Knee replacement

Who has had them and kept racing? I am very young (36) for it but got the ok to do it last Friday. Current knee is a total loss as of right now. Question is at what age did you have it done? What kind? how is it holding up and with what activity level are you at? Recovery time to get back to full speed?

 

They prefer you wait till your older because they last about 20 years at least that's what my buddy told me who had a double.

 

had a catastrophic dislocation in 2009, only thing holding left knee together was the patella tendon, and the skin. my ortho doc (msu sports med, works on all the ncaa division 1 athletes), told me due to my activity level, and my age, the artificial knee would need to be replaced every 8-10 years, with downtime for rehab (post op), and then when the symptoms come from the coming failure (pre-replacement op).

he recommended (and I went with his suggestion) cadaver parts. was back on the bike in 6 weeks, total rehab was about 16 weeks. I was running (against orders) by week 10.

I was 42 at the time. 50 now, knee still works well. with your young age, I wouldn't think about a full replacement. I would do EVERYTHING IN MY POWER, TO NOT HAVE A FULL REPLACEMENT.

my wife is an NP, and knows ALOT ABOUT ORTHO SURGERY. make sure you are going to a sports med (ONLY) ortho doc and tell them what you are expecting. after each subsequent replacement, you lose more and more bone, once it is gone, they "freeze" the knee in place, and severely limit range of motion, up to and including, you wont have enough range to be on a sportbike again. go to someone that does 250+ knees a year, not to someone that only does a handful.

I suggest looking up doctor Mark on the thumpertalk forum. he is in Texas, and works on ALOT of ama motocross, supercross, supermoto, guys.

your results may vary, get a 2nd, 3rd, 4th opinions. do not just "think" you "want" a replacement, and everything will be like it is now. our bodies are remarkable, they can do ALOT, WITHOUT ADDING MECHANICAL PARTS TO IT.

I wish you good luck. Ski

 

Partial.

Go to an experienced doc, as said above.

Should last approx 30 yrs. 58, just had a partial. At about 75% at 8 mo.

If you`re in the area, see Kenneth Pohl, kettering Oh. Helped develop the artificial knee. He`s the guy the docs go to.

 

If you want any help at Duke, I can hook you up with the ortho doctor that is the team doctor for the basketball team. These are guys that have millions of dollars on the line with future earnings, so they don't mess around.

 

Have already gotten a few opinions and have been to Houston to see Mark for a exam the story is the same everywhere. We have been doing everything we can to it since the age of 22 now am 36. Almost lost it when it happened and sometimes I wish i did. My main surgeon has a couple under his belt. He has 9 surgeries on it so far, so we are talking a super modded right knee. Last Friday he told me it was time to do it. Will save a ton of time over getting series of injections every other month i guess. Need to keep the mobility though, i want to keep racing motocross and riding sportbikes. Maybe i am crazy in my thinking who knows.

 

Sounds like you're sick of messing with it and want the surgery.
Which sounds very reasonable to me.
Even if you have to have it replaced again after 10 years, that's still at least 8 years of a knee that functions correctly, to enjoy while you're still young. And with technology improving all the time, maybe the second replacement will be the last one.

 

You ain't crazy. Keep doing your homework and when you think you're done, do more and more and more.... you get one opportunity to get this right the first time.

I had both hips replaced at the same time at age 39 a little over a year ago. I did craaaaaaazy homework. I went from California to South Carolina to have my surgeries. Though I'm still recovering, I'm already waaaaaaaay better off than I was before. I don't plan to road race again but ride moto and mountain bike (a lot!) and road bike and go to the gym and hike and backpack... and, well, I'm a pretty active guy. You can't be active with a worn out hip (or two!) or a worn out knee. If it's time (it sounds like it is) go to the absolute best you can find and get it done and then don't look back. Living in pain is no way to live. There's NO REASON you can't get a new knee and do ALL the things you want to do in the future.

Good luck!

 

Subscribed, unfortunately, as I suspect I'll be a candidate in a few more years.

FWIW- A former coworker (major weight trainer/bodybuilder) had the 'partial' done and regrets it, says he's spoken to several people who had replacements and thinks he should have gone for the full replacement. He warned me to go as long as possible before getting anything done.

I just wish they were as simple as hip replacements, buddy just had his done and says he feels great only 4-5wks later.

 

Agreed. I too, have heard hips are substantially easier but the problem is the same, a joint that doesn't work properly isn't a helluva lot of fun.

In my experience the consistent recommendation is to put it off as long as possible. While there's nothing wrong with that advice, when it's time, it's TIME.

 

A friend of mine had a full replacement at 40ish and regrets it. The biggest issue according to him is mobility. He says his metal knee has almost zero lateral movement, and it makes certain daily tasks a hassle. He also says the limited movement causes him a ton of hip and back pain.

I know nothing about orthopedics, so this is just anecdotal, but figured I'd share in case it's of any value. Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

Anyone here go through patellofemoral replacement and still race? I've been putting it off, but last weekend was the final straw. I had to withdraw from racing due to the pain. Most of the joint is still good, but if I get this done and lose any range of motion I'll be done racing. Debating getting it done this fall and missing skiing/snowboarding or doing it in the spring and missing a bunch of race season.

 

From the oldsters I know that have had it. Two things matter. 1) good doc 2) REALLY WORK at rehab The ones I know who slacked at rehab (which sucks) have mobility and/or pain issues. Dad hated the rehab with a passion but gave 100% and I think got back to almost 100%. Mom had one done in bama and it went well. The other was done in the land of crap docs called southern FL and it did not go as well. Makes me wonder what your friend did in rehab.

 

Mom has had two. One not so well, the other perfection. Same practice, diff docs.

 

know nothing about replacement, but I would say F the cold and ice, and use that as recovery time if you are getting surgery

 

I wish I could turn back the clock, but stupid me already dropped the coin on season ski passes for the family. I think I'm going to tough it out through the winter and get the surgery in early march, hoping that 10 weeks of rehab is enough to get back on the track come may.

 

Had my full replacement done 23 December 2021. A couple of things I’d say…YMMV

1) after the initial period, once they tell you you’re fine to do what you can do, can’t really hurt it. It’ll feel weird and disconcerting, but you can work way harder than you think you can.

2) biggest problem is going to be regaining range of motion. Those exercises are the ones you’ll hate most, be tempted to skip most, but absolutely must do.

10 weeks to sitting on a race bike? Doable, but you’re gonna have to work hard at it.

 

My mom had both hips replaced (not at the same time). She was well over 70 when she had the first. Her advice is 100% do what the therapist tells you. Period. That's all I have to add.

 

43 and same boat. Curious to hear responses as well.

 

If you went to South Carolina I know which doc you seen . I'm bilateral as well (Went to South Carolina , Gross ) . Little over 3.5 years post op , did them 2 months apart though . Best decision I made . Not going back on the bike again but I'm cycling a bunch (road ) , ice hockey couple days a week , little bit of running ( tread mill only ) and i'm a concrete finisher by trade . Get some very minor aches and pains here and there but no where near the pain I went through before surgery . A friend just did a knee and he's recovering very slowly , hes 4 months post op and still battling it .