Thread: Knee Replacement - how long

before you were teaching/dancing again? The pain is now not dependant on standing or moving..it is just there...and it is bad. I think it is now bone on nerve. How long will this older person in excellent health be out? Opinions, Dr. Bhuz?

Would it be an actual replacement surgery? If so, the recovery time to being able to walk smoothly is usually about 6 weeks, but I am not sure when dancing would be allowed. I have been avoiding knee surgery for years, but I know I won't be able to forever.

Depending on which part of your knee is damaged, the surgeries would be different and have different healing times and restrictions. The best way to find out is probably to go in to your specialist and ask them for your specific case - and specifically for dancing.

Yep...done that...a total replacement. So I was just hoping for a superwoman to chime in with.. hey I was up and dancing in 3 weeks...no biggie...

Originally Posted by anala

Yep...done that...a total replacement. So I was just hoping for a superwoman to chime in with.. hey I was up and dancing in 3 weeks...no biggie...

Oh I hope so too! That would give me more hope for when mine comes around LOL

I can't say anything from the dancing perspective, but my future BiL had both his knees replaced and I would say he had most of his functionality back within 6 - 8 weeks. Full functionality at about 6 months. He had them done when he was 65.

Now, he was also going to PT 3 times a week, whirlpooled as told and had a GF who was an RN (now CRNA) to harass him about doing his exercises. This may have contributed a lot to that time line.

{{{HUGS}}}

6 months!!!! ARGGGG... ok, anybody ever get synvisc (you know - rooster combs) injections?

My mom had them link to thread where I talk about her synvisc and replacement here:

http://www.bhuz.com/forum/rest-belly...sc-update.html

Thank you! My appointment for a consultation about this is on Tuesday.

Hey Anala, I had SynVisc injections and after two to three weeks of not noticing much improvement my knee did start feeling better. Though it was still noisy/crunchy the joint felt overall smoother and those terrible embarrassing moments of sharp pain that stopped me in my tracks with an "OW" stopped completely. Add to that the greatly reduced need for ibuprofen and I would say the procedure was successful. It's been six months and I can tell it's about time for another one. My knee is still better off than it was before the injection though my limp that had virtually disappeared is back and honest to Goddess I can tell when a storm is brewing again.

I highly suggest getting SynVisc if your physician feels you are a good candidate and make sure you get the numbing shot in your knee before it's injected. It freaking hurts!!!

Hey there...well - I got a hold me over cortisone shot till we see if my insurance company will OK the SynVisc. The doctor agrees that 54 is too young for a knee replacement as they only last about 20 years before it needs to get replaced. If I can delay it for 10 years...who knows. Either the Mayan calendar will run out, or they will have developed a bio-metal that will regenerate it's surface in situ.

I totally sympathize about the knee replacement! I'm not 40 yet and my doc says that my knee will last 5 more years if I'm lucky. I'm holding out on some new treatments that are in the works. One of them involves growing your cartilage in a lab and putting it in the joint. There have been some promising results in the human studies though their success rate is only 30% after a year. Another treatment I heard of was putting the knee in traction, in essence pulling the bones apart so there is not stress on what little cartilage is left. Regeneration of the cartilage was seen in most cases though finding physicians that would try that might be impossible.

I wish you could see my X-rays, my right knee is normal, my left knee looks awful. The joint has totally collapsed because the cartilage is GONE. My doc is amazed that I'm not in excruciating pain all the time, though I do have a limp and when I move it sounds like somebody is popping bubble wrap in there (cool party trick).

SynVisc seriously saved my bacon, I hope your insurance company covers it.

I got approved!!! Goin in on Monday!!!

Please keep us informed Anala -- those of us with crunchy knees are sending good vibes to you!

Will do...make that next Monday. Keep up those good vibes cause I hear this is sposed to hurt like a mofo.

~~~~~~~~goodness~~~~~~~~

(In case you couldn't tell, those are good vibes, comin' your way :) )

Feel it!!! Thanks...you guys make so happy to be here.

Good Luck Anala...I hope your pain eases up!

Best of luck with this :-) Please let us know how it goes!

Good luck!!! Good vibes coming your way....

Got the shot..not painful in the least..one hour into it, and ladies and germs...I got a brand new knee!!!!! Looking forward to happy dance with multiple spins to the right on releve!!! Happy happy happy dance with knee bend level changes!!! Happy dance with hip circles and knee bends - test drive in class tomorrow!!!

wow cool, I am happy for you :-)

Yippee! Fabulous news!

So...feels the same now. It was fab walking out of the office...but now same o same o. I am wondering if it is possible to have a leaky joint. Maybe all the good stuff drained out???

Sorry this is not working as well as you'd hoped. Here are some good vibes to get you through.

{{{HUGS}}}

Anala...tsk, tsk!

Gotta take it easy on that knee for a couple days if possible after your shot. I don't know if your doc mentioned it, and may not have because mine didn't until I asked about it.

I noticed a difference 3 weeks out, so hang in there. It's frustrating, because you see that goo go in and really want it to work. It will, I promise. It just takes a while for the inflammatory process in the joint to calm down so you can feel the benefits of SynVisc (a.k.a. SuperLube). There is now a single shot type...is that what you had? Mine was a three shot series, one a week for three consecutive weeks.

Anala: I don't know from knees but I just got a total hip replacement. I'm 51; too young? Some doctors think so. I went through all the questions-primarily will I be able to dance? I've been a ME dancer for 30 years, I was teaching 3 times/week and performing a lot-how could I give that up? Also, the too young rule is about having to get it done again. Would I want complex invasive surgery again?

However, there is a point. The point at which you will have the surgery done in spite of all the above. That point is when you longer have what you consider decent quality of life.

For me it was when I stopped being able to sleep because of the pain. I could still 'fake' most dancing, but could no longer teach beginners that needed a lot of demonstration. With a cane, I could still do my normal activities. But, even with heavy duty drugs and a recliner the pain kept me awake. All night. And that made everything else suck. So, surgery.

Now, even your referring surgeon may not know this. There is a 'new' procedure-new to the US anyway. It' called the 23 hour or minimally invasive knee. Do some searching and see if anyone in your area does it. I had a minimally invasive hip done-and though it will take 6 months to totally recover, at that point I will have NO restrictions on movement. That's worth waiting for, and I waited 7 months!

And you probably will too! So start looking into it now, and see what's what. Good luck to you.

I saw that in the dosc office...a partial....hmmmmm....I like that idea!

Hi Anala,
I'm just wondering how your SynVisc knee is doing 5 months later? Troupe mate just had it Tuesday.

Need another one, but it sure gave me good relief for 5 months! Cant wait to do it again!!! Both knees..at once, and a hip, wrists, jaws...upper spine...replace my blood with it!!! Only thing is I get up and crow at daybreak. Cock a doodle doo.

5 months relief is good :-) Glad you are doing better!