knee replacement and tennis

[sujasa]

Hi, I'm a newbie looking for information.
My husband is considering knee replacement, but dearly loves his tennis. At 72 he plays singles and is at 4.5 level. He feels is game is still improving; his knees, however, are not cooperating! I have certainly read that singles tennis is not an "approved" sport after TKR, but is there anyone out there who has actually gone back to it? Doubles isn't out of teh question, but it's a different beast
Reading this forum I see there are lots of issues to contend with and I salute you all for your bravery. Keep at it!
Hope to hear from some atheletes out there who push the envelope...successfully.
thanks, sujasa

 

[Skeet]

I was told I could play doubles from time to time but not regularly. At 72, I think you could probably play more often. I'm hoping this TKR will last me many years, but I'm ~20 years younger so need it to last a lot longer.

From the standpoint of could I play... yes, I could play now if I wanted to.

Don't know if that helps any...

 

[AnetMarise]

Before my surgeon would schedule my tkr he made me promise that I woudn't take up running, or sports that require jumping. I laughed at the thought because at that point I still needed two tkr and I couldn't imagine feeling well enough that would even be a temptation. My doc said that sometimes people feel so much better after living years in pain that they try to recapture what they feel they missed out on - - running, jumping etc, and they damage the prothesis.

I just had my first tkr 4 weeks ago - my doctor doesn't to two knees at once - and I can't imagine feeling good enough to run or jump but i guess that happens.

My advise would be to have a heart to heart with your surgeon. You need to know all of the facts and expecations before having this surgery - its a biggie!

Annette

 

[AlaskanTKR]

I can't help you about tennis but my OS and I spoke about skiing. We live near a world class ski resort and 2 years ago after he scoped my knee for the last time I learned to downhill ski. When we had our initial discussion over a TKR I broke down and told him I had been skiing since the last scope - He thought that was great (I ski lower mountain - the easy runs). I asked if I might still be able to do that. He said yes - with caution. Technically he couldn't recommend it - but if I am careful and know my own limitations I should have no trouble. I am a beginner and will always be a beginnier and am fine with that. I need to get 20 years out of this hardware - but I would like to enjoy the 20 years. My plan is to enjoy life to the fullest without being a daredevil. I am sure if your husband does something for enjoyment he should be fine - a lot has to do with the competetive end. It all got to do woth the plant and twist issues we all have.

Marianne

 

[Josephine]

To be perfectly frank, sujasa, at 72 there wouldn't be too much of a problem if he DID go back to singles. Let's look at the logistics ..

The biggest problem would be wear on the plastic tibial insert. A second would be loosening of the prosthesis, spec: the tibial component. The inserts generally last about 10-15 years but my guess is that they last a lot longer. So your husband may not be able to take up tennis for some months anyway, maybe even as much as a year.

I would (diplomatically) suggest that if he is still playing singles at 82 then all power to him, but you see where I am going? What would be the point of him not enjoying the rest of his life to the max regardless? I'd say if he can then he should do it.

Another way round, next time you see your surgeon, ask him to explain specifically what can go wrong if he does play a game once a week say, and take it from there.

 

[edk]

I used to play a tad of tennis years ago and every time I played a 72 year old
I got my clock cleaned because they never moved from the middle of the court
and put so much damned spin on the ball I never could hit it. I think that the
"no singles" are meant for people who are going to run as fast as they can
plant their prosthetic leg and stop on a dime.

So if your hubby is a very agressive running tennis player he might do well
steering clear or turning down his game. If he is already pretty statioinary
and does a lot of trick volleying he probably can get away just fine.