Looks like time is catching up with me, saw a consultant recently as my old knee injury has been grumbling a lot more than usual. I wasn’t surprised when he said I’ll be needing a new knee joint in the next few months.
I’m interested to hear from anyone who has had a new knee. Are you able to carry on biking afterwards? My biggest fear is that this could be the end of biking for me. Any hints or tips about getting through this?
thanks 👍
Not me but a couple of mates have had new knees (one of them has had both done) and both are back riding, one had it done privately which cost £16000 but it sounded like a lot more work was put in by the surgical team to make sure the outcome was as good as it could be.
I was due to have the op, for a full knee replacement on 24th December 2013 but it got cancelled and I moved. Reasoning was I could cycle and walk and got no pain at night despite the MRI showing it was severe. I was fine with more urgent cases taking my place. I have a friend abroad who is an orthopaedic surgeon and he’s puzzled that it’s not more painful.
This Christmas it got a lot worse and now I feel it riding and I cannot walk more that 1kms. I am about to contact the docs this week.
I had a knee replacement 8 weeks ago. I was back on the watt bike at the gym after 4 weeks. It’s a case of do the rehab. After the op it’s not the knee but the muscles and nerves around the knee that hurt. Take the pain meds and ice the knee to help with the swelling. My first time back at the gym I used the recumbent bike to get the legs turning over again, but after that I have used the watt bike and just built up the distance I have also been lowering the seat more than I would normally just to help range of motion . I’m also back doing squats, leg extensions etc but not overdoing it just building up slowly.
Step-father has had both done. It's changed the way that he does things (he can't really kneel on them), but it has meant that he can actually take the dog out for walks again, so he is really enjoying the freedom.
Mate of mine had one done at 60. Full movement back now and no pain. A lot of physio exercises needed tho and a lot of work
Sounds encouraging, if a little daunting! Can you still ride like you did before the op?
Thanks for the feedback.
Lots of positivity above which is good. I have had (so far) a different journey.
Lots of arthritis in family so I've grown used to the idea it was in my future and sure enough after a life of football, cricket and stresses and strains on my knees they were very creaky, but one only went bang of all things running across a road - you know where you see a gap and think that as a youngish, fittish person a quick sprint'll see you good....and bang, as I reached the other side it was like being shot with excruciating pain.
Physio and many many delayed appts, eventually xrays and MRI and the prognosis is that the cartilage has effectively disintegrated on the inside of the knee and I have no interstitial space and bone on bone pain, exacerbated by the arthritis.
Here's where the story deviates. Because the highly believable and persuasive surgeon that I saw then advised me that a knee replacement was in my future but to put it off as long as possible:
1/ knees are not proper joints like ball-and-socket hips, and more complex
2/ Bones are smaller hence work done on them in fixing and subsequently removing (if / when they wear out) is a bigger issue with less to play with, and knees are typically lasting
3/ it's newer tech, he said 15-20 years behind what they've learned about hips
and the upshot was that success rates are quite a bit lower than he would recommend if there are any other alternatives - 75-80% he said are better but 10% or so are worse with a proportion of these wishing they'd never met him (cf hip 95% successful, only 2.5% worse, and hips tend to be in older patients too)
Now, that's still a decent rate, and he said I'd be getting one eventually, but he suggested trying everything else first before going for one.
Hence he prescribed me a trip to Occupational Health who built me an unloader knee brace (OK, bought but it's semi customised) - it creates a pivot around the knee joint and pulls the thigh and shin against it to pull the joint open to relieve the collapsed side, and it's been 'life changing'.
So - as i said good positivity and the numbers are still decent odds but the longer you can 'wait' the better it might be, so before agreeing to one do some research and ask what risks are and what other possible treatment could be. NB, this brace is specific to my condition, if yours is a different problem you'll need a different solution but the basic premise of 'are there any other options' still holds.
https://www.ossur.com/en-gb/bracing-and-supports/unloader/unloader-braces
I had a new knee 8 years ago after putting it off as long as I could (when it started affecting my biking) and it's been great. I was back biking within 6 weeks, proper morning within 2 months, and I have been more active since. I'm better on the bike (I couldn't weight my left leg before the op so lost what little skill I have) but the main improvement has been being able to go hill walking again, as well as a general improvement in mobility. Main advice I can offer is take the recovery seriously, do the exercises and keep everything moving in the right direction
Ask if there is a chance to have a Uni ( half a knee) as this preserves more of the soft tissue - post op make sure physio becomes your new job, not too much to start with and not to little...
Thanks, I’m starting to feel a little more positive after these comments, if still somewhat apprehensive!