Who here had had a full knee replacement.

mattybfat

The Opinion Police
Team MTBNJ Halter's
This guy Physical Therapist describes Ben Patrick's (knees over toes guy) at home program
Well. It's something I have been wanting to start for sometime as I have been following Ben's social media stuff for some time. My first commitment has to be to lose some weight which is where I'm starting now then incorporating these to a daily routine. Honestly I can't afford the time off to have knee replacement and if you dig deep into Ben's program I maybe able to avoid a invasive surgery. To me it's at least worth a shot.

 

The Kalmyk

Well-Known Member
This guy Physical Therapist describes Ben Patrick's (knees over toes guy) at home program
Well. It's something I have been wanting to start for sometime as I have been following Ben's social media stuff for some time. My first commitment has to be to lose some weight which is where I'm starting now then incorporating these to a daily routine. Honestly I can't afford the time off to have knee replacement and if you dig deep into Ben's program I maybe able to avoid a invasive surgery. To me it's at least worth a shot.


Wow!! Great post and people should pay attention to this!

I never thought i would see this on here. He took Poliquin’s teachings (rip King🤘🏻) and went ultra esoteric with the knees and ankle.

Ftr, my son has been on his program for about a year now. It has increased his vertical by four inches as per his AAU coach. But i signed him up for this because he was born with a club foot and this greatly helps his ankle motion.
 

Fogerson

Former Resident Nerd
Howdy Kids!

Long time, eh?!!

I had both of my knees replaced, at the same time, summer of 2019 (age 54). My knees have been junk for a long time; years of injury and abuse plus a genetic propensity of osteo-arthritus.

Back in 2018, I decided I was going to start racing dirt bikes (off road, not mx) again. I started hitting the gym hard, but that finally put my knees (my left in particular) over the edge. By late 2018 I couldn't even ride a bicycle. It took very little on the down stroke to make me wince - and any amount of real power was not tolerable. I tried braces, taping, etc. to offload, but nope. Hyroluronic acid injections did jack. PT did jack. Corticosteriod injections helped, but you can only get those every 3-4 months ... and they only helped for 2-3 weeks.

I hadn't realized it, but I had become quite knock-kneed based on how my knees wore out. It explains chasing cleat/general setup and such over the last 10-11 years or so.

Anyway, I finally had to pull the trigger. I was going to do the left (the worst) then the right, but decided that if I did the left and it was a shit show, I'd never do the right and it was degrading pretty quick too. So, 'met with the surgeon and went all in.

Let me tell ya' folks, post-op is ROUGH. I couldn't tolerate pain meds, so after the 3rd day it was all Tylenol and ibuprofen. Yes, three days after they sawed my knees out I was taking just Tylenol and ibuprofen. A ton of it, mind you...my kidneys and liver are probably still pissed off at me. Some of the most miserable days of my life...that only got worse when the PT showed up for the thrice weekly torture sessions (my own multiple times a day PT sessions were no fun either).

A couple of things that made my replacements a little out of the ordinary:
  1. My knees had become so knock-kneed they had to relieve my IT band (cut a bunch of tiny Z's in it) in order to get the knew knee in properly.
  2. Turns out I had a congenital alignment problem with my left knee I never realized. Surgeon says that even if I'd been kind to my body over the years, my left knee would've been junk by now anyway.
  3. Both ACLs were "non-functional"
My recovery was a long one -- much longer than you read about. It was 14 months before I was riding a bicycle again and it took another year on top of that before my quad-activation problems got resolved. Turns out I'm super-tight/inflexible. My PT called me his "steel cable guy" and said that it took me 6 times the work for half the benefit. I spent a lot of time pre-op doing PT and such, but it wasn't enough. It seems like folks who are flexible have a much easier time recovering. I busted my ass with therapy...but I guess one could only do so much.

I'm coming up on the 3 year anniversary. I can ride bicycles and dirt bikes again. There are a couple issues though that I haven't quite got past:
  1. I can't seem to ride bicycles two days in a row. My knees are pretty stiff the day after a solid ride. I haven't had my fit professionally checked, but I think I've got the setup okay -- probably should go do that. Another contributor is that I have a lot of climbing to get back to my place -- quite a few miles of 7-10% grades.
  2. I do fine walking around all day. But if I stand in one place, like working on a bike, for a few hours they get pretty stiff still.
  3. I have a bit of scar tissue build up that is making them crunch like trashed meniscus. I guess this isn't to unusual -- need to get it checked out though.
So, am I glad I did it?

I can ride bicycles again, so thats good. I can ride dirt bikes and don't seem to have any trouble doing that other than my ROM sometimes hinders me a little (never could get past 125 degrees warm -- probably because tendons and such got stretched so tight once my legs were straight again).

But let me tell you, for me post-op and recovery SUCKED. If there is something you love to do, that you simply can't do anymore, or you can't function day-to-day then yeah, consider it. Certainly try everything reasonable at your disposal first (off loading, shots, PT, etc.).

But if you can do everything you love to do, albeit not at 100%, I'd give it a second (third, fourth, fifth) thought. Unless you're one of those lucky folks that breeze though this procedure, you're in for a rough time. Jdog might be in the "easier" group since he does all that yoga stuff :)

I am glad I did both at the same time. My right knee was deteriorating fast and would've put me off the bike eventually too. However, if I'd done just the left and experienced what I experienced, I'm very doubtful I would have done the right. And except for the PT sessions taking twice as long, and having to go into a rehab facility for a week until I could get up and down stairs, I don't think the misery was all that much worse than if I'd done just one.

Sure wish the stem cell stuff or 3d printing was further along...

Be well gang.
Tim
 
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Fogerson

Former Resident Nerd
Another thing…

If you’re gonna do this thing, see if you can get this setup instead of being stapled up.

They use this bandage attached to a tiny vacuum pump effectively vacuum sealing the incision. I thought it was brilliant.

One week after surgery they took them off and the incision was healed.

And now you might not even notice the scars…

Pretty awesome.
 

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jdog

Shop: Halter's Cycles
Shop Keep
Howdy Kids!

Long time, eh?!!

I had both of my knees replaced, at the same time, summer of 2019 (age 54). My knees have been junk for a long time; years of injury and abuse plus a genetic propensity of osteo-arthritus.

Back in 2018, I decided I was going to start racing dirt bikes (off road, not mx) again. I started hitting the gym hard, but that finally put my knees (my left in particular) over the edge. By late 2018 I couldn't even ride a bicycle. It took very little on the down stroke to make me wince - and any amount of real power was not tolerable. I tried braces, taping, etc. to offload, but nope. Hyroluronic acid injections did jack. PT did jack. Corticosteriod injections helped, but you can only get those every 3-4 months ... and they only helped for 2-3 weeks.

I hadn't realized it, but I had become quite knock-kneed based on how my knees wore out. It explains chasing cleat/general setup and such over the last 10-11 years or so.

Anyway, I finally had to pull the trigger. I was going to do the left (the worst) then the right, but decided that if I did the left and it was a shit show, I'd never do the right and it was degrading pretty quick too. So, 'met with the surgeon and went all in.

Let me tell ya' folks, post-op is ROUGH. I couldn't tolerate pain meds, so after the 3rd day it was all Tylenol and ibuprofen. Yes, three days after they sawed my knees out I was taking just Tylenol and ibuprofen. A ton of it, mind you...my kidneys and liver are probably still pissed off at me. Some of the most miserable days of my life...that only got worse when the PT showed up for the thrice weekly torture sessions (my own multiple times a day PT sessions were no fun either).

A couple of things that made my replacements a little out of the ordinary:
  1. My knees had become so knock-kneed they had to relieve my IT band (cut a bunch of tiny Z's in it) in order to get the knew knee in properly.
  2. Turns out I had a congenital alignment problem with my left knee I never realized. Surgeon says that even if I'd been kind to my body over the years, my left knee would've been junk by now anyway.
  3. Both ACLs were "non-functional"
My recovery was a long one -- much longer than you read about. It was 14 months before I was riding a bicycle again and it took another year on top of that before my quad-activation problems got resolved. Turns out I'm super-tight/inflexible. My PT called me his "steel cable guy" and said that it took me 6 times the work for half the benefit. I spent a lot of time pre-op doing PT and such, but it wasn't enough. It seems like folks who are flexible have a much easier time recovering. I busted my ass with therapy...but I guess one could only do so much.

I'm coming up on the 3 year anniversary. I can ride bicycles and dirt bikes again. There are a couple issues though that I haven't quite got past:
  1. I can't seem to ride bicycles two days in a row. My knees are pretty stiff the day after a solid ride. I haven't had my fit professionally checked, but I think I've got the setup okay -- probably should go do that. Another contributor is that I have a lot of climbing to get back to my place -- quite a few miles of 7-10% grades.
  2. I do fine walking around all day. But if I stand in one place, like working on a bike, for a few hours they get pretty stiff still.
  3. I have a bit of scar tissue build up that is making them crunch like trashed meniscus. I guess this isn't to unusual -- need to get it checked out though.
So, am I glad I did it?

I can ride bicycles again, so thats good. I can ride dirt bikes and don't seem to have any trouble doing that other than my ROM sometimes hinders me a little (never could get past 125 degrees warm -- probably because tendons and such got stretched so tight once my legs were straight again).

But let me tell you, for me post-op and recovery SUCKED. If there is something you love to do, that you simply can't do anymore, or you can't function day-to-day then yeah, consider it. Certainly try everything reasonable at your disposal first (off loading, shots, PT, etc.).

But if you can do everything you love to do, albeit not at 100%, I'd give it a second (third, fourth, fifth) thought. Unless you're one of those lucky folks that breeze though this procedure, you're in for a rough time. Jdog might be in the "easier" group since he does all that yoga stuff :)

I am glad I did both at the same time. My right knee was deteriorating fast and would've put me off the bike eventually too. However, if I'd done just the left and experienced what I experienced, I'm very doubtful I would have done the right. And except for the PT sessions taking twice as long, and having to go into a rehab facility for a week until I could get up and down stairs, I don't think the misery was all that much worse than if I'd done just one.

Sure wish the stem cell stuff or 3d printing was further along...

Be well gang.
Tim
Hey buddy, glad to hear from ya. I owe you a phone call too.

I’m getting close to getting my knee done, but I’m hoping for a quicker recovery as I’ve been doing the work. Riding three-4 days a week, working with a trainer 2 mornings and most importantly.. I’ve lost over 25lbs since Xmas.

My knee is randomly clicking and afterwords it pretty painful. I’m taking low dose thc/ high dose cbd daily and that’s helpful.

Anyway I feel a little foolish jumping to get this done, but my knee is a mess and getting g this done should let me get back on snow
 

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Fogerson

Former Resident Nerd
Hey buddy, glad to hear from ya. I owe you a phone call too.

I’m getting close to getting my knee done, but I’m hoping for a quicker recovery as I’ve been doing the work. Riding three-4 days a week, working with a trainer 2 mornings and most importantly.. I’ve lost over 25lbs since Xmas.

My knee is randomly clicking and afterwords it pretty painful. I’m taking low dose thc/ high dose cbd daily and that’s helpful.

Anyway I feel a little foolish jumping to get this done, but my knee is a mess and getting g this done should let me get back on snow

West coast biz hours are probably the best time to call. You have a better chance of stepping in an open hole in my work schedule than you do stepping in an open hole of the twins schedule during the evenings or weekend. The twins are still running us damn hard (1 year old now). Hopefully, I'll be able to get back on the bike when my in-laws return the end of the month.

I'm pretty sure that you'll do okay, certainly better than I. My PT, who has been doing this for 25 years, says my recovery was one of the 2-3 hardest he has seen over that time (that didn't have post-op complications). But what does he know? He is a hardcore (touring) biker who is a big proponent of short cranks (like 150-160) -- he even did his masters thesis on it. Keeps trying to get me to ditch the 172.5 cranks for 160 :)

It is worth having the conversation with your doc about pain management before the procedure. Opioids and I don't get a long. On the third day my side effects were making me more miserable than the pain plus they didn't really do a good job of handling the pain anyway. The nurses freakin' "looped" me when they cranked up the dose (was literally drooling on myself). Once I "un-looped" I told them (nicely) to cram that stuff up their backside. It seems to me that there had to be something better than Tylenol and Ibuprofen, that wasn't the opioid crap - but they all kinda shrugged their shoulders and said that was the best thing for me on the table. CBD was just becoming a thing then, so that didn't even come to mind. If you know what has worked, and not worked, for you in your past (I know this isn't the first time you'll have major trauma to a leg), put that on the table and have it all figured out with a plan B as well. Oh, and on that third day, the pain killer they drenched the inside of your leg with when they did the surgery wears off. Yee. Haw.

Your films look pretty gnarly; attached are mine for comparison (you can see how knock kneed I was getting). I too was pretty light for me at time of surgery...about 50 lbs lighter than when you were out here last. I've found 20 of them thanks to inactivity due to the twins though :(

Don't feel foolish. You've done your due diligence, spent a lot of time thinking about it (I'm sure), and have done the prep. If you've landed at go time, that is the right decision for you. I know once I made that decision, there was no going back in my mind. Not being able to ride bikes is what put me over the edge...if that hadn't happened I probably wouldn't have done it (yet). I'd been suffering with my shit knees for the better part of 4 decades, so the pain, swelling, and such wasn't anything new to me. Biking was all I could do with them, so yeah, I had to do it.

And hopefully, by the time you wear this one out, tech will be as such to where it is a lot easier. Yeah, another downside of doing this while "younger" is that 15-25 years, you'll probably will have to do this again. I'm hoping a nano-bot injection will take care of it then ;)

Heh, when I was in the rehab place I was hobbling down the hall on a walker and an old guy, like 90+, looked at me and asked "knee replacement?". I said yes. He asked "both at the same time?". I said yes. He shook his head and said "dumbass!". Heh heh. I chuckled, shook his hand, and said "my daddy always did say there is a fine line between brave and stupid" :)
 

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jmanic

JORBA Board Member/Chapter Leader
Staff member
JORBA.ORG
Team MTBNJ Halter's
IM CHRISTOPHER WALKING BITCHES
FBD83EAE-904B-446C-9080-72342B1289B3.jpeg


This is me graduating from in-home PT today following full knee replacement last Wednesday.

It’s a long story, but after years of postponing a replacement for the left knee (bone on bone, no meniscus, no cartilage), I had an injury to the right that forced me to get over myself and do that one first.

So here we are.
It has been a steep learning curve, but I’ll be better prepared to do the left one when I can. I’m taking notes.

And I will also throw my hat in the ring as a resource to anyone considering this.
I’ll be happy to share my experiences, especially after society considers me fully rehabilitated.
 

iman29

Well-Known Member
IM CHRISTOPHER WALKING BITCHES
View attachment 228771

This is me graduating from in-home PT today following full knee replacement last Wednesday.

It’s a long story, but after years of postponing a replacement for the left knee (bone on bone, no meniscus, no cartilage), I had an injury to the right that forced me to get over myself and do that one first.

So here we are.
It has been a steep learning curve, but I’ll be better prepared to do the left one when I can. I’m taking notes.

And I will also throw my hat in the ring as a resource to anyone considering this.
I’ll be happy to share my experiences, especially after society considers me fully rehabilitated.
oh man sorry to hear about the injury buddy but good to see you already on the road to recovery!

if you Kneed anything give a holler (too soon?) :p
 

jhemmens

New Member
This is from an athlete’s perspective and someone who’s activity level is higher than the average person… At age 43 I had a total replacement of my left knee. That was January 2016. Prior to that I had 5 surgeries on the same knee.

I told the doctor I had two goals - 1) be able to ride my bike without pain. 2) play on the beach with my kids.

2 days post op I was walking with a cane per the doctor’s order. It was insanely painful. Took me a month to go back to work full-time. 3 months before I could stand on my feet all day. Structured rehab was 4 months. Did my first road ride 5 months post surgery. It was slow and short.

The commercial of the 65 year old water skiing 6 months after knee replacement is BULLSHIT. It took ~1 year to be 95% pain free and be able to ride, hike, play with no worries and no brace. The clicking and clunking never goes away.

It was 2 years before I went snowboarding again, and only with a heavy brace. I wouldn’t even think about skiing for the simple reason of not wanting to blow out my other knee.

My one and only regret is not sticking to a consistent leg-strengthening routine a year after the surgery. I thought I could get away with light weights and cycling - and for the most part it was enough - but now that my kids are snowboarding more (6 years post-op), I’m having trouble keeping up. The knee fatigues and starts to hurt after a full day. Boarding 2 days in a row is tough without a lot of Advil and a heavy brace. I am having the same issues with park and DH riding - anything with big impacts.

Once you get past the rehab and all the restrictions, make sure to keep your legs strong. I mean real strong with weights and a consistent routine. You’ll have less issues 6, 10, 15 years post surgery.

Good luck!
Thanks for sharing your experience. It sounds like you had a tough recovery. I am 61 years old. (How did that happen?) I tore my ACL in 1993 skiing and had ACL surgery in 2000. My knee developed arthritis over the years and I was eventually bone on bone. Oddly, I am still able to ski pretty aggressively, not all bumps, but still out west hitting blacks and trees. One hour of pickle ball, however, and my knee screamed for two weeks. I stopped that pretty quickly. My doctor told me to wait as long as possible to get it fixed. I had total knee replacement this past August at 61. I am now 4 months post op and feel pretty good. The first two weeks for me were absolute hell. The pain was unbelievably intense. I slept for moments at a time the first two weeks. At week three I felt like I was finally getting through the pain. Once I was off the pain meds, Oxy, I started feeling much better. Definitely stiff, but I was able to get to 120 degree flexibility after 6 weeks. I totally agree that lifelong PT is absolutely key. I walked 18 holes yesterday with no issues and my doctor gave me clearance to ski this winter. Last week I developed IT Band friction syndromn which happens with runners, which I am not, and knee replacement patients. I had sudden sharp pain that lasted for about 30 minutes then faded away. It was like something was impinging the joint. I couldn’t bend my kneee without extreme pain. Strangely this happened in bed when I rolled over. It cleared up after 30 minutes. Really strange. The only thing I can say is that I may have over exerted myself putting up the outdoor Christmas lights that day. Anyway, my knee feels really good especially compared to where I was pre- op. I’m sure I will have lifelong stiffness, but I had that with my knee anyway. It’s not a surgery to take lightly for sure, but my outcome is positive so far. Stay strong, keep riding and trying to keep up with the kids. They only get better and faster.
 
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serviceguy

Well-Known Member
I have a slightly different question for the several success stories of knee replacement that chimed in here...what would you say is the main reason behind having to get this procedure done? Age ? Wear and tear? Accidental damage? And most important, is there any prevention that can be effective (thinking about supplements, braces etc.) ?

I have to say that any bone surgery and knee surgery in particular (but I would say joints surgery in general) scares the bejesus out of me, needing one would seriously make me question my love for the sport.
 

jdog

Shop: Halter's Cycles
Shop Keep
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Here are some photos of my gruesome before and after

This is a Stryker , titanium, triathlon knee

I researched all the various prosthetics before I went looking for the doctor

I settled after searching with Dr. Scott Schoffett. (Sp?)

He happens to be the uncle of Mtbnj board regular @The Kalmyk

Spencer, of course told me for years that his uncle was a guy to see.… I of course had to Countless websites and doctors in person and I still came back to the same guy that spencer recommended

I have a little bit of strength, but I’m actually snowboarding again which is incredible
 

WJF

Well-Known Member
Happy hour two for one Styker Triathlon Primary with Mako Fit replacements.
Doing great after 8 months, still healing but big improvement over broken old knees.
My cycling fitness allowed me to have both done at the same time.

New Knees 1.jpg

New Knees 3.jpg


New Knees 4.jpg
 
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scott62

Well-Known Member
Here is why you ALWAYS use knee pads….

Split knee caps kinda suck…. The tendons pull the parts apart….. a couple 40mm screws were needed pull everything back together.
 

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iman29

Well-Known Member
Here is why you ALWAYS use knee pads….

Split knee caps kinda suck…. The tendons pull the parts apart….. a couple 40mm screws were needed pull everything back together.
Yikes!

and yes now that my knee pads saved me from a much worse injury back end of October I fully agree.
 

chaloots

Active Member
Do partial replacements count?

Had an ACL reconstruction at 16yo. I proceeded to start snowboarding regularly a year later while biking (DH, DJ, xc) and playing rough all along. Would have a bunch of random pain, clicking soreness that was becoming a burden. Fast fwd to last March when I slid out on an icy bridge early one AM, slammed hard and cracked my tiba platform. (Shout out to @Commadostyle for collecting my broken @$$ and helping me back to my truck). Imaging also revealed compromised ACl and bunch of arthritis including a "golf ball sized chunk" behind the knee cap.

I was just coming off a spinal decompression surgery 6 months earlier (also at HSS-Dr Camissa) so was in the process of trying to build fitness as the year or so prior to that the back/sciatica pain was taking a toll. At 46yo surgery was performed on 5/16/23 by Andrew Pearle of HSS in NYC. I started PT immediately and would spend some time on the trainer. Based on the timeline i was hoping to be back on the bike by August. In reality it was still painful and started again slowly outdoors in sept. Initially unclipping hurt so i rode with flats, which I'm not accustomed to for xc. not sure if that hurt or helped. I am just starting to feel normal /confident/relatively pain free as of late. Still wearing knee pads riding after i took a small spill. What bothers me the most is the atrophy, bad leg never recovered to same size as good one since first surgery, i have to concentrate to not compensate too much on the good side. overall i'm happy w/the result.
 

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jmanic

JORBA Board Member/Chapter Leader
Staff member
JORBA.ORG
Team MTBNJ Halter's
So I’m about 2.5 months out now from a total replacement.
Recovery is a long road, but progress comes in leaps.
One day you look down and realize you are taking stairs normally- things like that happen.

I only swung a leg over a real bike for the first time a week ago, then yesterday upped the ante with this bad boy.
IMG_7301.jpeg

Boom. Went from 45 minute rail trail rides right to 2 hours moving time.
Felt sooooo good.
Scenery helped, and this is the right tool for the job.
 

jmanic

JORBA Board Member/Chapter Leader
Staff member
JORBA.ORG
Team MTBNJ Halter's
3-month check up with surgeon today.
I was scolded for mtbing because it’s a fall hazard. (Surgeon is a roadie)
I’m like, bro, it’s cool- I don’t suck at bikes lol.

Anyway, bionic one is pretty much perfect.
(Props to roadie surgeon and a stellar PT)
Range of motion is better than pre-op, all good.
The other one, well…
IMG_7520.jpeg

It’s been like this for 8+ years, so looking to wait a bit longer to do that one.

It is now giving me the business from all the compensation. And post-op, the leg is a full cm shorter than the bionic one, because of the bowing.
Its a nerve-type pain issue, not the joint itself- could be piriformis, sciatica or bursitis.
MRI next week to get to the bottom of things.

In the meantime I’ve added an insole to my left shoes to compensate for shortcomings.
Also wearing low heel to toe drop shoes to not aggravate it (the things you learn…)
Also, the focus of PT sessions has shifted to the left.

Im aiming to replace the left on the same timeframe- late November.
Then downtime will overlap with winter break, and the insurance PT allowance resets with the new year.
Plus I just need a few months to forget how intense this all is. (It is)

Pretty confident I can continue to gut that one out, plus synthetic synovial injections are also an option that would definitely get me to my goal date.
 
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