OH the Pain!!!!

[ferris01]

Just had a knee arthroscopy done last friday and the pain is killing me...The knee is swollen and I am feeling like crap...The surgeon said I should be right in a few days after surgery...not likely I am on crutches...and the pain relief is not doing much...

Just wondering who has had a knee arthroscopy and how long did it take you to a least walk?

thanks...

[Angry Beaver]

Get a life mate i have had worse that will make your arthroscopy look like a walk in the park. About a 18months ago while playing softball, i decided to slide into second base. All fine and dandy except that while one foot did the right thing by going on its side my other foot landed flat and in the process forced my knee joint to do a banana bend which did a partial rotation of the knee cap. Results.... Full tear of the anterior crucial ligament, tear of medial ligament slight tear of one of the other ligaments and a big Hematoma. The trip to the hospital via ambulance was not much joy as they ended up not being able to get a vein for the morphine, and the doctors at the emergency couldnt help as it was not their field so then they sent me home flying high on morphine and vernagon. This was great until the stuff wore off and i couldnt stand or move to go to the toilet. The end result after alot of suffering for three weeks while trying to get into a doctors was this...... I now have four tendons instead of five in my ham string on the inner thigh, it is being used to replace the anterior cruciate ligamen. One thing the doctor explained to me was how they get it out of your thigh ( i will leave that for another day, as its not pretty). The hematoma was cleaned up and it took me almost a year to bend my knee and i still have problems with it. But hey i am not complaining as my mothers knee is worse. She has had two partial knee reconstructions where she has the metal instead of bone, shes is in agony at the present time as they are over there use by date so she now has to have a full replacement and she is not even 60. So do your excises and ice the knee joint as much as you can stand in this weather and for the swelling something i can say actually works well is put washing soda in an old stocking and wrap it around the knee joint ( not tightly) of a night time and it actually draws the fluid out. Casper can be witness to the fact it actually worked. It worked to well the last time as it leaked through the bandage, through the pillow and onto the bed where it dried and yeap you guessed it i was stuck. As casper said upon unsticking me from the bed, The ultimate wet spot. So if I can cheer you up anymore just let me know..... Oh and this is the same knee that i had an arthroscopy done on in 97 which resulted in cartlidge removal..... :

[bindi]

Originally Posted by mrs casper

As casper said upon unsticking me from the bed, The ultimate wet spot.

Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!

On a more serious note, gee that sounded so painful!!! :( And here I whinge about my sore knee... just stuffed cartilage for me, no more netball. He spoke of an operation, and I was considering it until my sister told me HER story of knee replacement. Ugh, no thanks. I just keep up the glucosamine (yes, the veggo is swallowing shark - rather that than an operation).

Oh Ferris, have you been known to have issues with codeine? Most ppl fall asleep with panadeine forte, but if you're like me the codeine actually keeps you awake and restless, and you end up bouncing off the walls. :yeees:

It seems that there is divided opinion on whether you rest or not? I would say take it easy, listen to your body. It knows what it wants

Yeah they hurt like im a baseball player and am on my last legs. Done some thing basicy like casper but not as bad after the op i was on it 6 days after with help!! But after it all im not to bad i stand on it up 7 hours a day and stil play ball. It took me about 6 months to get streath back in it swiming i found was the best. OH YEAH TRY SHARK CARTILAGE TABLET'S THEY WORK 4 ME. :

[svo347]

Originally Posted by mrs casper

Get a life mate i have had worse that will make your arthroscopy look like a walk in the park. :

Geez thats abit harsh Mrs "C"

[LuvinmyEB]

A knee arthroscope recovery varies on what was done while they were in there.
If you just had it done on Friday you should still be in bed resting it with the help of some panadeine forte for pain relief. You should be able to walk again by the end of the week with crutches and no pain relief. Go to your physio appointments and no sports for three months, by that time you should have had a full recovery.

[Angry Beaver]

From past experiences with knee arthroscopies i have been able to walk with the aide of crutches and straight after surgery have been given strict Physio that was to be done at home etc. From most people who i have also known to have had knee arthroscopies they do not like you to be bed resisting constantly but to move around with the aide of crutches etc. I had asked original doctor about the bed rest and not doing anything and his reply was that it was not good for the muscles but to actually do the physio excercises that they give you and to do light walking ( not talking about going for hikes) was actually better for it. But then again it does depend on the surgeon and what was done in the surgery. I was made to get out of bed after my reconstruction and yes it hurts like hell but its far better than laying there and not getting better. Can you actually tell us what you had done...

[LuvinmyEB]

Originally Posted by mrs casper

From past experiences with knee arthroscopies i have been able to walk with the aide of crutches and straight after surgery have been given strict Physio that was to be done at home etc. From most people who i have also known to have had knee arthroscopies they do not like you to be bed resisting constantly but to move around with the aide of crutches etc. I had asked original doctor about the bed rest and not doing anything and his reply was that it was not good for the muscles but to actually do the physio excercises that they give you and to do light walking ( not talking about going for hikes) was actually better for it. But then again it does depend on the surgeon and what was done in the surgery. I was made to get out of bed after my reconstruction and yes it hurts like hell but its far better than laying there and not getting better. Can you actually tell us what you had done...

Yes, you're right most hospitals will have you up on the leg the same day with crutches, usually with the aide of a physio or a RN.

The majority of ortho surgeons though (that I've seen give patients and nurses advice) do want the patient to rest in bed, only getting up to go to the toilet or get food etc. The patients are usually taught how to do static quad exercises to slow down muscle loss and to prevent DVT's, then they usually go and see a physiotherapist when the pain has eased.

Biking riding and swimming are the two best methods of building up your quads to protect your knee from further injury.

I'm only going by what, I've seen and learnt while working in orthopaedics, probably another reason I haven't had both my knees reconstructed yet. :P

[Angry Beaver]

Its not a divided issue its a simple thing that i think people get confused on. Some people or patients who are told to rest and take it easy therefore take it to the tenth degree by not moving or not doing the excercises etc. What can happen is that the muscles that where working get lax and upon returning to doing excersise when the pain has disappeared totally find that they do more damage. You do build up a pain tolerance but by the same token you dont go out and do a hike or extreme excerise straight away. But it does get confusing for some people like that and end result is it takes alot longer to get back on your feet. Oh and bindi i was told by my surgeon that they can regrow your own cartilage now and replace it that way. And my mother arthritic mother swears by the glucosamine. The best thing i found after the knee surgery to was neurofein (excuse spelling have a splitting migraine cooming on), it helps when the swelling is taken away to as that can ( what i found any way) relieve alot of the pressure that builds up. To me i liken the pressure of swelling to someone sticking a finger on a painful bruise or cut but ten times worse.

[Angry Beaver]

Please dont call me Mrs c it sounds like my sixth grade teacher who i dislike alot. and its not harsh its the truth.

[svo347]

Originally Posted by mrs casper

Please dont call me Mrs c it sounds like my sixth grade teacher who i dislike alot. and its not harsh its the truth.

Your a hard woman.

[Angry Beaver]

yeap and dont forget it

[svo347]

Originally Posted by mrs casper

yeap and dont forget it

No chance of that happening.....

:evil_laug

[Angry Beaver]

doogs1979 caspers only workout consists of getting out of bed sitting at the computer then getting in the car and driving. Its MRS CASPER who is the sport player....

[Casper]

Correct.. Physical activity scares the hell out of me! :

[Leah]

ferris01.... I feel for you. I had an arthroscopy in my shoulder just before my shoulder reco. Not the same I know, but I still feel for you buddy!

[FordGirl]

Sheesh, the poor bloke.

He didn't ask for other peoples unrelated wound stories, all he asked for is how long he can expect it to go for, don't be so hard on the guy!

I've never had anything like that happen to me, but I sympathise anyway! Hope you get better soon, in the meantime eat lots of icecream, chocolates and enjoy not having to get off the couch to sweep the floors!!

[Angry Beaver]

ok but the past two times i have been done i was put onto crutches straight away, mum was put on a walking stick etc. I was told to go to the phsyio as soon as i was out of hospital by the physio in hospital. The majority of the physios will only check to make sure that you are doing the excercises correctly and they sometimes depending on the amount of pain put you on those octopus machines with the electrical impulses ( can never remember the names. only that it looked like i had four hikkies) I think the reason that in most cases that they get you up and moving is so that adhesions dont build up. Old mother had that happen after her initial surgery and had to go under general to get it physically moved, apparently the noise was impressive. By the same token going and doing extreme things like i did in regards to washing and cooking dinner where you are standing for long periods is not a good idea doing short walks is what i meant.

[Angry Beaver]

Oh and by the way bike riding is good if you can bend your knee i couldnt, and i think that was the hardest thing. The stepping up and down stairs is another one thats good for that to.

[Angry Beaver]

Ford girl how is a knee reconstruction unrelated to the thread since an athroscopy on a knee is the same surgery just different in the term of what was done while the arthroscopy was performed. I have basically stated what had happened to my knee and the following surgery that was performed. As well as that he did ask who had knee surgery and how long it took to recover all where answered.

[FordGirl]

I was refering to this sentence
"Get a life mate i have had worse that will make your arthroscopy look like a walk in the park."

Personally, I just think it's a little bit rough.

[Angry Beaver]

i dont think its a bit rough at all its just stating a fact that. I would rather have had an arthroscopy any day of the week than what i had done.

[Donut King]

want to move this back on to the topic and let this guy know how long the pain will last rather than how much worse the pain could be?
Cheers

[Walkinshaw]

Wow good on you, you have a higher pain tolerance than someone else, go have a street party and celebrate!! Total pointless remark regarding someone’s simple question. Next time someone asks what "x" will be like, I'm going to yell that I had "Y" done and I’m so much better.

Back on topic,

I’ve had exploratory work in my knee, its not exactly fun at all. The pain will be a bit for a few days but trust the doc's the pain will subside soon enough!

[ferris01]

Mrs Casper I have to agree with Walkinshaw and Fordgirl on this one. My question was other peoples recovery to a knee athroscopy. And was a little bit offended by the opening remark.

This is actually the forth time my knee has been operated on... The first and third operations were two were knee reconstructions and I had wiped out both PCL and ACL along with cartliage tears. The second was a tightening and repostion. There are three pins in my knee holding it together. So I know the pain you are talking about And I also have the tendon trasfer you were talking about.

The surgery on Friday was basically a grease and oil change as there was alot a junk on my meniscus which for the past five months had prevented me from fully extending my knee as well as making it give way..

Yes in the previous 1 and 3 surgeries they did do arthroscopies but they also reconstructed straight away... this is the first time that I have gone under and only had an arthroscopy (hence my question)... And believe me its not a walk in the park...

Thankyou to everyone who has replied and I will be seeing a physio tommorrow... I guess I was just a bit worried as I hopefully plan to start a new job next week and am worried that I wont recover in time.

Originally Posted by ferris01

This is actually the forth time my knee has been operated on...

I dont get it? If this is your 4th operation....why ask the question in the first place?

[ferris01]

I hate to mention this or maybe I should change the ferris01 but I am female. I am 35 I have a wonderful husband and three wonderful boys. Netball is my passion hence the knee injury. I use to keep very fit playing this game but have now conceeded that my knee can no longer cope. Looks like swimming could be the new hobbie. My hubby says I am : and I love him.

I am 100% W O M A N.... :

[bindi]

Originally Posted by ferris01

I am 100% W O M A N.... :

I thought you were! lol someone said "bloke" and I was quite surprised cos I always thought you were a chickie babe. Then I started to doubt myself lmfao.

[FordFan86]

I agree with ferris agreeing with fordgirl and walkinshaw..

[svo347]

Originally Posted by FordFan86

I agree with ferris agreeing with fordgirl and walkinshaw..

Me 3

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