Anyone have knee scoped/cleaned out?

FanOfFanboys

I am getting mine done tomorrow morning. Any experience? Start walking easily again? Running? Egging?

Eggcelsior

If it's just getting cleaned out, you should be able to walk shortly after(based on Doc's recs) and exercise can start a few weeks later once swelling and pain is gone. I used to do Ortho nursing as my first job out of nursing school so I got tp play with a lot of articulating joints until I went to Trauma. 

cadcotsm

Last August I had mine done.  I had some awesome ice pack/water pump that kept the knee swelling under control real well.  The ice was better than the drugs.  I was walking the same day and started limited exercise about a week later.  The lack of pain and suffering was amazing to me, modern science and medicine. 

The Naked Whiz

The first time, mine was only a cleanout.  They did it on Thursday morning and Sunday night I was walking without crutches.  It was probably more mental than anything else.  If you are an old fart like me (58 at the time), I'd recommend some PT even if it feels good.  I didn't and I think I would have been back to full strength sooner if I had.  Doctor didn't recommend it, but who knows.

GreenhawK

You should be able to walk in a couple of days if not the same day.  Don't over do it early, so it doesn't swell up on you.  Also keep ice on it 20 min every hour or so.   Getting your range of motion back is the key.  Getting that back is what will make you feel normal sooner.

Eggcelsior, what type of trauma do you do?  

FanOfFanboys

I am 28, former runner and wrestler in college. Knee started about 18 months ago. I will def do as much PT as recommended and needed. I never want to be in situation where can't run without pain again. 

Eggcelsior

@GreenhawK‌ I worked in Neurotrauma for 3 years. 80% of all our admissions had an orthopedic injury.

500

Mrs. 500 had a full knee replacement a year ago.  Before that 4 other scopes and partials.  They had up as soon as possible walking on it.  She still has nerve disorder issues.  The whole event kinda sucked the life out of everyone, but it was worth it.

Spring Chicken

I had a torn meniscus repaired about 12 years ago and was up and about the next day, albeit with some limitations.  I was told that I would probably be back in a few years due to arthritis.  They were right.  Rubbing and icing didn't help.  Left knee replaced five years ago and right knee replaced two years ago.  One of the best decisions I made.  Therapy started the next day on both.

Good luck with it.

Spring "Kneading Knees Doesn't Always Work When Needed" Chicken   

Spring Texas USA

FanOfFanboys

Just got home. Knee hurts a good amount. Going to eat and then pass out watching Star Trek on netflix

The Naked Whiz

While we are talking about arthritis, I have to give a plug for hyalgan injections.  I'm working on month 18 now.  The doc said it should last 6-24 months. The knee isn't perfect, but it has been pain free since the 2nd injection.  (They give 5 at one week intervals.) 

Eggcelsior

If you are doing things to stave off surgery(TKR), just get the replacement.

100% of patients said that they wished they had done it "years ago".

Spring Chicken

I agree with Eggcelsior.  As my doctor told me, get it done now because something could happen that would disqualify me from knee replacement surgery later on.  Plus, bad knees tend to cause you to become more and more inactive in your lifestyle which leads to weight gain which leads to even more stress on your painful knees.  It also weakens your muscles which greatly increases the chances of therapy problems including delayed or less than full recovery. 

Spring "Fully Recovered And Painless" Chicken

Spring Texas USA

Shiff

  

The Naked Whiz said:

While we are talking about arthritis, I have to give a plug for hyalgan injections.  I'm working on month 18 now.  The doc said it should last 6-24 months. The knee isn't perfect, but it has been pain free since the 2nd injection.  (They give 5 at one week intervals.) 

My first Hyalgan shot series lasted about 6 months. My second series lasted 3 months.  I finally decided to have knee replacement in 11/2010 and have been very happy with the results.  I was on crutches and then a walker for a few weeks.  My surgeon doesn't believe in physical therapy as long as you can show a high level of progress.  My own activities were enough  lots of walking including stairs.  The first few days after surgery weren't fun, but everything rapidly improved.

The Naked Whiz

My second knee surgery was microfracture, so I probably grew some new cartilage to make the hyalgan work so well.  Obviously, if you don't have much, the hyalgan isn't going to do much. 

I heard the other side of delaying knee surgery is to postpone it long enough so that the first one will last the rest of your life.  Now with the new materials, I expect you can do it at a much younger age.

As for me, I'm waiting for the hyalgan to wear off and then I expect the doc and I will have a chat about what's next.

caliking

FanOfFanboys said:

Just got home. Knee hurts a good amount. Going to eat and then pass out watching Star Trek on netflix

Buy a few bags of frozen veg (peas, corn, something). They work well to ice joints since they conform to the shape of your knee. Buy enough so that you can swap them out and have a bag frozen and ready at all times. 

Eggcelsior

caliking said:

FanOfFanboys said:

Just got home. Knee hurts a good amount. Going to eat and then pass out watching Star Trek on netflix

Buy a few bags of frozen veg (peas, corn, something). They work well to ice joints since they conform to the shape of your knee. Buy enough so that you can swap them out and have a bag frozen and ready at all times. 

This. Good for the junk too, when it's "that time" and all.

The Naked Whiz

The cooler with a pump circulator thingy do that they gave us (HA!) at the hospital was pretty damn good.  As I recall, it would go 8 hours on one load of ice.  Saves a lot of hassle.  If you have a good friend like me who will loan you one, well, that's special!

xiphoid007

Eggcelsior said:

If you are doing things to stave off surgery(TKR), just get the replacement.

100% of patients said that they wished they had done it "years ago".

Gotta disagree on this one. As an orthopedic surgeon, I can tell you the worst mistake is getting a total knee too soon. Everyone thinks there knee pain is the worst until they have a replacement, then they know what real pain is.

It is far better to have a replacement a year or 2 too late then too early. Exhaust all nonop therapies first, then and only then, jump to the total if you can't live your life the way you want. You never know how bad it is until you go through with it.

When you're getting your second knee done, that is an easy decision. You know what to expect both with surgery and the ultimate outcome.

As far as a simple knee scope, do what your doc recommended. You let him operate on you, listen to his advice. Every doc is different in his post op protocol, so you'll get a lot of different opinions. Just trust the doc who did your surgery is using the protocol he finds works best for his or her pts.

K. Soap box now. Hope the knee does great!

xiphoid007

Sorry, "their knee pain" autocorrect don't know grammar.

I was always more of a science guy than an English guy. . .

Focker

 

xiphoid007 said:

I was always more of a science guy than an English guy. . .

LOL, same here.

Eggcelsior

xiphoid007 said:

Eggcelsior said:

If you are doing things to stave off surgery(TKR), just get the replacement.

100% of patients said that they wished they had done it "years ago".

Gotta disagree on this one. As an orthopedic surgeon, I can tell you the worst mistake is getting a total knee too soon. Everyone thinks there knee pain is the worst until they have a replacement, then they know what real pain is.

It is far better to have a replacement a year or 2 too late then too early. Exhaust all nonop therapies first, then and only then, jump to the total if you can't live your life the way you want. You never know how bad it is until you go through with it.

When you're getting your second knee done, that is an easy decision. You know what to expect both with surgery and the ultimate outcome.

As far as a simple knee scope, do what your doc recommended. You let him operate on you, listen to his advice. Every doc is different in his post op protocol, so you'll get a lot of different opinions. Just trust the doc who did your surgery is using the protocol he finds works best for his or her pts.

K. Soap box now. Hope the knee does great!

I should have been clearer. I was making more of a generalized statement for people that have been recommended for the surgery. Many commented that they put it off and we're now walking around bone on bone. I have had a lot of patients state that "they didn't want to loose mobility" after surgery when their walking around with a limp. Now they have even more. Purely ancedotal, I know.

xiphoid007

Its all good. I just see a lot of people jump into total knees too early. Such a big mistake. . . they really don't know what there getting into.

A good surgeon with a good relationship with his/her patient is key. The decision is easy then.

flynnbob

Tore my patellar tendon about 5 years ago and had surgery.  It still isn't right - Hard to walk downhill.  Time for a second opinion to try and fix. A very bad injury to experience - If only I could take back that missed step in the dark .....

FanOfFanboys

Well I am still in pain, still a lot of swelling, still limited to no mobility. I also still feel nauseated and have had a headache for about 24 hours. I have taken 2 hydrocodone every 4 hours and whatever nausea medicine they prescribed. I am more than ready to be healed to where I can at least walk. 

If the nausea and headache were gone I could handle the knee pain easier. 

Eggcelsior

Careful with the Lortab and don't take any extra Tylenol. You're near the ceiling of Max dosing(4gm) per day. I'm guessing you're using 5/325s.

If you can, rest with a fan blowing on your face. It really helps with nausea for a lot of our patients since it "distracts" the body. Did they give you Reglan or Zofran for nausea?

xiphoid007

Try to stay hydrated. Anesthesia can wreck you for 24-48hrs. It'll pass.

Keep icing the knee too. Ice and elevation are better than any amount of narcotics, but they help too.

The drugs can add to the nausea too.

FanOfFanboys

I am done with pain medicine. I last took at 8:30 this morning and since about noon my headache and nausea have slowly started to improve. Knee pain is not worth dealing with the side effects.

I have kept ice on almost entire time. I am drinking water but I might add pedialyte or gatorade in tonight. 

Hopefully by tomorrow I am feeling better. Knee still very swollen but not as tender as it was yesterday 

GaBGE

Be careful not to develop a blood clot. I tore my miniscus last year and was on crutches for about 11 weeks. After surgery I discovered that I had a blood clot. It was more painful that the knee recovery. 15 months later, I still have pain and discomfort 75% of the time in my knee.

FanOfFanboys

I am in pretty good pain still today. Swelling has not really gone down at all. There is a sharp pain on side of knee. I can't put pressure on it. This is no fun at all. 

FanOfFanboys

So I just got back from PT. The swelling and pain is more than they would like to see but still expected to have some at this stage. 
I verified exactly what I had done. I had a lateral release (patella) and plica band excision (removed completely) for the two main things, plus loose cartilage and such removed. From what I have read I will have a longer than average recovery, mostly because of the lateral release. 
Anyone have either of those done?
From what i read online looks like I am out 3 months before can start back attempting to run but about a year before I am about 100%. Makes me pretty sad