Knee replacement

[rondog]

Great advise RD, glad your'e doing well.

Thank you sir! And FWIW, I've encountered several folks that "know somebody" that "had BOTH knees done at once - and in MY opinion - no! Hell NO!!! I can't even imagine that, unless you live in a big, single-level ranch house with no stairs/steps.....

[Gman]

I've heard something called Colchicine is good for gout.

Yep. I keep it on-hand. At least it's a generic again. That fast-track patent for Cholchrys was criminal for what it did to people that need it.

FKR seems to be tougher for recovery than hip replacement. Biggest relief for me going through recovery for major joint surgery has been cold therapy. Better than pain meds.

[Gman]

Thank you sir! And FWIW, I've encountered several folks that "know somebody" that "had BOTH knees done at once - and in MY opinion - no! Hell NO!!! I can't even imagine that, unless you live in a big, single-level ranch house with no stairs/steps.....

Some people do both because they know they'll chicken out on the second knee after going through the pain of the first.

[8Ring]

I got my right knee replaced because I couldn't walk more that a half-mile due to pain. Stepping off a curb onto the right leg was a painful experience. If I was standing on a bus and it hit a bump, I got a sharp pain in my knee. Before my left knee surgery, if I got up from a chair and my left foot was not pointed straight ahead, it felt like someone stuck a knife in my knee. Climbing stairs was painful and playing golf or hiking down a any trail were impossible. Now that both surgeries were successful, I have no knee pain and have resumed normal activities. I can't jog, downhill ski, do deep knee bends (squats), or hike down steep rocky trails but those are my only limitations. The point is that I went through the pain, discomfort, and inconvenience of these surgeries to improve function and I'm glad I did.

[encorehunter]

One other thing I learned after surgery. About a month after, my 6 year old wanted my to do a canonball off the diving board. I hit the water with my legs bent and it bent my foot back to my butt. I almost drowned due to the pain.

Regular diving is OK. Canonballs bad.

[MrPrena]

Thank you sir! And FWIW, I've encountered several folks that "know somebody" that "had BOTH knees done at once - and in MY opinion - no! Hell NO!!! I can't even imagine that, unless you live in a big, single-level ranch house with no stairs/steps.....

many will not recommend 2 at once. at least uc health anschutz.
never seen anyone who did 2 at once even at the physical therapy places

[ChickNorris]

Friend of mine did both @ once a few years ago.

[DDT951]

Most if not all ortho surgeons will tell you. Oh that's a 1 in a million issue, if that. The surgeon i saw who said we need to do a metal allergy test. Had a waiting room full of 1 in a million patients with some form of metal allergy reaction. When we visited the mayo for a 2nd opinion after the 3rd tke came loose. That surgeon said metal allergies are an often overlooked problem that we see a lot of here.
Both the 2nd & 3rd were press fit, unfortunately with bone being porous. The damage from the metals in the epoxy compound had already done their damage

I took a quick look at you link for testing.

The first three on the list
Aluminum
Cobalt
Chromium

Everyone will test positive for reactions to those.

Very few implant materials are elements; most are alloys.

As an example, everyone "knows" that nickel is bad for you. Go get a poorly gold plated cheap ring and see what it does as soon as the very thin gold layer wears off. It is even in panel 1 of you link.

But take a typical implant alloy. MP35N. (it stand for Multiphase Nickel alloy 35%) It is 35% Nickel, 20% Chromium, 10% Moly (nominal).

Millions upon millions of pacemaker lead wires have been manufactured with MP35N and are implanted on a daily basis. This has been used 35+ years. Yet the MP35N isn't an issue.

Testing against sensitivity to elemental metals is disingenuous at best. They need to be testing the specific alloys as they behave much different.

I doubt you would use essentially pure iron surgical tools, but that same iron when alloyed turns into 316L surgical stainless steel.

[Great-Kazoo]

I took a quick look at you link for testing.

The first three on the list
Aluminum
Cobalt
Chromium

Everyone will test positive for reactions to those.

Very few implant materials are elements; most are alloys.

As an example, everyone "knows" that nickel is bad for you. Go get a poorly gold plated cheap ring and see what it does as soon as the very thin gold layer wears off. It is even in panel 1 of you link.

But take a typical implant alloy. MP35N. (it stand for Multiphase Nickel alloy 35%) It is 35% Nickel, 20% Chromium, 10% Moly (nominal).

Millions upon millions of pacemaker lead wires have been manufactured with MP35N and are implanted on a daily basis. This has been used 35+ years. Yet the MP35N isn't an issue.

Testing against sensitivity to elemental metals is disingenuous at best. They need to be testing the specific alloys as they behave much different.

I doubt you would use essentially pure iron surgical tools, but that same iron when alloyed turns into 316L surgical stainless steel.

Disingenuous is hardly the word i'd use. Lots of people have had allergic reactions to knee implants. But what do i know on the subject.

[rondog]

I got my right knee replaced because I couldn't walk more that a half-mile due to pain. Stepping off a curb onto the right leg was a painful experience. If I was standing on a bus and it hit a bump, I got a sharp pain in my knee. Before my left knee surgery, if I got up from a chair and my left foot was not pointed straight ahead, it felt like someone stuck a knife in my knee. Climbing stairs was painful and playing golf or hiking down a any trail were impossible. Now that both surgeries were successful, I have no knee pain and have resumed normal activities. I can't jog, downhill ski, do deep knee bends (squats), or hike down steep rocky trails but those are my only limitations. The point is that I went through the pain, discomfort, and inconvenience of these surgeries to improve function and I'm glad I did.

That's what I want/need, real-world experience - thank you!