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patient of rheumatoid arthritis patient,post total knee& hip replacement,recovery?

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puneet21

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my mother is 52 and she has been a rheumatoid arthritis patient for past 20years...she underwent total hip joint replacement in april 2006 followed by total knee joint replacement in september 2006...since then she has been undergoing regular physiotherapy at home..but still her recovery has not been much..she still has 2 wear an immobiliser and get stretching done to help her walk...i wanna know if total recovery is possible for her so that her legs are straight and she can walk like normal people without immobiliser...? And if u have any special exercises or treatment suggestions that can be of help to her...will be really thankful to you since we as a family are realy waiting to see her back on her feet once again..thanks a lot!
 
Re: patient of rheumatoid arthritis patient,post total knee& hip replacement,recovery

Puneet, Hopefully our forum nurse, Josephine, will provide some answers to your questions. But one thought comes to mind that you might make an appointment to discuss your Mom's prognosis with her doctor (assuming she agrees to that). Maybe that would help you understand more about her condition and what to expect after the surgeries.
 
Re: patient of rheumatoid arthritis patient,post total knee& hip replacement,recovery

Puneet,

What does your mom's psiotherapist have to say. Aren't they giving her exercises to do?
Judy
 
Re: patient of rheumatoid arthritis patient,post total knee& hip replacement,recovery

hey.. thank u so much for replying.
Actually my mum's physiotherapist does make her do exercises which include both for her hip joints and knee joints..exercises to losen patella and stretching
However she being a rheumatoid arthritis patient since past 20yrs,there has been imobility for years and legs are bow shaped..we were told that legs would straighten with time after joint replacements as it takes time to losen the fibres behind d knee..
But its been 2 years already and,her progress has not been much and she still has to wear immobiliser and walk with help of a walker...we did try asking a couple of physiotherapists but no one has been able to advice something..do you have any idea about some special exercises which will help straighten her legs?? because until her legs are straight,we cannot realy expect her walk without using d walker ..
 
Re: patient of rheumatoid arthritis patient,post total knee& hip replacement,recovery

Boy, that's more of a medical question than I can address! You need an opinion from our forum nurse, Josephine. If she doesn't add something to this thread soon, write your question as a new thread and put something like, "Question for Josephine" in the title to catch her attention. Bless you and your family and I hope you can get some answers to help your mother.
 
Re: patient of rheumatoid arthritis patient,post total knee& hip replacement,recovery

thanks a lot jamie !
Am sure ur gud wishes and advice wil do lots of gud 2 my mom...
Shal post a new thread incase josephine doesnt reply 2 dis 1...
Thanks again...take cre !
 
Re: patient of rheumatoid arthritis patient,post total knee& hip replacement,recovery

Puneet, hope your mum gets more mobile soon. I have a friend who has Rheumatois Arthritis (she is 53). She has had 2 shoulder, two hip and 2 knee replacements over the years. She walks much better now, but it took her about 18 months or more to get her knees at a good range of movement. She has aqua therapy too. Can your mum swim?

Anyway, I am sure Josephine will answer soon. Good luck to you and your mum. Sue
 
Re: patient of rheumatoid arthritis patient,post total knee& hip replacement,recovery

hey..thanks sue
Guess my mum can really relate to your friend's condition.
Have heard about the benefits of aqua therapy but unfortunately we dont really have that therapy available here which mum can realy use..
We do have an access to a pool in a nearby club but again the downside is dat mum doesnt know how to swim .
So dat makes it difficult.More so her immobility leaves us with very few options ..anyhows please do continue giving your suggestions..as u nevr know sumthin might work out for her eventually...
Really have my hopes high once again since i came across this forum.....and my mum's motivation to get bak on her feet has again gone up since we startd getting replies...she believes dat her healing angel is surely gona find her here...god bless !
 
Re: patient of rheumatoid arthritis patient,post total knee& hip replacement,recovery

How strange, I just posted in another thread about my step-mother who was a long term R/A sufferer.

Fact of the matter is that RA is a disease all on it's own and does not follow the same path as with O/A. Very often patients have a long history of joint problems and subsequent mobility issues such as you describe. Fixed flexures and loss of ROM is common in long term cases. Trouble is, the differences in degree is so wide as to defy general comment.

IF she has a reasonable ROM pre-op, then that is good, but IF there is loss of ROM and stiffness long term then that might be more difficult to overcome.

The difference is in the diagnosis. OA is a single joint, degenerative condition and is generally limited to the joint surfaces. RA, on the other hand, is an auto-immune condition where the immune system actually attacks the soft tissues in the joints, frequently the knees, hips and hands but can be all other joints as well. First is the soft tissues, synovial membrane, and later the articular cartilage and then the bone. Unlike OA which attacks the articular cartilage first.

So what I am saying is the degree of damage done pre-op will very much effect the post op results. Given the history you have cited, I would be doubtful she would regain a totally normal result but that's not to say that significant improvement is impossible.

Wish I could be more positive.
 
Re: patient of rheumatoid arthritis patient,post total knee& hip replacement,recovery

thank u so much josephine for enlightening me on the disease process
Ur rite abt impossibility of complete recovery in severe cases even after post surgery..
Even the doctors had pre informed us abt it but our concern is to help her reach a level where she can be atleast self dependent and walk around her own without much difficulty..
Hope that shud b stil possible?
 
Re: patient of rheumatoid arthritis patient,post total knee& hip replacement,recovery

Anything's possible - it all rather depends upon her preset condition and ability. Of course the replacement will improve things - the surgeon wouldn't contemplate doing it if he didn't think there would be SOME benefit. I'm just saying that RA patients have rather more of a mountain to climb than OA patients. Especially considering that they usually have more than one joint affected.
 
Re: patient of rheumatoid arthritis patient,post total knee& hip replacement,recovery

ya right...but can u suggest some particular exercises or therapy which may be of help to mum?...she has a physiotherapist cumin at home ..but howevr d exercises dat she makes her do are the ones that she has been doing on a daily purpose for last 2yrs and we think that her body has become used to them and thats y probably we are not seeing any improvement..
 
Re: patient of rheumatoid arthritis patient,post total knee& hip replacement,recovery

There are lots of exercises in the total knee replacement book that most of us have. I'm sure it's on a thread here somewhere.
 
Re: patient of rheumatoid arthritis patient,post total knee& hip replacement,recovery

i could not find any exercises posted anywhere..can you please paste me d link if u have idea about any? Thanx
 
Re: patient of rheumatoid arthritis patient,post total knee& hip replacement,recovery

It was a book, puneet. There have been several mentioned here and there.

Think I'm going to start a reference thread for books. Could be a good resource - what do you all think?
 
Re: patient of rheumatoid arthritis patient,post total knee& hip replacement,recovery

Try broken link removed: https://www.thephysiotherapysite.co.uk.very useful.Good luck . I've found so much helpful input on the Bonesmart site 'cos the other folks know what it's all about, there's always someone at the point you've reached who can understand the problems and also the pleasure at a good day and another step forward. Good luck to all 'posters' and thanks a million.
 
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