Knee Pain Questions

Bones, joints and muscles
1

Ok, I'm 76 and at 57 my right knee first started to creek and sent me to an ortho doctor to find some answers....he said the start of OA....I wasn't in horrible pain etc, just the creeking....I went on to keep working out at my gym and wore a knee support....I probably went to the gym into my mid 60's....did NOT work out fanatically, gently and did a lot of mat stretches.... I still walked good.

Then at 70, groin pain hit me, waking me up at night in pain at the right groin. So went to ortho surgeon, I wasn't sure what the issue was: knee, lower back or hip.....saw the hip xrays and then believed it was hip. That visit was in August 2010.

Then in Oct 2010 I did the hip replacement, no 2nd opinions etc...

Surgery and recovery went well, then into 5th month things went downhill....spinal stenosis set in, right knee got worse, foot/ankle go worse -- the latter 2 with OA.

I believe all this downhill mess was due to shorter leg after replacement....this caused knee and foot/ankle to go whacky, pressure and tension from being so out of alignment.

Now, did you all deal with pain all the time, sitting, sleeping, walking?

My knee starts to pain after I've walked a little bit, not a lot but a little walking....otherwise no pain...I can bend knee with no problem, stiffness YES but I work it out.

I ride my recumbent bike without pain to the knee, want to keep it moving and a little cardio too.

I guess I'm just wondering how bad my knee is and I'm not up to going to an ortho doc to find out now. I've done that over years for various injections, acupuncture, mesotherapy and now doing glucosamine and ligaplex II every day......Trying all I can to do no knee surgery.

Prolozone for the knee is still in my mind.

I'd love to hear how painful it was for you to do the replacements.... thanks J

2

Thats a lot to grasp. As someone who has been through a lot in the last 12 years, I have met a lot of folks in therapy, etc and long ago came to the conclusion, like fingerprints, there are no two joints and people alike. Even from one knee to the other on the same person. Pre op physical condition seems to be a large contributing factor. Body weight, overall physical condition, muscle mass, etc. Attitude and willingness to do whats mandatory post op is gigantic. My next door neighbor is a whiner by nature, complains about everything and sure enough, she has never gotten much better after 4 years post op. She is 75 lbs overweight and isn't about to change that either. She will never walk without pain. Sounds like you are an in tune, aggressive person and should do well with the pot op mandates. Then the last but very important, trust in the doc. Some orthos are good technical people but assembly line mentality. Others work well with the emotional side and believe me, there is more of that than they tell you about in the pre op knee educational sessions. Hope this helps in your decision making process. Good luck no matter which way you decide to go..

3

Joy,I was told 15 years ago at 52 that I would need a tkr in a couple of years but put it off until this year. My consultant had said to have a replacement if the pain kept me awake at night or stopped me leading a normal life. Well I carried on with just a small amount of pain when walking a long way. I couldn't climb mountains any more or cycle but I could do most things. I finally gave in when I couldn't walk for more than ten minutes without dreadful pain and was so out of alignment that it was affecting my back and my other knee. At 5 weeks post op I can know walk for half an hour without pain. Yes my knee still swells and is stiff afterwards but this is a major improvement on before. You seem so positive that I'm sure whatever you do will work out well for you.

4

Hello Joy,

I was wondering, after you had hip replacement, did your groin pain go away?  I had severe OA in right knee and moderate OA in right hip. More than anything the groin pain was the worst, but did not know if it was from my hip or knee. My dr thought it could be from my knee, being so out of alignment, so since my knee was far worse than my hip, I had TKR last July  (I'm 67)

Seems the groin pain was from my knee, unless the TKR took pressure off or something. All I know is that the groin pain was just awful and if it comes back, I will consider hip replacement. That's why I'd like to know if your hip replacement relieved your groin pain and was worth it?

If you are in a lot of pain now, I do recommend having TKR. I'm 13 weeks post op today & it was well worth it!

Betty

5

No more groin pain.  I wrote a lot more and lost it here...

6

It's funny Betty,my consultant asked me at my first referal if I had groin pain and I wondered why as the only time I've had that has been from my back so perhaps the knee can cause it and you are now cured.

7

Hi Carol,

I doubt I'm cured unfortunately as I still get a twinge now and then if I move a certain way, but I'm sure the main cause of it was being out of alignment before my TKR. My knee was turning inward so now it's like trying to learn to walk all over again! Have to keep focusing on keeping leg out & straight when I walk, but still find myself reverting back to my old way of walking if I'm tired or not focusing.

Did you have groin pain? If so, did TKR help or was it from your back?

8

Isn't that frustrating?! I've had that happen to me more than once! Several paragraphs lost! Well I'm happy you have no more groin pain. Obviously it was from your hip then?

9

No I dddn't but my leg was bent out so perhaps it's that. What is interesting, and welcoming, is that I have a lot less back pain. I do wonder how much the years of being out of alignment has affected my whole skeleton. Perhaps I should have had this done yeats ago.

 

10

Yes it does seem being out of alignment can affect so many areas of our bodies. I'm so happy for you that your back pain is relieved. Who knew? Many people have said they wish they had done it sooner.