Mid-30s - what are possibilities

al88

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Sep 19, 2019
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Dear all, hello from Germany here. :) Fortunately, I am not about to have a knee replacement surgery. Unfortunately, though, it is likely I will need to have two knees replaced in a few year's time, which would mean the age of mid-30s... A string of bad luck (meniscus damage in left knee, followed by an ACL in the right knee due to an awkward step) resulted in 2 surgeries 7 years ago at the age of 25. This year, however, pains are back in both medial compartments. MRIs show that the medial condyle bones (left and right) have remodeled themselves as they appeared to have been overloaded following the surgeries. I am sporty, but a bit varus from my birth and hence the result. Obviously, I am terrified thinking of the prospects. The pain will be intensifying until I can no longer stand it and I will need replacements. Of course, I am trying to delay this by all my means, spending lots of time on gym and paying attention to what I eat and how I move. Yet, I don't see the knees last for too long (particularly the one with the restored ACL)...

Perhaps, I am wrong on this. Therefore, I wanted to ask you the following:

1) For those who had managed to squeeze a few more year from your aching knees, please share your experience and recommendations...

2) Do you think I should let the surgeons go into my knees a few more times to try and improve them? For instance, removing the bone that has grown into the joint space on the edge of the femur chondyle bone?

3) What kind of knee technologies you would encourage me to pay attention to? I read about Mako and some proven ones. I am going to look for doctors who work with those technologies and hope that long years down the road they will know me good enough to do the procedures without problems.

4) The most important question. What is there possible after knee replacement? My dream has always been retiring and working in a garage around cars, perhaps have a small farm, flying an aircraft. Do you think I could still do this? And more importantly - do this pain free?

5) How much movement will be allowed on those new knees to make them last for decades? It is clear that 10-15 years won't suffice for me...

Sorry if some questions are nagging and basic for you, but any help in understanding those would be so much appreciated...
 
Hello @al88 - and :welome:

2) Do you think I should let the surgeons go into my knees a few more times to try and improve them? For instance, removing the bone that has grown into the joint space on the edge of the femur chondyle bone?
On the whole, no. If you need a knee replacement, it's not a good idea to have a series of more minor operations to try and defer the replacement.

It's hard to give more advice than that, because we don't know what your knees look like.
Do you have any X-Rays that you can post, so we can see your knees?
A few tips on posting xrays

3) What kind of knee technologies you would encourage me to pay attention to? I read about Mako and some proven ones. I am going to look for doctors who work with those technologies and hope that long years down the road they will know me good enough to do the procedures without problems.
There is very little difference between the various types of knee replacement. Your best chance of having a successful surgery is to choose a good surgeon. It is the skill of your surgeon that has the most influence on the success of your surgery, no matter what type of knee replacement hardware is used.

You need a surgeon who specializes in knee replacements and who does at least 100 of them each year.
Choosing a surgeon and a prosthesis

4) The most important question. What is there possible after knee replacement? My dream has always been retiring and working in a garage around cars, perhaps have a small farm, flying an aircraft. Do you think I could still do this? And more importantly - do this pain free?
It's a bit early to be thinking about retirement now, but know that you can do a lot with artificial knees. Have a look at some of these stories, to see what is possible.
Stories of amazing knee recoveries

5) How much movement will be allowed on those new knees to make them last for decades? It is clear that 10-15 years won't suffice for me...
A knee replacement done today could last much longer than 10-15 years. Modern knee replacements are expected to last 30 years, or more.
Even if you need a revision, the revised knee should be able to do about the same as the original replacement.
 

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