Arthroscopy

teodor

Hello everyone,

I'm 56 and earlier this week had an MRI scan on my left knee which had ben hurting badly for some time. The doctor has told me that it has shown wear and tear behind the knee cap and said I could try either physiotherapy or arthroscopy to " tidy up the knee" but said that 1 in 3 people did get any benefit from arthrsocopy. I am wondering what to do and trying not to feel gloomy as it seems that all the things which I use do such as running , cycling walking tennis etc must now be consiged to history . I also I thought I would be around to help my elderly parents and others as much as needed and am wondering how that will be affected ?

Any comments ?

Marek

sueandted

Hi there , Ive not had this done personally but a lady I work with has , she's about your age too ! , she found it fantastic , short time off to recover then back full time with no more pain

She did try physio but it diddn't help . Sue x.

elnafinn

Hi Marek

I had 2 arthroscopies on one knee. After the first one it felt as if something had been left in there, so I had another one performed. Unfortunately for me, it did not work for many months.

I have had a total knee replacement since then and that is great, so all is not lost for you.

As an arthro is keyhole surgery, recovery is not many days. It is worth having done, because everyone is different. If you do not go for it, you will never know.

If it works for you, great, if not, you can cross that off the list and go for a TKR. I had mine done last year at age 57.

Wishing you all the best,
Elna x

woodbon

Personally I'd go for the op. as its usually keyhole and most people are only in for a day around here. If you find the thought of that too dauting at this time, though, you could try physio first and see if it helps, from experience I know they do a lot of good sometimes. It must be your decision though. Not much help am I. :? good luck Love Sue

teodor

sueandted wrote:

Hi there , Ive not had this done personally but a lady I work with has , she's about your age too ! , she found it fantastic , short time off to recover then back full time with no more pain

She did try physio but it diddn't help . Sue x.

Thanks Sue ,

There are two ladies in office who also had it done with mixed results . I will speak to them again .

Best wishes

Marek

joanlawson

Hi Marek
I had an arthroscopy on Dec16th,2008.I had also had an MRI scan which had shown some arthritis.Immediately after the op I was told that the arthritis was much worse than anticipated and that I would need a knee replacement.It has taken me along time to recover from the arthroscopy because I developed Bursitis in my hip with limping.(Freddie Flintoff, the cricketer, has had that too!)

I don't want to rush into having a knee replacement so have asked to have time to think it over.In the meantime, I am having physio and acupuncture, both on the NHS. This has helped me a lot and although the joint is stiff and not pain-free, it is improving.

I think I would try the physio first because any surgery is invasive and not risk-free. If there is no improvement, you can go for the arthroscopy then.If you do have it, my advice would be to take it steady for quite a while afterwards to give your body time to heal.

If you want to ask me anything about the operation, I will try to answer your questions

Joan

teodor

Thank you Elna,

Your words fill me with encouragment - especially the TKR !

How long was it before you could walk after the total knee replacement ?- and where do you have your wear and tear ?

We are close in age - my 57th Birthday will fall on 3rd December this year !

Marek

quote="elnafinn"]Hi Marek

I had 2 arthroscopies on one knee. After the first one it felt as if something had been left in there, so I had another one performed. Unfortunately for me, it did not work for many months.

I have had a total knee replacement since then and that is great, so all is not lost for you.

As an arthro is keyhole surgery, recovery is not many days. It is worth having done, because everyone is different. If you do not go for it, you will never know.

If it works for you, great, if not, you can cross that off the list and go for a TKR. I had mine done last year at age 57.

Wishing you all the best,
Elna x[/quote]

teodor

Thanks Sue - I am inclined to go for but will probably wait for a bit especailly as my mum is due to go in for hip replacment very shortly and I will need to be available to help her without being an invalid myself- although it seems very it very hard going at the moment especially at work where I'm foinding it difficult to concentrate because of the pain / discomfort - and being a lawyer I do need to concentrate ( bit anyway ) !

Best wishes

Marek

quote="woodbon"]Personally I'd go for the op. as its usually keyhole and most people are only in for a day around here. If you find the thought of that too dauting at this time, though, you could try physio first and see if it helps, from experience I know they do a lot of good sometimes. It must be your decision though. Not much help am I. :? good luck Love Sue[/quote]

teodor

Thank you Joan ,

Your commesnt are very useful and interesting !

It seems from what you say that the MRI scan could be deceptive and not show the true scale of the wear and tear which only shows up during the arthrsocopy ? or do you know whether an an X ray show it up better than an MRI scan ?

I must admit to having a doubt about what arthroscopy can achiecve when it obviously cannot repair the wear and tear so by what logic could ot improve the things and also for how long ?

Can you cast any light on this ?

Best wishes

Marek

joanlawson wrote:

Hi Marek

I had an arthroscopy on Dec16th,2008.I had also had an MRI scan which had shown some arthritis.Immediately after the op I was told that the arthritis was much worse than anticipated and that I would need a knee replacement.It has taken me along time to recover from the arthroscopy because I developed Bursitis in my hip with limping.(Freddie Flintoff, the cricketer, has had that too!)

I don't want to rush into having a knee replacement so have asked to have time to think it over.In the meantime, I am having physio and acupuncture, both on the NHS. This has helped me a lot and although the joint is stiff and not pain-free, it is improving.

I think I would try the physio first because any surgery is invasive and not risk-free. If there is no improvement, you can go for the arthroscopy then.If you do have it, my advice would be to take it steady for quite a while afterwards to give your body time to heal.

If you want to ask me anything about the operation, I will try to answer your questions

Joan

elnafinn

Hi

An arthro is a wash and clean out of the knee. All the loose bits floating about are washed out and any spurs tidied up/removed.

Elna

hazelm

Hi Marek, I too had an arthroscopy on my right knee, was only in hospital for the day,and had really good results for about a year or so,but now I'm really suffering again and i think I'll have no choice this time,but to have a TKN.
hazel

elnafinn

Hi Marek

Just noticed your question to me! :oops: I could walk on my new knee the day after the op with a frame, progressed to two crutches and then one. I left hospital after 6 days using one crutch. I must admit I am not too sure where the wear and tear was but the surgeon told me that I had the knee of a 70+ person.

Take care,
Elna

joanlawson

Hello again
Yes ,I wondered why the MRI scan didn't show the full extent of the arthritis, but I was told that it is only when they put a camera in the joint that they can see exactly what is going on. I saw the photos and it was quite a mess, with very little cartilage between the bones.But they did try to clean it up and it hasn't been as painful since. My main problem has been the hip condition (bursitis) which I developed 3 days after the op.This is improving with physio and acupuncture.

I'm fairly sure I will need a TKR at some point, but at the moment I am taking my time to think it over because it is not without risks.

Have you seen a supplement called Osteo BiFlex advertised? I think it is new, and you can buy it at Boots. I have been taking it for a month now and I think it is doing some good. It is high strength gloucosomine and other things. It can't do any harm so it might be worth a try.

You asked about whether x-rays are better than scans. I think they need both because they show different things.
Joan
PS I am 65 years young :!:

bertyboy

hi i had an arthroscopy last july time didn't help at all was diagnosed with grade 3 in the compartments ,and basically told to get on with it , finally got referred to a different hospital and have now had steroid injections in both knees, physio , various x rays , and have now got to go for mri i am also supposed to be getting some more injections of a gel substance or something , i take diclofenac paracetamol and co codamol at night , and have now got to take quinine sulphate as well , but just because it didn't work for me ,i would not dismiss it for others , everybody's different and it might work for you and give you more relief xxx

bailey27

Hi
I am due to have arhtroscopy on my left knee April-May.
Not sure what benefits I will / you may receive but I will be keeping an eye on this post.
Hope it all works out for you.

joanlawson

bertyboy wrote:

hi i had an arthroscopy last july time didn't help at all was diagnosed with grade 3 in the compartments ,and basically told to get on with it , finally got referred to a different hospital and have now had steroid injections in both knees, physio , various x rays , and have now got to go for mri i am also supposed to be getting some more injections of a gel substance or something , i take diclofenac paracetamol and co codamol at night , and have now got to take quinine sulphate as well , but just because it didn't work for me ,i would not dismiss it for others , everybody's different and it might work for you and give you more relief xxx

I have also had steroid injections which worked for a couple of months and then wore off. I was told that they won't do any more because it can make the condition worse. I wonder what the gel substance you refer to is. I haven't been told about that. Does anyone know what it is?
Joan

alicea

joanlawson wrote:

bertyboy wrote:

hi i had an arthroscopy last july time didn't help at all was diagnosed with grade 3 in the compartments ,and basically told to get on with it , finally got referred to a different hospital and have now had steroid injections in both knees, physio , various x rays , and have now got to go for mri i am also supposed to be getting some more injections of a gel substance or something , i take diclofenac paracetamol and co codamol at night , and have now got to take quinine sulphate as well , but just because it didn't work for me ,i would not dismiss it for others , everybody's different and it might work for you and give you more relief xxx

I have also had steroid injections which worked for a couple of months and then wore off. I was told that they won't do any more because it can make the condition worse. I wonder what the gel substance you refer to is. I haven't been told about that. Does anyone know what it is?
Joan

Hi I had the gel substance injected into my knee and i cant remember what it is called, he said it was to lubricate the joint, it did for a couple of weeks and was less painful but i had to have a TKR soon after that, It is driving me mad trying to remember the name i will post it if i remember.
As for the knee replacement ,mine was done last july and i am in a lot less pain now it is getting better every day, good luck with your...regards alicea