Following on from 2 and 3 year review: the computer course was a success in itself, although I've barely used the knowledge since. Track riding has been a complete change of my cycling life, only now with Covid and the track closure have I missed significant time there
Nine year review
I have added nothing for many years now as there was little to say of interest to TKR people. My knees now are not something I really need to think about. I remember pre-surgery when not a day or an hour or a minute went past without my knees bugging me. How cool is it not to have to think about them
However, in another thread:
I guess balance is my main concern. I can easily do one legged PT balance exercises to the point they said you do not need these. Maybe just paranoid...?
Balance on a bike and standing balance are quite different. You will have no bother whatsoever on the bike. I know this, my standing balance is still sub-optimal 9 years after BTKR, but I have no trouble on the bike.
Just before Christmas I was developing pain in by butt, hamstring and (slightly) in my back. I was worried about sciatica, my coach thought it might be Piriformis syndrome (
https://www.spine-health.com/video/piriformis-syndrome-video) and encouraged me to see a physiotherapist, which I did.
I have, for nine years, thought my compromised balance (I find it very difficult to stand on one foot, for instance) was a direct result of having two mechanical knees and, possibly, damaged nerves in that area, meaning that signals between foot, lower leg and brain were compromised. Turns out I was wrong again.
The physio assured me it's not sciatica, and that the cause is muscular imbalance from the mid-back downwards. He has given me a series of exercises to correct this, and already after only a week I can feel the improvement.
He did not suggest that cycling has caused this problem, although to me it seems pretty reasonable that it has at least contributed. In 2016 I had neck pain so severe it was preventing me riding the bike. This same physio gave me an exercise that fixed the problem more or less at once.
Prior to 2016 the neck pain was an irritant that sometimes got to the point where I'd visit my osteopath who would 'crick' my neck and the pain would go away for a while. Since 2016 not only have I not needed to visit the osteopath but the background neck pain has completely vanished.
The physio and osteopath know each other (unsurprisingly, really) and liken the relationship of the professions (in my case anyway) to roadside rescue vs. garage. The AA/RAC (AAA I guess in the US) fix your broken down vehicle by the side of the road; proper servicing and maintenance makes your car run better and minimises the chance of such breakdown.
Knee 'physiotherapy' that involves pushing and shoving a TKR patient, causing pain, is in BoneSmart's view (and my own personal view) worse than useless. The kind of treatment outlined above is, however, IMO invaluable.
If you are a TKR patient and have balance issues after, say, 9 months or so in recovery, I suggest a physiotherapist is worth a visit.