Specifically, I wanted to know how long after your surgery did you drive? Or have you driven yet? When I go back to work in August, I would be driving appropriately 9 miles each way....18 miles. My research said driving was a no no for 6 to 8 weeks.

[Mmsfoxxie]

I just read about Synvisc injections. You can have more than one. There is Synvisc, which is 3 injections and there is Synvisc One, which is only 1 injection. What the difference is, I don't know. I am so suspicious of medicine side effects. On Thursday, I took a prescribed pain pill called Hydrocodone/acetaminophen 5-325. An hour later I had the sweats and was nauseous. Vomited practically all day....very sick. I took it with food and water. Next day I was very weak but better. Sometimes dealing with the AO might be better.