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THR Hips great but....right knee "kneeds" some advice!

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That picture is so funny!! :hysterical: Isn't it from the 80's show "Spitting Image"? My daughter and I used to watch it all the time. (The Paul McCartney puppet was especially clever!!) By the way, no offense to The Queen, but you are way prettier!!
Tomorrow is Doctor Day and I am so looking forward to what is going on. My PT called today to check up on me and I thought that was very nice of him. He also sent in a report to the OS office and that should be very helpful at the visit.)
 
Hi Caroline

Hope you enjoy your cup of tea and slice of cake with Jo and fingers crossed that it is nice and sunny in Scotland for your visit.
If you come anywhere near Auld Reekie [ Edinburgh ] give us a big wave but suspect you will be heading north further up as it really nice and some lovely scenery.

Billy
 
OH, I'm so glad that Bone Smart is back!! Here's my OS appointment update: By last Thursday, my knee was really swollen! Dr. took X-rays and said the joints look fine. He then aspirated the knee and got what seemed like a gallon of fluid out of there. Wow, talk about immediate relief! He also gave ma a cortisone shot. (By the way, after the initial sting of the Novocaine shot, I didn't feel anything !) So, the bottom line is I am to take it easy for the next two weeks..no treadmill or lower body stuff but I can do upper body at Pilates. He did mention a possible cartilage tear could cause the swelling although I don't feel much pain except for some twinges under the kneecap. Has anyone else had a tear and what did it feel like? He may want to do an MRI when he sees me next.
 
I just spent a good half-hour reading posts on meniscus tears. I don't know if I'm putting the cart before the horse but I feel a little scared!! :eek:
 
Oh why? What have you been reading?

If you look in my signature, you will see I had a torn cartilage in my left knee and had surgery to trim it only months after my Rt TKR. The symptoms I got were just mild to severe aching, some pain on certain kinds of weight bearing and if I twisted the knee as in turning around. But mostly it was the persistent, pernicious dull ache.

I had an MRI which showed the meniscus was shredded more than split, probably as part of the arthritic process, so Herr Surgeon just trimmed off the frayed bits and left it at that. It's been fine ever since and is only just beginning to start niggling in the early signs that I might need to have it replaced. But I knew that even before I knew about the meniscal tear.
 
I had a meniscus tear in 1990. I rarely talk about it, because I rarely think about it. I used crutches during the worst of the pain, which as I recall lasted about 10 days. It healed on its own with no treatment and it's fine now.
 
I hope you don't worry to much about this. Its scary when you hear the word tear but remember the body is amazing. Because of the type of job I had I have torn tendons and they do heal. Sometimes very fast (I'm not talking about over night) but quickly. Just take care and be careful with it. Remember to ice, rest, and do pain control. With the weather the way it is please be careful and stay safe. :doggieshmooze:Tashia:loll:
 
Thank you Tashia! It's hard not to worry, and frustrating too. My hips feel so great and having a compromised knee is a bummer! By the way, I'm in California and our bad weather was last weekend. It's is BEAUTIFUL out today!
 
Hi Caroline,

Sorry to hear about your knee problem. I have a tear and when it was at it's most acute stage it was very painful to stand on one leg, especially when I would come off a one leg stance back on to two legs -- there was a flash of pain that was very sharp (this was during my PT weeks when most of my exercises were on my op leg...).

As time has progressed (9 months now) that pain has lessened greatly and I do not stand on that one leg, solo -- at all.... I did request an MRI as I wanted to get to the bottom of it -- I'd had 2 series of x-rays by my OS and a sports medicine OS and the bones looked beautiful. The MRI will give you the definitive information you need to know about the tear and to make a decision about how to deal with it.

Like you, I also did some reading about meniscus tears and arthroscopic surgery and am not interested in setting myself up for the potential for another replacement joint via removal of cartilage so I'm opting for letting my body heal the injury as best it can and see how I feel with time.

Good luck!!
Cardie
 
But you didn't answer my question - what is it about a torn cartilage that has you worried and scared?
 
Hi Jo! I think what worries me is having a surgery that could bring on arthritis. (I'm not afraid of the actual procedure. I know it's a lot less invasive that two hip replacements!) By the way I never really had much pain with this and can walk fine, no problem with weight bearing at all. Since I had the knee drained last week I'm a lot more comfortable too. I still have a very tight feeling down the outside of my leg though, starting mid-thigh and ending right below my knee. We'll see what the OS says next week. (He was so busy at my last appointment that I didn't get many questions answered!) :sigh:
 
Caroline, do you think the tightness might be your iliotibial (or IT) band? I'm on my phone, so I can't give you a link, but there is some really good information about that in the Library. There are some stretches there that might help, if that's what you think is going on.
 
I understand - that tends to happen when a surgeon starts using power tools to smooth up the arthritic lumpiness in the joint. What they call a debridement. They will do that in the expectation that removing the bone spurs and osteophytes will make the joint easy to work and walk on, etc. But it doesn't. If he gets carried away and does too much, then all that will happen is he will be exacerbating the arthritic process which is what you read about.

The art is to emphasis that he can only trim the cartilage and wash out the joint (which is very beneficial). But he is NOT to do any debriding or smoothing of anything with power burrs. I made that clear to my surgeon and he just reacted with a wry grin and a wink and assured me he'd already learned that lesson and I wasn't to worry!


btw, the article Alex was referring to was this one Ilio-tibial band (ITB) issues and pain: exercises
And she has a point ... check it out and see if it bears any resemblance to your symptoms.
 
Yes, I have read the IT Band article you referred to many times and all of my symptoms pretty much match except for the swelling. PT said my IT Band was really tight and my kneecap was "stuck" when I had my first session last month. I mentioned the IT Band thing to my Dr. and he didn't really comment one way or the other. His guess is cartilage tear. (Rats...I had another issue with phantom letters in this post!! :hairpulling:) one way o
 
Hi Cardie!
Thank you for this info. I do have a foam roller at home but it's hard right now to get down on the floor without messing up my knee! So, my Pilates instructor has me do it on the reformer table. Unfortunately, this particular move doesn't work right now so she uses a hand-held roller (like a rolling pin!) on my IT band. We'll see what the Dr. says next Thursday but I'm betting he'll want to see an MRI.
 
Hi all!
Here's an update with this silly knee of mine. OS said it looked better but there was still some fluid in there. (Duh! No short skirts for me right now!) He did a more "enthusiastic" aspiration and I boy did feel some major twinging going on during that procedure . (Much more than the first time.) He also gave me another shot of cortisone and wants to see me in 3 weeks when he'll make a decision about an MRI. I have to say, getting that liquid out is such a relief although I do feel I "kneed" (ha ha) to keep my leg elevated, ice and take my Advil tonight. As to what is causing this, he still is unsure. He says possible cartilage tear, beginning arthritis, inflammatory condition or possibly an out of alignment leg. (I'm hoping for the last one.) So, it's trashy reality TV for me tonight with my kitties cuddling with me. My hubby is away on a golf overnight so I get to watch what I want!! :yes 4:Have any other of you Bone Smarties had a similar situation?
 
Awwww Caroline, I haven't but wanted you to know I am thinking about you. Hope you feel better soon sweetie:friends:...
 
Thanks Janet! My knee doesn't feel as "weird" as it did a few hours ago and I'm enjoying it's sleek new look! (Sure hope it lasts!) I'm off to bed now because the TV selections are too horrible, even for me!:th_heehee: By the way, I can't tell you how happy I am that you are back with us. We all missed you!! :wub2:
 
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