I'm stuck at 90! Any advice please?

[nannylol]

hi everyone - I am new here so please bear with me, right where do i start lol,

I had a high tibial ostoetomy on my left knee 2 years ago for osteo-arthritis where the tibia is cut and a wedge of bone taken out to force the bone to grow back abd re-align my knee I was in a brace and wasnt alowed to weight bear completley for six months unfortunatley this wasnt successful so I had a knee replacement 14 weeks ago.

I am having great trouble with my bend, I can straighten my leg fine (although still painful) i have a very long scar from mid calf to above my knee going round the right hand side of the knee. I still have swelling and a lot of numbness on the left hand side.

I seem to be stuck at 90 degrees and no matter how many excercises I do I can't seem to get any further please someone advise, at the moment I do stretches, stair lunges, sliding leg back on a carrier bag, my family trying to force it back but all to no avail. I have pt once a week at the moment havnt had it for 4 weeks due to weather and illness on my part and the physios lol. And I cannot get the pedals of the static bike to go all the way round. Has anyone got any advice or helpful hints for me please.

I know we all mend at different rates but I really seem to be behind you all I am desperate now as I want a life back.

I am on pain relief (quite high) of tramadol and ibruprofen which I take for the last 2 years but feel I am now immune to it appointment was cancelled with pain clinic untill may due to snow lol.

When this has repaired I have to have the other knee done and also within 2 years my left hip, I am so worried now as I had such a long and painful time recently.

Sorry this is so long and probably boring but I am desperate for any help and advice thanks.

p.s may I say its a brill site and congrats to all knee and hippies who are doing so well.

 

[Josephine]

Nanny, first of all, welcome to BoneSmart. Second, I moved your post into a thread of it's own as you will then get your own answers and 'conversation' so to speak. Thirdly, I have taken the liberty of putting some punctuation in your post and splitting it into paragraphs to make it easier for people (especially me!!) to read!

It's neither a long post nor a boring one, my friend, and you have a lot of problems which I will try to address a point at a time. But I know others will soon chime in with their own suggestions as well!

You don't actually say what age you are so I am at a loss to figure out why your surgeon opted for a wedge osteotomy which, whilst popular in the 70/80s is pretty much out of date now. They stopped doing them because, well, they didn't actually work!

So now, after 6 months of non-weightbearing and bracing, it's hardly surprising you have limited flexion! Also the swelling and numbness are not at all unexpected.

So you've had a limited amount of PT (shame about the snow!) and are now restricted in your ROM. This is undoubtedly due both to adhesions and the previous surgery and needs a manipulation under anaesthetic (MUA) as soon as possible.

Tell me some things about your surgeon - has he a big practice? Does he do afair number of knees/hips - by which I mean 500+ of each per year? To be honest, I have my doubts because he did the osteotomy, but would be interesting to know. I'll comment further when you can tell me.

Now as regards your other knee and hip, assuming they haven't been osteotomized, the recovery from them should be much more routine, so I really wouldn't worry too much about that. But first we need to get you sorted out about the surgeon.



(now that's a long post - well nearly!)

 

[nannylol]

hi josephine many thanks for all your help,
my age is 48 so was only 46 when i had first surgery
my surgeon mr Skinner is apparantly very well respected in his field and had it done in my local orthopaedic hospital so thought it was ok but have never met any 1 else who has had it done he seemed to think it would delay having to have knee replacement because of my age
having mua has been mentioned but at first check up registrar wasnt worried and i dont have 2 go back to see him until 6 months post op by then i think it might be beyond repair.
i had worried about adhesions because after walking or excercise my knee really looks bruised.
any advice from yourself or other people would be really appreciated as i am getting a bit down wiith this all now thanks.

p.s thanks for opening new thread couldnt find where to do this.

 

[Max Wallace]

I hav'nt had experience with the exact surgery you have had but I found the a heating pad on my knees 15 minutes prior to stretching exercises helped a great deal. I never had to have a manipulation but from reading this web site many have and found that it helped with ROM.

I am sorry you are haviing so much trouble but you will find lots of information and support here.

Best of luck!

Max

 

[Josephine]

I never notice you were in the UK! How stupid of me. Which hospital was this and do you know his first name? How old do you think he is as I think I might know him.

A registrar's opinion cuts very little ice with me - I think you should get to see the man himself. Of better still, get a second opinion. Once I know the area you live and which hospital you're being treated by I can advise you better.

 

[nannylol]

hi josephine yes i am in the uk lol.

my surgeon is mr Skinner

hospital is Stanmore ortho in middlesex but i know he is at Bolsover street in London as well

 

[nannylol]

max wallace
many thanks for your help and support
keep any advice coming all appreciated thanks

 

[Judles]

Hi Nannylol,,,,,,,Love your name! Welcome to Bonesmart! I'm a hippie but all the same,,,,I find that if you maintain your sense of humor, you'll be ahead of the game!
My family & I lived in Surrey for 5 years & loved it!
Jo will steer you in the right direction,,,,,even if its on the "wrong"(ok,,,"other') side of the road!
Sorry,Jo,,,I couldn't resist!

 

[nannylol]

hi josephine yes i am in the uk lol.

my surgeon is mr Skinner

hospital is Stanmore ortho in middlesex but i know he is at Bolsover street in London as well

 

[JudyS]

WElcome nannylol
I am another hippy. That is a great surgery so don't be worried about your hip.
Now that you have found us, Jo will help you get the right people for you. You are lucky you live in the UK with Jo as our leader!!!

Your first surgery sounds horrendous. Prayers coming your way to get the right treatment soon
Judy

 

[Jamie]

Hi, Nannylol! Glad you joined our BoneSmart family!!! I agree with Josephine that you need to get to your doctor immediately to get some answers and recommendations. Others on the forum have had manipulations with great success!

 

[Josephine]

hi josephine yes i am in the uk lol.

my surgeon is mr Skinner

hospital is Stanmore ortho in middlesex but i know he is at Bolsover street in London as well

Thought so! And you can't do better than Stanmore! However, I am surprised at him doing an osteotomy. I still think you should ring his secretary and ask for a soon appointment with him. Stress that. And when you see him, tell him you're not happy with the results thus far and want to know what can be done to improve things.

Another thing I should have asked - what was your range of movement like once you'd finished with the brace and non-weight bearing?

 

[calling_all_angels]

Nannylol,
Were you able to set something up with Doctor?
^i^

 

[Simon]

Nannylol

I had the surgery you mentioned after 4 previous surgeries to realign the knee. It helped a little by getting some pressure off the patella tendon but it did not last. Since it did not work that great, he did not do it on the left. This was in the 70's

After a total of 9 surgeries, I only had about 92 to 94 ROM in both knees and managed ok with that for about 20 years, though the pain from the osteoarthritis did get worse. I had BTKR in June and after 7 months I know have 120 ROM in both knees.

I know the amount of scar tissue that I had did not help the ROM and made the BTKR much more difficult to do. As Jo said a MUA might be a good idea to break up that scar tissue.

Simon

 

[nannylol]

hi all
many thanks for all you replies nice to know i am not alone,

jo i do not know numbers on my range of movement after osteotomy but was much better than this as i left hospital at 90 degrees so could have only got better although not a full bend as i recall.Dont no numbers as i was never told.

I am doing excercises at home as per physio instuctions leg lunges squats (little 1s )stretches and i use a gym ball to force the knee forward.

I got a call from the hospital today cancelling pt yet again, was a bit fed up today so was quite stroppy on the phone back and asked to see a different physio as this couldnt go on much longer, as i stressed to the receptionist they all hurt the same and i needed treatment now( gosh i sound really bossy dont i lol) needless to say after a bit of to and froing i have got an appt tomorrow fingers crossed.

while there
i am going to track down surgeons secretary and try and get a quicker appt and maybe discuss mua.

As i said before many thanks to you all and please keep in touch esp with anymore advise will let you all know how i got on, bye for now nannylol

 

[nannylol]

Nannylol

I had the surgery you mentioned after 4 previous surgeries to realign the knee. It helped a little by getting some pressure off the patella tendon but it did not last. Since it did not work that great, he did not do it on the left. This was in the 70's

After a total of 9 surgeries, I only had about 92 to 94 ROM in both knees and managed ok with that for about 20 years, though the pain from the osteoarthritis did get worse. I had BTKR in June and after 7 months I know have 120 ROM in both knees.

I know the amount of scar tissue that I had did not help the ROM and made the BTKR much more difficult to do. As Jo said a MUA might be a good idea to break up that scar tissue.

Simon

hi simon gosh you seem to have as unlucky as me hope you ok now i think i am going to go down the mua route as nothing else seems to be working many thanks for your advice am so worried about second knee one thing i have noticed is that in the u.s.a you seem to have both knees done together not so common in the u.k many thanks nannylol

 

[nannylol]

Nannylol,
Were you able to set something up with Doctor?
^i^

hi angel going to sort it out at hospital tomorrow fingers crossed many thanks for your reply hoping you are well nannylol

 

[nannylol]

I don't mean to point out the obvious, but you have got to get to PT to get that thing moving. Many people don't understand the importance of these exercises. I'm thinking that once a week is hardly enough and no therapy for 4 weeks is almost certainly part of the problem. I'm only 2 weeks post surgery on my second ltkr and I'm begging the doc to let me start bending my knee. He says 2 more weeks and I don't like it much.

YMMV,
TC Harp

hi i have physio resuming tomorrow but i am excercising at home although not as good many thanks nannylol

 

[nannylol]

Thought so! And you can't do better than Stanmore! However, I am surprised at him doing an osteotomy. I still think you should ring his secretary and ask for a soon appointment with him. Stress that. And when you see him, tell him you're not happy with the results thus far and want to know what can be done to improve things.

Another thing I should have asked - what was your range of movement like once you'd finished with the brace and non-weight bearing?

hi jo have answered you in my full reply many thanks for taking the time to reply you truly are a godsend many thanks nannylol

 

[nannylol]

Hi, Nannylol! Glad you joined our BoneSmart family!!! I agree with Josephine that you need to get to your doctor immediately to get some answers and recommendations. Others on the forum have had manipulations with great success!

hi jamie think this might be my answer many thanks nannylol