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Knee replacement

skibum4ever

skibum4ever

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Well I saw my orthopedic surgeon today and I will be getting a new left knee to go along with my 4 year old right knee. He says I'm "bone on bone". It will probably be done in about 2 months.

Happily he feels that my right hip, which has also been giving me trouble, is a candidate for physical therapy rather than replacement. So no new "Summer of Surgery" thread this time around.

For those who have had knee replacements, today's question is about getting therapy before the surgery. I wonder if I should be doing "pre-hab" as well as rehab.

My Ortho says it's not necessary, but I think I should at least try to do some pre-hab exercises on my own. I welcome your thoughts.
 
I can't answer to pre-habbing a knee. But I did that with a Pilates client going in for a hip replacement. She went for her final check with the surgeon and after watching her move asked, "Why are we replacing your hip?!" Client was shocked. When the surgeon looked at the images though he saw why.

I can only respond to exercising before cardiac surgery and doing movements that I would need to use in recovery after a sternotomy. Much better to go in as strong and healthy as possible IMHO, confirmed by the hospital staff when I was there.

Best of luck!
 
I think regardless of what your ortho says is "necessary", being healthy and reasonably strong prior to any operation is useful. Given that the feeling is that the replacement should be done soon, perhaps it was more from the perspective of "you shouldn't wait/ defer the surgery to do prehab" prior to surgery.
 
skibum4ever said:
Well I saw my orthopedic surgeon today and I will be getting a new left knee to go along with my 4 year old right knee. He says I'm "bone on bone". It will probably be done in about 2 months.

Happily he feels that my right hip, which has also been giving me trouble, is a candidate for physical therapy rather than replacement. So no new "Summer of Surgery" thread this time around.

For those who have had knee replacements, today's question is about getting therapy before the surgery. I wonder if I should be doing "pre-hab" as well as rehab.

My Ortho says it's not necessary, but I think I should at least try to do some pre-hab exercises on my own. I welcome your thoughts.
Click to expand...

Since you've been through this before, you have a pretty good idea of what's involved. Pre-hab exercises sound helpful, though. Best of luck!
 
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As an ortho RN(now retired), we always encouraged patients to go into surgery as strong as possible. That said, it was imperative to ensure patients had enough postop PT sessions as insurance can often limit the # of yearly PT visits. We didn’t want patients to “waste” any visits on prehab in those cases. Recommended preop exercises include swimming and stationary biking as these types of exercise un-weight the joint, and keep further damage/pain at a minimum.

And since you noted you have previously had opposite knee done, I’d add a mention of what one of my surgeons called favorite joint syndrome, which is where folks use previous experience with joint replacement as a comparative tool. Same joint, same experience, right? Been there, done that. Hard nope! Having joint replacement, even on same body part, is useful for context, but not comparison. Make sense?
 
I scheduled back surgery last October for this April. My surgeon sent me to pre-hab with my PT and I added extra strengthening with my trainer. When I went to my pre-op appointment last week, I was 80% pain free so my surgeon suggested that I postpone surgery, which I did.
 
Although I'm not doing pre-hab, I am working with my personal trainer on leg exercises for both legs as well as core and upper body. As my surgery approaches, I am definitely getting nervous even though I'm an old hand at leg surgery.

One additional advantage to the surgery is that my left knee has always been slightly "valgus", i.e. my left leg slants slightly left. This condition will also be fixed by the operation.

Had blood work and EKG this week. Next step is a pre-op appointment fairly soon then the surgery on May 12.
 
This morning I woke up to a very sore left knee. Presently using a cane to get around the house. Happy that my surgery is only 9 days away.
 
Best wishes on your knee surgery! I don't know when/if I'll be eligible for one (patellofemoral A here), but wishing you a speedy recovery.
 
Surgery was yesterday. I have some pain walking, but not bad.

Today I have PT and then I will probably be headed home. I will update in a couple of days after I see how it goes.

Every time I walk it seems to be a little easier. So I don't expect to have any major issues.
 
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