www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Had my left knee x-rayed this morning. The doc says the wear and tear on your knee is unrepairable. Knee replacement is only option, so I guess I'll have it done in the late fall. He gave me a steriod shot in the knee which will fix the problem for the moment. He also said the jell probably would not work because of the bone on bone on the inside of the knee. The doc has been rated as on of the top surgerons(sp) in dallas area. so I will use the guy.

every one I know that has gotton the replacement done, (and who where active persons) loved. it..and wish they had the op done a long time before
My advice now is work hard on getting in the best shape you can before the operation, weights/ walking/ diet.
Will make recovery a breeze. couch potatoes lacking the muscle strength have hard time and far more pain and never get the stretch back.. in shape before and you will be in CR sooner

Good luck

bad news is knees will deteriorate uo to about 4-5% a year( depending on what they do) shoulders are life time, ankles less then 5 years right now,With the weight bearing on knees and ankles it is hard for science to make any that can really replace what the body does on it own, But 15-20 years of working knees is better then none.

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My best friend was the clock on the wall, and he turned out not to be much of a friend in the end

I was bone-on-bone in one knee and a family physician in my area injected the artificial cartilage. Happily, the procedure (about five shots) was covered by insurance. Unfortunately, it didn't work at all. I gather it might work if you have some meniscus left.

I later got a knee replacement, which worked out great. I can play mucho tennis, etc., and am pain-free.

so, if you get a knee replacement, you can actually jump, run, make hard/quick stops and turns....in other words, have pain free movement of the knee as if it were an original in good condition?



it the new joint made of stainless steel or something?


wish I had new knees.


how long is the recovery time?


thank all for any info/experiences.

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The difference between a Sea Story and a Fairy Tale is that a Fairy Tale starts out 'Once Upon a Time..' and a Sea Story starts out 'This is no Shit...'

(export version only, some restrictions may apply, some assembly required, not valid where the sun don't shine...

if you live in the states of Poverty, Darkness or anywhere outside of The Blessings of Civilization Trust, Inc...other rules may apply)

I have bone on bone in my right shoulder, the injected jell did not nothing for it.

With the knee replacement, I can run like a deer and am completely free of pain. However, to protect the device, I am not supposed to jog or do excessive jumping (as one might do playing basketball). I feel like I could do these things, but refrain from doing so. I play tennis four or five times a week and have zero problems with the knee.

I was playing tennis three months after the operation. The first month after the operation was a bear, having a good deal of pain and doing somewhat painful rehab. I was allowed to drive after one month.

The operation cost $40,000, but was covered by insurance.

Zunbake3--- bone on bone there will some day destroy every thing and give you arthritis, in the mean time you will use it less and less to avoid he pain , till the day comes for a shoulder replacement. I have two of those, the first one fell out ( 5% chance the shoulder blade part will go bad, 0% chance the insert into the arm will go bad, both went bad for me, should have bought a lottery ticket with those odds)

main problem with shoulder is that people can live with out using the arm much and will avoid any thing that causes the arm/shoulder pain of a limited limited arm, so the muscles and stretch will be very limited before the operation, so after the op as you try to get stretch back you are also tying to build muscle to be able to stretch - kind of a chicken and egg question. So people will have a huge amount of pain, no use of the arm and claim worse then before, should never got done.

I was the opposite, lots of weights/ stretch and use for years and years before despite the pain, No medical reason for my arm to be able to work before surgery. But because I had the muscles and good stretch before, recovery was a breeze, out of PT in 3 months, most 9-12 -- second time around out in 6 weeks , Being in shape before the operation is the key, every thing about the recovery is then easy.
My advice is not to baby your shoulder, but use it and keep in shape so when the day comes, after is easy. ( beside if you baby the arm, you are lot living )Never regretted getting the work done, despite all the screw ups. Today I am lifting 4x a week and no problems with the joint, just the messed up muscles from being messed up so long (had 9 right shoulder ops and need at least one more for a tear over 39 years)
The test for being in shape is if you can drive yourself home from the hospital with 5sp car, with your left hand only and can stop for a beer at a strip club 36 hours after going under.. That's kind of shape makes every thing easy.
and with nerve block no pain at all at any time...

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My best friend was the clock on the wall, and he turned out not to be much of a friend in the end

Thanks Xman, my biggest concern with any kind of surgery is catching the damn super bugs in the hospital. Killed both my parents and many other people I know.

If you ever needed a reason to avoid India for medical care, here it is. Sure hope this thing can be stopped before it spreads further: http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/f ... 21004.html
Condolences to Brother Zunbake3 about his parents.

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"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED