True. I have two different "brands" of knee and they both turned out great. Same surgeon.
TKR Custom TKR Left Knee on May 3, 2021
- Thread starter OhCalcutta
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OhCalcutta
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i don’t know why I have been so lucky to have a mostly pain free recovery. I asked my PT about Conformis vs off the shelf and he said based on his experience we are all the same at the 6 mos post surgery mark. I asked about the painless recovery and he credited my surgeon who has Performed over 2000 Conformis TKRs.
I have 2 other friends who had off the shelf TKRs in the weeks following me. Some differences I have noted for me are
1) I had a couple of months of pre surgery exercises using the FORCE app. They had no pre surgical exercise plan (but were in good shape)
2) they had nerve/pain block injections in their quads in recovery; my surgeon packed medications inside my knee Before sewing me up.
3) I had no ice or heat for 6 weeks. My PT offered me ice after that but I declined as it just made my knee really stiff. My friends started ice immediately in rehab.
4) other than doing my PT exercises, I was on the couch or in bed with my leg elevated for 5-6 weeks. Both of my friends were on the move much sooner and paid got that with pain
5) my surgeon said if any exercises caused pain then I should stop (BoneSmart agrees with this!) and this applied to my physical therapy too so most of what i was doing for the first 7 weeks was painlessly stretching and riding the bike. My friends have told me they are swearing and screaming in PT from pain!
6) I have golfed twice now at 9 and 10 weeks (vs 12 when my surgeon suggested I could play) with no pain issues just some fatigue. One of my friends started at 6 weeks (her surgeon said 8); she golfed great but was in pain when she finished But is still golfing.
7) The strongest pain killer I took was Tramadol for 6 days; they both were on Oxy for slightly longer. I was also walking (safely and balanced)) without any assistance by day 5. Was this due to the different surgical protocols?
If you are interested in the Conformis knee there is plenty of information on Utube and through internet searches. If you think this is the way to go then the next step is to find a surgeon who uses the Conformis prosthesis. The first surgeon I went to was on the Conformis website. After he saw my xrays, he recommended a TKR as soon as possible. When I asked about Conformis I found that he was using off the shelf knees so I kept looking.
There are a lot of good surgeons and they all have their own methods. My recommendation is to do your research first to make your own decision rather than just finding a knee surgeon who will convince you that his/her way is the best way. And remember the other variable in addition to surgeon and prosthesis is you. All of our bodies are different and we all respond differently. So, maybe I was just lucky and the stars were in alignment!
Good luck!
I have 2 other friends who had off the shelf TKRs in the weeks following me. Some differences I have noted for me are
1) I had a couple of months of pre surgery exercises using the FORCE app. They had no pre surgical exercise plan (but were in good shape)
2) they had nerve/pain block injections in their quads in recovery; my surgeon packed medications inside my knee Before sewing me up.
3) I had no ice or heat for 6 weeks. My PT offered me ice after that but I declined as it just made my knee really stiff. My friends started ice immediately in rehab.
4) other than doing my PT exercises, I was on the couch or in bed with my leg elevated for 5-6 weeks. Both of my friends were on the move much sooner and paid got that with pain
5) my surgeon said if any exercises caused pain then I should stop (BoneSmart agrees with this!) and this applied to my physical therapy too so most of what i was doing for the first 7 weeks was painlessly stretching and riding the bike. My friends have told me they are swearing and screaming in PT from pain!
6) I have golfed twice now at 9 and 10 weeks (vs 12 when my surgeon suggested I could play) with no pain issues just some fatigue. One of my friends started at 6 weeks (her surgeon said 8); she golfed great but was in pain when she finished But is still golfing.
7) The strongest pain killer I took was Tramadol for 6 days; they both were on Oxy for slightly longer. I was also walking (safely and balanced)) without any assistance by day 5. Was this due to the different surgical protocols?
If you are interested in the Conformis knee there is plenty of information on Utube and through internet searches. If you think this is the way to go then the next step is to find a surgeon who uses the Conformis prosthesis. The first surgeon I went to was on the Conformis website. After he saw my xrays, he recommended a TKR as soon as possible. When I asked about Conformis I found that he was using off the shelf knees so I kept looking.
There are a lot of good surgeons and they all have their own methods. My recommendation is to do your research first to make your own decision rather than just finding a knee surgeon who will convince you that his/her way is the best way. And remember the other variable in addition to surgeon and prosthesis is you. All of our bodies are different and we all respond differently. So, maybe I was just lucky and the stars were in alignment!
Good luck!
OhCalcutta
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My left TKR in May 2021 was painless and recovery much better than ever expected. on November 16, I will be getting a right THR! This was not in the plans! Six months after my knee, I went to 4 days of golf school. 8 hours a day..2 students and one instructor. I felt so good that during school and after, I really started to focus on my shoulder turn, weight shift and follow through. About 4 months later, I started to notice some pain when I would swing out my right leg to get out of the golf cart. Later, there was pain on the range. After that some pain while playing. I saw Doc on July 5. He took X-rays and said very little arthritis so likely a labrum tear. After 2 months of PT, I went to hip specialist who told me to stop PT and gave me a scrip for an anti-inflammatory. Pain still kept getting worse and was really affecting golf so had an MRI and now am scheduled for a new hip.
My learning from this is that even though my new knee was great, my old body (hip) couldn‘t handle new acrobatics that I was trying to put it through! The hip pain I have now is 10 times worse than anything I felt from my arthritic knee. On the bright side, post-op for the new hip should be much easier and perhaps quicker than that for TKR. With “no restrictions” it should allow me to make those golf moves (that caused the labrum tear) easily so I am excited for the surgery and getting back to golfing in early January!
My learning from this is that even though my new knee was great, my old body (hip) couldn‘t handle new acrobatics that I was trying to put it through! The hip pain I have now is 10 times worse than anything I felt from my arthritic knee. On the bright side, post-op for the new hip should be much easier and perhaps quicker than that for TKR. With “no restrictions” it should allow me to make those golf moves (that caused the labrum tear) easily so I am excited for the surgery and getting back to golfing in early January!
@OhCalcutta I am sorry you are having such problems with your hip and are now facing hip replacement surgery. Hopefully that will remedy the pain and motion problems you are having. You might want to start a thread over in the hip section so that our hip experienced folks can support you. Just FYI - every body's journey through hip replacement is different. But it may be that returning to golfing in early January is overly optimistic. I know for me 6-8 weeks post op I did not feel up to any energetic activities yet ... though by 6 months out I was back to full "swing" 
