cheryl Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 (edited) A partial knee replacement is in my very near future. Does anybody have any words of wisdom? How long after surgery did you shoot your 1st match? Pros/Cons? Thanks a bunch. Edited May 28, 2014 by cheryl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motosapiens Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 I think that is a very individual question. I had my ACL reconstructed 3 years ago and was riding my mtn bike the first week. Had no problems shooting steel challenge or IDPA, but I didn't move really fast or aggressively. As soon as you can walk, you can shoot a match. You just may not be able to move as fast as you would like. It will give you an opportunity to focus on efficiency rather than footspeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobert1 Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 I have 2 new knees in my future. Will be following this topic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Round_Gun_Shooter Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 (edited) My Sister in-law had a full knee done at 50. She said ride a bicycle now either stationary or street and it makes recovery faster. 10yrs later, she is looking to do the other knee. Edited May 30, 2014 by Round_Gun_Shooter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marv Z Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 I had a miniscus repair done two years ago and a instructor of mine had a total replacement done on the same day. She was walking the same day, I was on crutches for 4 weeks. Now mine is acting up again. I think a total is in my future soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaxshooter Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 Whole new knee soon for me also. Interested in the replies to this topic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
szhttm Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 I would recommend you send a message to TGO (Rob Leatham). I believe he had both of his knees replaced about two years ago. I am probably wrong, but I think it took him about a year to get back to all his greatness. He just recently came in second at the recent Single Stack Nationals and first place at the Western States Revolver Championship. * http://robleatham.com/wp/champion/tgos-titles/Good Luck And Be Safe!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motosapiens Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 Couple of important points, one is that the lighter and more fit you are, the easier the whole procedure will be. The other is that doctors appear to vary wildly on what they recommend for rehab. The guy I went to has his ACL patients stand up and walk without crutches in the recovery room immediately after surgery, and get on an exercise bike the following day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjl Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 Most important question - How experienced is your Doctor. Does he do at least 2 operations a week? Everybody thinks their doctor is great, however in reality 50% are below average. My daughter is a bio-medical engineer who sent a lot of time in the OR as a tech-rep and always says you gotta check out the doctor. Some doctors at the smaller rural hospitals only do 1 or 2 a month, and it always seemed to my daughter that it was like a new experience every time they did one. The best do multiple procedures a week, typically did not have much personality/bedside manner, but they got the best results. With respect to rehab, you need to listen to your body. More than one patient has been pushed too far and caused structural damage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hockey03 Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Thanks for the information, I have mine scheduled for the end of this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coordinator Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 (edited) I had a total knee replacement 16 months ago. I'm pleased so far, I wish my knee would have been replaced sooner, it's that much better. By better I mean less pain and swelling. I shot my first match 3 months later. I shot a SS 45 and walked through every stage shooting all A's. I'm currently shooting production and I'm moving faster and better than I have in a long time. Now, I can turn in my sleep and not wake up due to the discomfort. It has increased my disposition and quality of life. I came to realize that living pain free is a luxury. Tylenol 3 was the only pain reliever I could take, I advise something stronger if your body can take it. Walk, walk and walk some more and definitely stay up on the rehab stretches and strengthening exercises, it will pay huge dividends. It feels different, not discomfort different, just different. I hope this can help with some of the fear and apprehension for your upcoming procedure. Good luck with your replacement. Regards, Wade Edited June 9, 2014 by coordinator Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickd1 Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 some great advice here but correct me if i am wrong but a total knee replacement will only last for around 10 to 15 years, can you have it done again later down the line,some say yes but a lot say no, so when i am 65 i don't want to be in a wheel chair cos i can't have it done again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjl Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 Typically what wears out is the small plastic disc that separates metal "heads." It is a very easy repair where the disc is pulled out and a new one is inserted. There is some rehab as some tissue is cut, but it only a small fraction of the rehab that follows the initial total knee replacement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coordinator Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 Hey mjl thanks for the information on future service needed. For those with a replacement in their future, get the new knee or knees and get back to playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayFromHouston Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 I had my Left knee replaced on 9-17 and the Right one done on 11-5.... about 18 days with a walker/cane each time... only shot 3-4 match's since then, I'm still slow, have about 85% to 90deg. bending in both knees... will get better with time... No knee pain after living with it for over 15 years... too much football and MX racing back in the 70's takes it out of ya.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheryl Posted June 19, 2014 Author Share Posted June 19, 2014 Such great information - thank you to everyone for the guidance. I'm excited for the possibility of losing the constant pain. Of course, I don't feel it when the timer goes off, but boy, do I pay for it afterwards. Cheryl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan 45 Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 Good luck with it, Cheryl! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobert1 Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 I had my Left knee replaced on 9-17 and the Right one done on 11-5.... about 18 days with a walker/cane each time... only shot 3-4 match's since then, I'm still slow, have about 85% to 90deg. bending in both knees... will get better with time... No knee pain after living with it for over 15 years... too much football and MX racing back in the 70's takes it out of ya.... Ray, Do you live alone? I was wondering about how I would get along since I live alone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayFromHouston Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 No.... I live with my sister... BUT, she at work during the day, so I was purity much on my own at those times... but, the PT people have "tools" to help you make life easer... My big pain in the butt was getting in and out of bed... so the second time (in Nov) I got a thingy that went around my foot and had a hand loop to pull foot/leg "up" so I could swing my body around to get into/out of bed.... worked great... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badchad Posted June 27, 2014 Share Posted June 27, 2014 A partial knee replacement is in my very near future. Does anybody have any words of wisdom? How long after surgery did you shoot your 1st match? Pros/Cons? Thanks a bunch. Partial knees generally recover faster than total knees because the surgery is less invasive and you save more of your normal anatomy, which is usually still better than artificial anatomy, so if you are a good candidate for a partial I would recommend you do it. As someone else mentioned you want a surgeon who does your surgery all the time and that's true. Statistically outcomes are best with the surgeons that do the most of that particular surgery. You could likely do stand and shoots in a couple weeks but you probably won't be moving well until some time after that. I would recommend you shoot when you feel like you can. If you start shooting too early you might swell up and have some more pain for a while but it's unlikely you will ruin something. Some kind of compression wrap or stocking might help prevent the swelling. What might be a problem early on is how long you can tolerate standing on your feet, so maybe test that out before you go to a match and when you do go, bring a folding stool that's not too short. Most people get better (than they were before surgery) in 2-3 months but compared to uninjured control subjects of the same age, they never get full strength and speed back. I think this is for a lot of reasons, including people stopping working on it too soon as they are happy to feel better, and they don't even remember what "normal" feels like. Other factors include insurance running out before you are full strength, your doctor discharging you because you have good range, and PTs who like to massage more than they like to work on strength and stamina. Hip abduction strength is very important (and correlates more with function than quadriceps strength after knee replacement) and can be started immediately as it does not stress the knee. Be sure to strengthen your good leg too because one of the best predictors of outcomes after knee replacement is contralateral (other) leg strength. Probably one of the best things you can do is prevent muscle loss after surgery in the first place rather than try and get it back later with electric muscle stimulation to the quadriceps and hamstrings immediately after, if not before surgery, which is supported by a lot of research but I believe is underappreciated by most surgeons and physical therapists, so you might have to ask for it. I've recently started blogging and I go into a lot more depth on most of these factors here: http://absolutept.com/tag/total-knee/ Good luck! PS, I was Rob Leatham's physical therapist for both his knees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badchad Posted June 27, 2014 Share Posted June 27, 2014 some great advice here but correct me if i am wrong but a total knee replacement will only last for around 10 to 15 years, can you have it done again later down the line,some say yes but a lot say no, so when i am 65 i don't want to be in a wheel chair cos i can't have it done again I hear that often and it puts people off from getting replacements but research suggest the total knees last a lot longer than that. Greater than 85% survive at least 20 years. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20814772 I tell my patients that if their knee arthritis is really holding them back from physical activity they should probably get it replaced. If you wait too long inactivity will make the rest of the body fall apart, which could include things as bad as heart attacks. So I don't think anyone should rush into the procedure but I think a lot of people put it off for too long. Also besides enduring the pain and health problems from inactivity, weight gain from inactivity makes you a higher risk surgery with much larger risk of serious complications. http://blog.tarlowknee.com/2012/10/obesity-doubles-failure-rates-after.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGO Posted June 27, 2014 Share Posted June 27, 2014 A partial knee replacement is in my very near future. Does anybody have any words of wisdom? How long after surgery did you shoot your 1st match? Pros/Cons? Thanks a bunch. Partial knees generally recover faster than total knees because the surgery is less invasive and you save more of your normal anatomy, which is usually still better than artificial anatomy, so if you are a good candidate for a partial I would recommend you do it. As someone else mentioned you want a surgeon who does your surgery all the time and that's true. Statistically outcomes are best with the surgeons that do the most of that particular surgery. You could likely do stand and shoots in a couple weeks but you probably won't be moving well until some time after that. I would recommend you shoot when you feel like you can. If you start shooting too early you might swell up and have some more pain for a while but it's unlikely you will ruin something. Some kind of compression wrap or stocking might help prevent the swelling. What might be a problem early on is how long you can tolerate standing on your feet, so maybe test that out before you go to a match and when you do go, bring a folding stool that's not too short. Most people get better (than they were before surgery) in 2-3 months but compared to uninjured control subjects of the same age, they never get full strength and speed back. I think this is for a lot of reasons, including people stopping working on it too soon as they are happy to feel better, and they don't even remember what "normal" feels like. Other factors include insurance running out before you are full strength, your doctor discharging you because you have good range, and PTs who like to massage more than they like to work on strength and stamina. Hip abduction strength is very important (and correlates more with function than quadriceps strength after knee replacement) and can be started immediately as it does not stress the knee. Be sure to strengthen your good leg too because one of the best predictors of outcomes after knee replacement is contralateral (other) leg strength. Probably one of the best things you can do is prevent muscle loss after surgery in the first place rather than try and get it back later with electric muscle stimulation to the quadriceps and hamstrings immediately after, if not before surgery, which is supported by a lot of research but I believe is underappreciated by most surgeons and physical therapists, so you might have to ask for it. I've recently started blogging and I go into a lot more depth on most of these factors here: http://absolutept.com/tag/total-knee/ Good luck! PS, I was Rob Leatham's physical therapist for both his knees. Chad is a pretty good Physical terrorist I guess, but it did take me a couple years to win another National after the Knees. That being said, I am never sorry I had them done. They never hurt, never get cold, never keep me from sleeping at night or get stiff anymore. However, Chad is right when he says it has a lot to do with your therapy immediately post op. You will not enjoy it and get really, really tired of being told your not trying hard enough, but, it will be way better in a couple months than when you went in for surgery. Oh, BTW, my surgeon does just knees, is a genius at it, and I heartily endorse him. And Chad. As a therapist. :-) Ask Chad and he'll give you everything you wanna know about this subject. Maybe a whole lot more. Also ask him about the time he pushed on the weights holding my knees down to get extension and I tried to smack him! Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangerTrace Posted June 27, 2014 Share Posted June 27, 2014 Chad is extremely helpful and knowledgable. He's given me lots of advice back in the day when I started to get tendonitis from too much dry fire!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayFromHouston Posted June 27, 2014 Share Posted June 27, 2014 Rob, your the main reason (and having great insurance) I had both of mine done when I did.... I wore the same type knee braces and one day I saw a pic with of you coming around a corner with gun in hand... I knew that your operation had worked out and started planning my replacements... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Watson Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 When I was in rehab for a different orthopedic project, there was a guy with bandages on both knees. It makes sense to me, one hospital stay, one campaign of PT, and you are set. But ask the doctor and therapist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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